Weekend Coffee Share – mountain biking and gardening

Posted byMariaPosted inContainer gardening, Dalarna, Gardening, Intentional Living, Sustainable options, SwedenTags:, , , , , , , ,

Welcome to the weekend coffee share! Can I get you a cup of coffee? Perhaps ice coffee? Or ice tea? We have temperatures in the mid 60’s, and partly cloudy, rather comfortable in other words. Some days there’s been a few rain showers, but it’s not cold. We’ve had some rather windy days this week as well. Next week we’ll have a few days in the 70’s. I really like these temperatures since they allow for other outdoors activities than just swimming and hanging out at the beach. I am grateful for many bike rides, and long walks this week. 

On Tuesday I challenged myself mountain biking at Lugnet Nature Reserve (https://greendreams.blog/2021/07/21/exploring-dalarna-lugnets-nature-reserve-falun/.) Some of the trails are very steep, rocky and have massive root systems all over the trails, add some pine cones on top of that and it becomes rather challenging. I am not the daredevil I once was. LOL. I do always have a wonderful time at Lugnet. It’s only a five minute bike ride from my house, and I am so grateful for this sanctuary. 

On Wednesday I took my daughter to see the new Jurassic Park movie. We both really enjoyed the movie. 

Walking to the movie theatre.

I mentioned last week about getting some extra gardening space. It’s a local garden society that have a few gardening plots that they lease out for a symbolic sum, and a little bit of maintenance work every year. The plots have water and an excellent location. All gardening are done by organic practices only, and every plot are required to have their own compost. You have to be approved by the gardening society, and then there is a waiting list. I have been on their waiting list for a while, and now I finally came to the top of the waiting list. I looked at two garden lots last Sunday, and picked one of them. It is going to need some work. I’m going to keep some of the existing flowers, raspberry bushes, and lavender, but my plan is to clear out everything else. I’ll move some of my plants (seedlings) from the balcony there (mostly warm weather plants and the lot isn’t as protected as the balcony is), but for now I’ll focus on clearing up, build some raised garden beds, and plant a fall garden this year. After that I’ll plant some berry bushes, and rhubarbs. It would be lovely to plant a whole section of garlic later this fall. 

Eggplant seedling that I am going to plant at the garden plot next week.
Bell pepper
I am going to plant these warm weather seedlings at the garden plot, even though I am not sure that it will be warm enough, long enough, for them to produce anything. They are all ‘surprise plants’ growing from last years compost that I added to my soil.

Next year I’ll have raised beds, and a regular in ground garden, and a variety of berries. I am super excited to get my hands dirty again! Organic gardening is the only type of gardening I am interested in, that makes me extra grateful for this opportunity. This is a common description of what organic gardening is, in case you are wondering:

  • No synthetic fertilizers 
  • Zero synthetic pesticides, fungicides or herbicides  
  • No GMOs 
  • Nurturing soil biology 
  • Growing diverse crops 
  • Using compost or other types of organic matter 
  • Purchasing only organic, untreated seeds 
  • Planting pollinator habitat
Organic Gardening 101 For Beginners: How To Start an Organic Garden
Not my article, but a really great one about how to start an organic garden.

My daughter is also super excited about having a real garden again, if you think I have big plans you should hear her plans! She has it all figured out. She’s going to have a fairytale garden decorated with painted rocks, surrounded by flowers, and a cherry tree in the middle. I’m going to encourage her to stick to her plan.

There’s still plenty of cherry tomatoes in my container garden. I’m using succession planting, seeding crops at intervals in order to maintain a consistent supply of harvestable produce throughout the season.

Your turn! Tell me about all the things going on in your neck of the woods. Thank you Natalie for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share. I hope you are enjoying a fabulous weekend!

Love,

Maria

Published by Maria

It’s all about experiences, and the healing power of nature. Life is about choosing happiness. My gypsy soul have taken me to many different countries, and definitely taught me to be more humble. I believe that you are what you eat; mind, body and soul. I enjoy growing my own food, and spending time outdoors. I now reside in the region where I was born Dalarna, Sweden. I am a mom, a minimalist and a gardener. I'm also a kindergarten teacher with a dream of improving practices of teaching sustainability in kindergarten. To be able to engage in educational research I am working on my Degree of Master of Science, Main Field of Study: Educational Work. Love, Maria

49 thoughts on “Weekend Coffee Share – mountain biking and gardening”

  1. Wow, you are really good at growing veggies, Maria! Your weather sounds delightfully comfortable as opposed to 108 here today, and 113 this weekend! I love the photos of your beautiful countryside. Have a great weekend!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you for your kindness John. Gardening is something I enjoy very much.

