On Solskensvägen in Sävast, returnees and newcomers Jenny and Viktor Malmqvist have created a lush oasis. In a double sense, they reinforce the concept “you reap what you sow” here in the growing municipality of Boden.
Boden’s green industrial growth and the development of a sustainable society have many similarities with establishing and nurturing a growing garden. Planning, finding and utilizing the advantages of the location, choosing correctly, having foresight and patience, protecting and hardening, supporting and pruning, combining rapid growth with long-term plans, and sometimes reconsidering and daring to try new things. All these factors coexist in both community building and Jenny Malmqvist’s garden philosophy “sustainability, non-toxic methods, and natural processes in healthy soils. Green wisdom, simply put”.
While a thick white blanket of snow glitters in the January sun over the resting garden on Solskensvägen in Sävast, the first tomato seeds have already been set to pre-sprout and are being nurtured indoors, to later be moved out to the orangery in the yard.
Here, Jenny and Viktor, their children Elsy, 8, Alfred 4, and two cats have created their dream life. Jenny originally comes from Södra Bredåker and Viktor from Svartbjörnsbyn in Boden municipality. After a little more than ten years elsewhere, they returned home to Boden and were among the first to start building in the new residential area Brännan in Sävast in 2018. Over time, more and more new houses have grown up around them, with inspiring design and a magnificent view of the Lule River that follows all the seasonal changes.
GREEN EXPLOSION
Under the snow, summer life waits to bloom with lush plants thriving under the midnight sun. During a few intense spring weeks, nature here goes from snow-covered surfaces to intense greenery, to catch up with many of southern Sweden’s growers by midsummer.
“The best time of the day is late in the evening when everything is quiet and everyone is asleep. Then I can walk around out here in the bright summer nights and enjoy the garden,” says Jenny, and you can almost smell the sun-ripened raspberries, feel the dewy grass against your toes, and see nature’s beauty doubled in the mirror-like river with the night sun high in the sky as she describes it.
DARE TO TRY
But behind what will soon thaw out at the Malmqvists’ lies a lot of time and effort.
“When we moved here, I felt strongly that I wanted to try to do something with the plot of land we got. Cultivating your land and caring for green environments creates added value on so many different levels. Being able to pass this on to the children is one of my biggest driving forces for a sustainable future, even if it’s on a small scale,” says Jenny.
In their previous house, they had an old overgrown garden that was rediscovered. In their new garden, they had to start completely from scratch.
“It was blue clay and on top of that sand, it was like living in the Sahara, with sand dunes everywhere,” Jenny recalls.
But with topsoil in place and gradual addition of greenery, the areas began to fill up. Jenny traded at exchange days and bought online from other hobby gardeners, read and absorbed all new knowledge. Her husband Viktor is an operations technician, handy and not afraid to pitch in. Together they are a good team, both engaging in the construction of their garden. A project that never gets finished, exactly as it should be. Draw, test, change, add, move, trade for something new, dig away…
“As someone who grew up basically in the forest, I missed trees. So we planted eleven trees from the start, both for wind protection, ornamental purposes, and fruit,” she says.
SHARING KNOWLEDGE
Jenny’s interest in gardening and horticulture began as a child during summers at her aunt’s family in Falkenberg, where she was fascinated by everything that can be created and tasted in a garden. The memories and dream of trying to grow herself have over the years grown into a burning interest and courses in garden design. Their garden on Solskensvägen has developed into a place visited both spontaneously by passersby and during organized garden courses. Jenny has now taken it a step further and started her own business to share more knowledge and inspiration for the budding gardening interest in the north.
In her day job, she is a high school teacher in adult education, both distance and on-site in Norrbotten and Västerbotten. In her company Grow by Jenny, her gardening interest is combined with her pedagogy, experience in digital teaching, and various types of educational processes. She collaborates with other local companies in gardening and health and looks forward to contributing to increased knowledge and inspiration in the growing Boden.
“I think so much is happening here that is interesting, for example, the connection between cultivation and social sustainability, and industries’ waste heat that can be used for greenhouses. My hope is that more and more local collaborations within the green sector will be given the conditions to grow so that the sustainability line in our municipality can be at the forefront of our region.”
TEXT: ANNA BERGSTRÖM
Jenny’s ten smart green
tips for gardening in the north
- Dare – you don’t have to know everything. If you don’t plant a seed, nothing can grow.
- Fertilize naturally and organically, and use more than you think is needed, especially for things that grow above ground.
- Exchange seeds with others.
- Community – do things together with others and find a community of like-minded people.
- Grow edibles! Choose things you like and really want to taste. Don’t grow anything you don’t like to eat yourself.
- Development time – read the seed packet, some varieties have a long development time. Choose seeds with short development time.
- Norrbotten has a short and intense summer. Pre-grow what needs a little starting help so you can plant out larger plants when summer comes.
- See winter as an asset – severe cold means we have fewer pest insects in the north.
- Sow in snow – scrape away the snow, sprinkle the seeds you want to sow, put some soil over and cover with snow again. The snow protects and the seeds get to germinate naturally outside as the snow melts.
- Enjoy your garden. Make a seating area where you feel best. Jenny’s best remote workplace is in the orangery – where is your place of enjoyment in proximity living?
