Valabærjet
Meet us
We believe that living in harmony with nature doesn’t require becoming a fanatic, restrictive or removed from society. Nor should it be expensive and inaccessible for most.
This project started around 2014 and has slowly grown ever since on a road paved with lots of trials, successes and failures. You can trust us, it would be too long to write down all the ups and downs we’ve been through. The important thing is : we never gave up and we tried to learn something every bit of the way.
So here we are, with the pieces of knowledge and experience we’ve gathered. I suppose we have become a little like weeds, resilient and stubborn, determined to make it through. You’d be surprised how much wisdom one can learn from them.
In short, Valabærjet is our way to live in interaction with nature, by being small scale, inclusive and respectful, trying our best. We take inspiration from permaculture books and farms, use as little noisy and oil drinking machines as possible, preferring old manual tools to new expensive ones. Since we live in a colder northern climate than most permaculture farms, it carries its loads of experimenting with different flora and seasons. We hope we can therefore be a beacon of help or hope to our fellow northerners interested in a different way of gardening/small scale farming. Just remember we’re still learning ourselves how to adapt to long unpredictable winters and tempestuous summers.
We believe as well that with the climate change we’re all experiencing right now, this could be a way to make it through. After all, our weeds adapted remarkably well to it, why shouldn't we?
I was once told that sharing is caring. This is what this website is about. It’s not a bragging place to harvest likes and popularity, but rather a way to care both for nature and for you, reading us right now, who might be wondering or simply curious. We hope that by doing our best, no matter how small it is, you can get something good out of it.
We wish you a pleasant journey into Valabærjet !
Morten
I`m Norwegian, heading towards 60 still trying to find out what to become when I grow up….
Life so far have given me various learnings from both theoretical education and practical work, not to forget amazing experiences through meeting people from many parts of the world. And yes, that`s how I met my love and partner Louise, and she moved from Belgium and into the deep woods of Norway.
Finding this place, Valabaerjet, some 12 years ago was a “revelation”. I have always loved nature with all its amazing wonders and the diversity of all living. It`s mysteries and the fact that it is a cornucopia of beauty, scents, tastes and sounds, and the possibilities…well they are endless. So moving here was like arriving to Paradise, in the middle of the woods with everything I love, and food growing right outside the door.
For me cooking is a joy where intuition flows, which means…I can never follow a recipe. I can get ideas from them but it always ends with a personal twist, and of course I love to create new dishes, and experiment with tastes and spices. Most of the time it actually comes out good. By the way, I love to eat the food as well, both Louise`s and mine…a bit like hobbits we are. Which also brings me to the incredible and fantastic gift we have through using what nature produce in a natural way. Some call it weeds and look for ways to get rid of it, but it is incredible how many different plants you can use for food, as herbs, as tea, as medicine and much more, and the joy of knowing that there is always more to learn…not to forget all berries and mushrooms growing, wooooohoooo love it.
As a “good” Norwegian I love skiing in the forest wintertime, as well as good walks during the rest of the year. To watch, listen, smell, taste and feel everything that surrounds us in nature. We need to remember that we are an equal part of nature as everything else, not something above it with the right to control and destroy because of progress.
Otherwise…love music, really enjoy folklore and old knowledge from nature and ways to refine it, books books books. Love taking photos in nature, and hope to be able to share some with you here and to give a little insight and inspiration of the grandness of nature.
Totally without fear, I just can`t resist trying every musical instrument I can get my hands on. You know it is like with good food, it asks to be eaten…instruments asks to be played. Sometimes it sounds horrible other times good, but for me playing instruments it is for the joy and fun of it. This also led me into singing in choirs a few years ago (actually, blame it on Louise, she “tricked” me into it ;) ) But know this, I am so grateful for this new experience. And I find great joy value in writing and drawing…and and and… Got it? I am a bit like Winnie the Pooh – “Yes please both”…and the third and the forth. There are so many exciting things to try, to learn, to experience…it`s endless…and it fills me with joy, I wanna do it all, now!
Louise
Where to start? Well, I’m mostly a work in progress. But allow me to break that down for you.
I’m a belgian, 30-something years old, graduate with a master degree in anthropology and ethnographic field research. I moved to Norway about 7ish years ago, after finding love under a tree, proving you can never predict where life’s gonna take you.
I have a great enthusiasm for medicinal plants, folklore and old knowledge from nature. So I’m more into green beings, birds, fairy stories, ancient brew, walks at night, … yes, only missing is the pointy hat you’ll say. But jokes aside, I try to keep both feet on the ground and can be a bit stubborn when it comes to practicality.
I Love to cook from scratch, finding a kind of childlike excitement in unlocking new recipes.
Viewing baking and cooking as a bit like alchemy: Mysterious and magical. It goes without saying that being able to harvest food, whether it’s foraging in our surrounding forest or in the garden, always puts me in a better mood.
Although a somewhat recovered dyslexic, I am a booklover. There’s never enough books in the house, nor is there enough time to read them all. Never-ending-story.
Artistic at heart, I like to draw, paint occasionally, play various musical instruments, some more and better than others, sing both in choirs and solo (and in the shower on sunny days). When it comes to craft, I knit and crochet but would love to explore embroidery, weaving, and loads of other fabulous techniques in the future.
I adore solving problems and puzzles (loooove puzzles… and hate them as well… it’s a complicated story). Give me a good itchy situation, and I’ll be delighted to find a way to make things work.
There, that’s a good start isn’t it?