With the forest as the closest neighbor

Nina Hahto has created her dream life on the country side. The proximity to nature and to the animals, that is the most important thing at Bjässparken Gården. This summer you are welcome here.

Ever since Nina Hahto, 58, was little, her biggest dream has been to live in the country and have her own animals. When the family traveled up to Tornedalen in the summers, it seemed so idyllic, the life she saw outside the car window; the red cottages and the animals in the pastures. The forest is a place she has always returned to to find peace and gather strength.

– It is not uncommon for me to take the dogs, a coffee thermos and a sandwich with me and go out and sit in the woods. These are the best moments, she says.

But everything takes time. When Nina and her husband Ulf had children, they moved to Hamptjärnmoran’s residential area and lived there for 19 years. The family puzzle was easy to put together and they were close to everything that was important then. When the children grew up, it was time to give life in the country a try.

– We live right by the river and it is very scenic with forest in all directions. I think it’s cool to wake up to that. It really was a dream come true. I have found home – at the right time, when I am ready for it, says Nina.

Settlers in the countryside

In 2007, Nina and her husband Ulf took the first step and bought an agricultural property in Bjässmoran, a few kilometers from Boden on the south side of the river. The old soldier’s croft with barn and outbuildings that existed here were in ruins and the two hectares were completely overgrown.

– There were over a thousand trees and we worked for three years and tried to shape the plot with a chainsaw and clearing saw, so you could see the river. Our friends thought it looked like a park and came up with the name Bjässparken, says Nina.

They had a company create the shell for their new house and built the inside themselves. In 2010, the couple moved here permanently and lived for the first time in a small timbered cottage with a cast iron stove and hob, without hot water, TV, computer or toilet.

– It was in the middle of winter and minus 25, so it was a little extra cold with an outdoor toilet. It was a journey.

Café and shop

Gradually, more outbuildings were added to the farm: hen houses, sheep houses, guest houses and bakers’ houses. Here also live a handful of Gotland sheep and a dozen dwarf cochins and Hedemora hens in growing flocks, two rabbits and two dogs.

– We have fantastic pastures so it was quite natural that we got animals. They give me a great meaningful depth. It’s cool to live with animals in this way, to get up at six o’clock and check on everyone and start the day’s chores, says Nina.

The ongoing project is a large timbered barn extension that will house a farm shop and summer café in the summer. Nina will bake her own sourdough bread, sell coffee and invite guests to a genuine farm experience close to animals and nature, in the new company Bjässparken Gården. This summer, the pastures will be filled with vomiting and crackling new small woolly lives, which you can walk around and visit after coffee (depending on how the future looks). The inspiration comes from Nina’s children and grandchildren who often visit the farm and the animals.

– It’s nice to be able to share the joy in the little things, like holding a newly hatched chicken, there are many who do not know where the eggs come from. A large part of this investment is the opportunity to share with generations who do not have the same opportunity to be close to animals. My husband has also grown into the role of pet owner and is now at least as committed as I am, says Nina.

She grows vegetables, root vegetables, potatoes and spices for household use in the summer, picks berries on the farm and has eggs so that it is enough all year round. In the farm shop, she will, among other things, sell eggs, meat, sheepskin and freshly baked sourdough bread to visitors. Before it is in place, the surplus is sold via Rekorutt 616 and social media.

Bread nerd

Nina has always had an interest in the handicraft housework and liked to bake and carpentry. In 2017, she heard about a sourdough course in Bensbyn that she jumped on, and then another. Since then, she has experimented, developed and found her feel for the bread, beyond recipes and watches. She adjusts the amount and time according to the season and weather as well as the properties of the flour. Only flour, water and salt are required, but for Nina it is important to have organic flour directly from the mill and unrefined salt. Sourdough bread takes time and it has its procedure, but it beats everything else in taste according to Nina.

– Good, pure, natural raw materials are the cornerstone of everything, I do not bother in any curves. I will bake bread and coffee with regard to animals and the environment, with local ingredients and without unnecessary additives. That’s the most important thing to me. I strive for it to be as sustainable as possible, says Nina.

The idea of sustainability permeates the entire lifestyle and farm of Nina and Ulf and they recycle and recycle as much as they can and take advantage of what nature provides. Behind everything there is the love of nature, because they like nature, they also want to be afraid of it.

– We have taken old brick from the old barn and built it into the oven. It was a great feeling to be able to use it in the bakery, says Nina.

The wood that heats the oven and bakes the sourdough bread comes from the forest around the house node. This can be called local life. #

Facts

Name / Nina Hahto, 58 years.

Family / Husband Ulf, 59 years old, self-employed, two children, 30 and 32 years old, and grandchildren.

Lives / Rural on a farm in Bjässmoran outside Boden.

Do / Self-employed and personal assistant.

@bjassparken_garden

Fruit and almond bread in a cast iron pot

650 g stone ground flour

450 g of water

200 g fresh bubbling sourdough

15 g coarse sea salt

20 g of honey

100 g raisins and apricots

50 g almonds

Day 1

1. Chop raisins and apricots. Pour boiling water over and let soak for 30 minutes. Pour off the water. Roughly chop the almonds and roast in a dry frying pan.

2. Mix flour and water with sourdough. Stir until

the dough goes together.

Let the dough rest for 45 minutes under plastic wrap.

Sprinkle with salt, add raisins and apricots, roasted almonds and honey. Fold it into the dough; make four folds in 60 minutes (every quarter).

Let rest for about 1.5 hours.

6. Shape the bread and place it on a floured cloth in a basket or bowl. Set in the fridge overnight in a plastic box.

Day 2

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees in good time.

2. Place the oven rack so that the pot fits with the lid. Preheat the pot for 10-15 minutes.

3. Place the dough in the pan and slice the bread. Put the lid on and set in the oven. Bake for a total of 40-45 minutes, remove the lid after half the time.

Good luck!