Hello from Sweden

[digger]

I've just found this place (thanks, StumbleUpon). I'm English but now live in Sweden where we have a very short growing season. We've spent most of the last 4 years renovating the house and only really started work on the garden last year. As I said, the growing season is very short with frosty mornings as late as the 1st week of June, which killed my courgettes last year . Of course, 20 hours of daylight in June and July does help somewhat.

We love Sweden and can't imagine ever coming back to the UK. I'm now looking out of my office window at 1m of snow on the ground, glistening in the sunshine. And the lakes just have to be seen to be believed. Driving around we often see deer and elk. It will be a while yet before I start digging, which is probably just as well as I've got a bad anck caused by snow clearing

Any advice from cold climate gardeners would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ian

[Shirley]

Hi Ian

Nice to meet you! I'm in a cold climate - the hilly north east of Scotland, although I doubt we are as cold as you We've not had so much snow this year, and some of the temperatures have been surprisingly warm. That said, we've had a fair few chilly nights too.

What is StumbleUpon?? Not come across that before.

Looking forward to reading your posts - and would love to hear about your house renovations too.

[digger]

StumbleUpon is an addon to your browser (IE and Firefox) that will direct you to psuedo-random sites on the net. You tell it the kind of subjects you are interessted in and it does the rest. Worth looking at (especially as its free). Stumble over to http://www.stumbleupon.com/.

I have very fond memories of living in Scotland. I remember our leaving Edinburgh on our first trip to Aberdeen in Janaury 1988, crossing the fourth bridge in beautiful sunshine only for the motorway to be closed by snow by the time we reached the services. Welcome to Scotland, we thought. Now snow is a normal part of our lives. We've had snow cover since mid-december, and this is southern Sweden. The coldest tempreture we've experienced since we came was -32C. -20C is not unusual on clear winter nights. But when summer comes, words fail us.

[Muddypause]

Hello Ian,

I've seen StumbleUpon listed in the Firefox extensions; maybe I'll have a go with it.

I bet the Swedes know a thing or two about energy conservation - you must have exceptionally well insulated houses there. And I've had a good many Volvos, too.

[gunners71uk]

hi digger please to meet you when i think of sweeden i think of the swedish chef off the muppets.
you say its cold out there what about a greenhouse with a little parafin heater or poly tunnel.
all the best digger.

[Andy Hamilton]

Hello there digger

I guess using fleece would be an idea for a cool climate, but I am guessing you know that already.

I notived that we are suddenly getting more visitors from stumbleupon, I use it now and again, some good sites stuck away in there.

Welcome to the site, first forum member from sweden

[Shirley]

Ian...

Thanks for that link for StumbleUpon... I've got some fab links today.

[Libby]

Hiya digger

[Millymollymandy]

Hi Digger! Sounds interesting where you are. At least with snow cover your garden plants are better protected than when you get low temps plus frost!

I'm currently looking out at snow! I used to live the other side of France in the foothills of the Jura mountains - it was a harsher climate than Brittany but this winter is dragging on and on and is very cold and the main reason we chose to move to north west France was for the mild weather!

[woolcraft]

Hi there and welcome. We used to get a lot more cold and snow up here in the North East than lately, but it's unpredictable and we have had frosts very late as well. Looking forward to reading your posts. Sue

[Wombat]

G'Day Dig!

Nice to see someone here from that part of the world, hope to get there one day! welcome to the site!

I suppose you could always raise frozen peas!

Nev

[ina]

Hi Ian, and welcome!

I did post a reply earlier, but that seems to have got lost... Having trouble with the net today. Anyway, I had wanted to point out the long discussion we once had about swedes, other turnips, Swedes, and what swedes are called in Sweden! Maybe you can help us there?

[gunners71uk]

thanks for stumble upon its a good site

[digger]

Thanks for the welcome everybody. To satiate your curiosity, swedes are called kålrot in Swedish. Pronounced like kolrot. It literally means cabbage root. Of course, the correct English name is swedish turnip. Frozen peas

Its so nice to finally find some kindred spirits on the net. Looking forward to getting to know you all.

[ina]

Thanks for clearing that up! Here in Scotland they are called neeps... Which comes from the turnip part of swedish turnips.

Anyway, do they grow ok up where you are?