I thought this might be a good time to tell you a little about what it means to work on an organic farm in Northern Norway, as this is not something that most people will ever do. Here is a little bit about the day to day life on the farm. Those of us who are working here are staying in one house; a very cozy farm house with enough beds for 2 to a room. The farm house includes a kitchen, large living room, wood fireplace and our shower. We take it in turns to serve/clean up from meals, but Roger (our host) does all of the cooking. Thats actually a big rule, you have to stay out of the kitchen if Roger is cooking. 

Our day starts at 7:30 am, when we get up for breakfast. We have to be at the table at 8:15 am, although Roger often lets us sleep in until 8:36. We start work at 9, so the last part of breakfast is usually discussing what the jobs will be for the day. We send our harvest to several different eco-shops in town, and they are sold from there, and we also deliver to a couple of the higher-end restaurants in Tromsø. This means that we have a lot of work to do, even if it feels like there is nothing, we are always preparing. So the mornings usually consist of picking, today it was potatoes. I think I like picking potatoes the best, its very gratifying. We do whichever job we have until 11 am, when we take our tea. This is actually usually coffee, unless Matteo or Jeremy want espresso. Im still too scared to use the “real” espresso maker. 

  
We go back to work at 11:30, and this is usually weighing and sorting whatever we picked in the morning. One of our big projects right now is making a new Strawberry field out of a piece of land that had been a potato field at one point. So whenever we dont have more picking to do, we are digging new rows for the strawberries, or cutting up the runners to plant. 

  
Lunch is at 1:30 and then we usually take a siesta until 3. When we start work again, we are usually picking more carrots, strawberries, or potatoes, and in my case, this is usually when I have to start watching the tent for self pickers. People come from all over to pick strawberries and potatoes on this farm, so I have to stay close in case they have any questions. My Nyorsk isnt great, but they go easy on me, especially as I am new to the metric system. 

Work ends at 5, and that is when we play. We go fishing, swimming, or hiking, or play with the new aquisitions of roller skis. Some days I just make a pot of tea and read or knit. Today I hiked up into the woods to pick Chanterelles and Lingon berries, and to get a good view of the ocean. 

  (Tyler and Jeremy practicing on roller skis)

We usually dont eat dinner until around 8:45, so we have lots of time to relax before the amazing food. Roger is an incredible cook, and he makes something wonderful each night. I have to admit, reindeer was great. The fish is my favorite though. Any kind of fish. 

  
Tonight we had lefse with dark cheese, but often we have ice cream or norwegian waffles, or even better eis kakar (Ice cake. its the best ice cream cake on earth). And then we have been spending a lot of time outside looking at the northern lights (which often appear in the south here), and watching them lik our lives depend on them. So we havent been sleeping much. 

  
Thats about it for the typical day on the farm!