“Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high And the dreams that you dreamed of Once in a lullaby” Isn´t this awesome! Dinner on the veranda started with a magnificent thunderstorm followed by a sunset complete with a rainbow extending all over the sky above us. Unbelievable! Almost automatically we started humming on the tune above. And yes, under the rainbow is the treasure, as in the fairy tale – and for us the treasure consists of our dream house, of course! 
Author: Eva the Gardener
Recipe for a perfect summer morning
What is your idea of a perfect summer morning? Here is mine. Ingredients in this recipe can be scarce or difficult to find, but as always, you take what you have.
Recipe for a perfect summer morning
Sun shining
Relaxing temperature
Birds singing, insects humming
Soft wind stirring the leaves
View with green and blue horizon
A large cup of tea or coffee
Sandwiches with a good cheese
Bowl of yoghurt with berries of all kind from the garden
(here: raspberries, wild strawberries, cherries, redcurrants, blackcurrants).
Enjoy!!
Some garden …!
There are gardens, and there are GARDENS. Recently I visited Wij Trädgårdar (Wij Gardens) in the town of Ockelbo, about 2 hours car drive north of Stock
holm. Every time I go there, it is like entering some kind of paradise. Have a coffee outside the old m
ansion, stroll by the vegetable gardens made by the 
gardener school situated there, enjoy the elaborate rose garden, be astonished by the artisan works in and around the gardens, be inspired by the examples of different garden settings. Lake, fields, plantings, old buildings, bridges, garden shop – everything has this air of peacefulness. Wij Gardens is wellknown over Scandinavia, I 
wish I could spread the word in the world about this beautiful place. If you go there, perhaps you will even get a glimpse of the crown prinsess family, since prince Daniel is born in Ockelbo.
The art of scything
Few people today know the art of scything, but old Swedish traditions are coming back and it is nowadays possible to see this old way of cutting the grass at special landscape events, or you could sign up for a course in using the scythe.
The scythe is a tool that was used for cutting crops such as grass or wheat, with a long curved blade at the end of a long pole attached to which are one or two short handles.
My scythe is very old. The pole I got from a friend, the blade and the beautiful fastening parts were a present from a neighbor. The pole is in fact too short for me, so I am searching for a longer one, but on the other hand I am very fond of this old one.
Important is th
e knife-grinder, and recently I was able to buy a perfect little grinder tool. When the scythe is sharp, it is sheer pleasure to cut the lawn. Yes, in fact we have saved the grass on our lawn to create a good environment for bees and other insects, but also to discover a whole world of different species of flowers that have been popping up in our field/lawn – which happens when you let the grass grow. Well, in a week or so we are going to scythe everything, and then my husband will be happy to run his garden tractor over the grass to transform it into a perfect lawn again.
The dessert is ready
I am having some friends for lunch today. So what could the countryside offer them? Got the idea to take a look out in the woods behind our house. Spring was rainy, just what blueberry plants need, perhaps I could find some berries for dessert? Guess what! The woods are full of blueberries. I even found some wild strawberries, made a nice mixture. So my guests will be treated with morning picked berries and icecream for dessert – the perfect summer treat, isn’t it?
Mushrooms!!!
When I found one single chanterelle near one of the apple trees, I was so surprised. A chanterelle is a delicious edible mushroom. But what to do with one single one? Suddenly I remembered a neighbour talking of having seen chanterelles in our garden long before we moved in. Of course! If there is one, there are more of them. With rain pants on and boots – there are a lot of nasty bugs! – I walked into the high grass tree area of the garden and started looking. One chanter
elle suddenly turned into one litre( a quarter of a gallon)!! It’s amazing what gifts this garden give us. Butterfried chanterelles on a toast made a nice starter before dinner that evening 🙂
The magic of life
I meet the magic in my garden, every day, every moment. W
hen I am present, really in the moment of everything, I see the wonders of life. This morning, on my usual early morning tour in the garden, I was startled by the beauty of the peonies. How is it even possible that a tiny, tiny bud can turn into this intricate, multipetal beauty, fifty times larger than the original bud? Those moments of meeting the magic of life are the most precious.
Why a pool ladder for insects – and how to make one
Insects like mosquitos, beetles, bees and bumblebees are vital for the ecosystem, and they are getting scarce due to pollution and a lot of other things. Everything in my garden needs the insects
. So when I saw insects drowning in my water cans and bird baths, I got the idea to make a pool ladder for insects, so they could easily get up if they fell into the water when trying to drink.
Making a pool ladder for insects: Take a piece of those artificial green lawns with a rubber backside that you often find on rolls in gardening
shops. Use a scissors or a knife and cut a piece that is about two fingers wide and as long as your forearm. Dip one end into the water and let one end hang over the edge of the bath/can. If a can, I tie the edgeend of the ladder around the handle, so I can water and handle the can without it falling away. See photos and good luck! PS. Not one single insect has drowned since I started to use this 🙂 
Trimming the hawthorne hedge
Did you know the old sayings tell you to trim the hedge before the end of June. Actually before the midsummer festival in Sweden. Why? I have tried to find facts about it, but could not. Our hedge is long, about 150 feet. I trim it by hand with only a secateurs. It isn´t so hard. I like the soft sound of the chopping of the branches, no noicy machines, I stand there and hear the birds, neighbours talking, the sea, the wind. It is a relaxing moment. And look at the result! No halfcut leaves, no jagged branches, just a wall of green. Beautiful!
Every step of the way …
Too much gardening, I wonder? After one day at home in my garden, I made a false step and strained my leg. So now I walk on cruches. Even to go around the corner of the garden is like climbing the Mount Everest. Pew! Luckily I have a supportive husband!
This tree showed its beauty in sunset, by a café outside Stockholm.
Crazy Swedish Gardener 