      Three digit temperatures is awfully hot. Stay safe. I’ll send you some homemade ice tea 🙂 Enjoy your weekend!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  2. So glad you got a plot in the garden… sounds perfect for you. What are its dimensions roughly? How far away is it from your apt? Great that H is excited, too. Gardening together is better than alone. 🙂
    Things here are much the same, the days have been mostly in the 80s, with reasonable humidity making it pleasant. I putter in the garden, the bees found my poppies, hurrah, and I cut my first two sweet peas, a scent I adore. Loving these summer days!
    Enjoy your weekend!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That sounds about perfect! I bet your garden love the 80’s and the humidity.
      I am so excited to do some more gardening soon. The dimensions of the plot is approximately 1/4acres, maybe slightly bigger. Big enough to grow several crops. It’s on a south facing slope, there’s plenty of water, and the soil is rich. It’s a 15min bike ride from home. I can see us gardening here for a long time. It’s a very good option at the moment. Have a wonderful rest of your weekend Eliza.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Most of the seeds I’ve saved from previous harvests. If I eat a vegetable I like a lot I try to save some seeds. I also barter seeds with other gardeners. Sometimes I order seed. I don’t know where you lived, but if you do live in the US I love Bakercreek Heirloom Seeds https://www.rareseeds.com. I’ve ordered from them a few times. Most of the vegetables in my garden right now originate from their seeds. My last order to them was probably four years ago, after that I’ve saved the seeds, their seeds are true heirloom seeds, no hybrids whatsoever. Best of luck to your husband with his garden. Where does he get his seeds from?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Typically, he would purchase small organic plants from a store and plant them in Earth boxes. Now that he is retired, he wants to plant vegetables from seed. We are strong believers in the organic process and only eat these products. Thank you so much for sharing about Bakercreek Heirloom Seeds. So glad I read your post!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. I’m so happy that we met here 🙂 Wonderful that he is able to find organic plants. It is wise to consider where your food comes from. If we at least can grow some of it ourselves it’s a very good thing, and the knowledge of how to do it is one worthy of acquiring.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  5. The new garden plot sounds exciting, well done on being approved! Those mountain bike trails look good. I have some forest tracks behind my property (in Australia) which I use as walking tracks but they are also used as mountain bike tracks. I have ridden them but I’m not that confident and prefer less technical trails to ride on. You seem much more capable than me!! Visiting from #weekendcoffeeshare

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi Debbie, thank you for your kind comment! It sounds like a blast to have forest tracks right behind your property 🙂 Wonderful! I’d say that I definitely prefer less technical trails as well, just being surrounded by forest and nature is something my soul have craved ever since I was a very young girl. I hope you are enjoying a great weekend! Thank you for having coffee with me.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. Mountain biking and gardening sound like a perfect week. I have a huge organic garden with plants, vegies and a mini orchard. I have loved gardening but we have sold our house to down size. I will have to learn how to do a small garden. I’m sure it will be a challenge

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. In my world that combination is perfect 🙂
      I imagine it would be very hard to downsize your garden space, in fact I have experience with that, its not fun, but doable. You can grow almost everything in containers if you have too. There are many inspiring youtube videos filled with ideas how to create wonderful small space gardens, and then there’s Pinterest 🙂 That is one thing I love about the internet, the endless stream of ideas when we face new challenges. We really don’t have to invent the wheel again, somebody else (usually thousands of people) have already faced our challenges. Best of luck with your new garden. Keep us posted. ❤

      Like

      Reply

  8. Lovely pictures in your coffee share. Your biking trail looks challenging.

    I took my boys to see the Jurassic movie. I felt like there could have been more dinosaurs in it, but we really liked it.

    Thanks for the virtual coffee, Maria.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you! Some of the trails are slightly more technical than I would prefer.

      I do remember you jurassic park marathon before taking them! How fun that they enjoyed the movie 🙂 It was actually my first time going to the movies after Covid.

      Thank you for your lovely company! I hope you weekend is fabulous!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. Thank you for your weekend coffee share. That’s exciting to have a garden plot to grow your own food and it’s great that your daughter loves to be involved. Happy biking and gardening,

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you Trent! I am, I am enjoying this summer immensely 🙂 A huge difference from Vegas indeed. I never liked Vegas, I never liked it when vacationing there, and I never liked it when I lived there. I did enjoy the surrounding nature, but not as much as the clean nature and abundance of water and trees here. Good thing we all enjoy different things 🙂 Have a great rest of your weekend!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. Hi Maria,
    I finally made it back before the end of the weekend.
    This looks like a wonderful opportunity and I hope your daughter keeps and enlarges her vision and dream.
    Finally, you really had me at cherry tomatoes.
    Even the much less tasty store bought ones and favorite treats here. I often just throw a handful on my lunch plate.
    Blessings.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much Gary! Cherry tomatoes are a wonderful snack. I mostly grow them for that very reason, everyone loves them 🙂 Have a wonderful new week!

      Like

      Reply

  13. Hi Maria!
    I’m soooo excited for your plot of land you’ve been approved for growing an organic garden. I didn’t realize the difference (never really thought about it since I’m a garden neophyte! Lol) I feel like I have trouble putting in the time for gardening these days but I truly want to learn more. So keep inspiring like you do and thank you for sharing the links and all you do so that one day when I finally put on my gardening gloves I’ll have some ideas what to plant and how to do it!! Lol 🤩
    Your daughter makes me excited too!! All her ideas sounds so fun and cute. Your tomatoes are mouth watering!! YUMMY!

    Your nature photos are so beautiful too! Like you, I get so much being outside and I’m drinking in all my horse time. I’ve been busy helping others as I shared last week. I’m going to try and post again here as I’ve figured out a schedule and so this last week went really smoothly. I’m also super happy as Murphy’s training is getting better and better each time I ride him. It’s taken time and patience but it’s so FUN!! I enjoyed our visit and have a great week ahead!!! 😍🥦🥕🐴🤠💖

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you my friend! Isn’t it a wonderful thing that we can inspire each other? You share your horses with me, since I currently don’t have the time to have one, and I share my gardening endeavours with you 😉 I love seeing and hearing your updates about Murphy, I am well aware of that some challenges always are included when it comes to young ones. Keep up the good work. ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. AWW, you’re so sweet and that’s a wonderful, wonderful trade and thank you for your kind comments. Coming from you an accomplished horse woman your words of encouragement means so much!! 💞

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  14. Hi Maria – lovely scenery on your bike rides and the weather looks glorious. You’re certainly showing your green thumb with your gardening and those little cherry tomatoes look delicious.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: