mmm. we were sojourners in Sweden thirty years ago, and were taken in by a Swedish family Christmas eve (Jul?) They gave us Dala horses; without them we would have had no Christmas presents.

What I remember most and best about the food is a thin potato bread that you rolled up like today's wraps - but better. Blood sausage - to my surprise, delicious. The Swedes put the food on the back of the fork, all the way to where the handle started. They thought we were funny switching hands with the fork. Hot chocolate with real whipped cream while we watched the skaters and people coming up to talk to us just because we were speaking English.

Catching the bus while it was dark to go to school, and it not light until 10 am. Those sleds - just a chair on two long runners, and you stood on the runners and kicked, giving a ride to your groceries or passenger. Those who lived close to school rode the sleds there over the packed snow on the roads - no salt or ashes or plowing. Sitting on that sled watching the snow blur by while the wild kid behind you kicked it down the hill full speed, in the early dark.

Snow ball igloos sheltering candles on Christmas eve, glowing with soft light. Beds built into cupboards. And never being cold inside our house.

thanks for posting these! we'll have to try some of them out. tammy

How is this relevant to gardening in the Carolinas? It is very sweet of you to share this but perhaps it should be in the Conversations section - i.e., topics not of a gardening nature. What kind of plants do the Swede's grow? Having a short growing season they should have some great tips on caring for short season crops or advice on warming the winter soil.

Nancy, just whip yourself up a little glogg and relax. Cardamon is a growing thing! How horticultural is that!

Nan,

A lot of my family traditions, and how I decorate and celebrate Christmas, comes from my Swedish and Irish/British heritages. When I was offering some of my suggestions to puppyscruff, I mentioned some of the Natural things I use to make decorations. I talked about other things too, like traditional family foods.
I was asked to post the recipes by several people who posted on the forum, including Claire. Sorry if it somehow offends anyone or seems irrelevant to the Carolina forum.
[I did mention using dried Calendula Flowers (pot marigolds) that you can grow and dry yourself. LOL]

As far as growing things in Sweden, in the summer the sun never completely sets, so even though the growing season is short, and Sweden is far north inside the Arctic Circle, you have almost 24 hours of daylight, so it is like having 4 full months of growing time packed into a two month period! I have several photos taken at a MidSummer's Night Festival in June (Summer solstice). It looks like the photos were taken during day, when in fact they were taken quite late at night! (The Land of the midnight sun)

Things really grow quite well. Plenty of moisture, sunlight, and great soil. You can't grow hot weather plants, like okra, but you shouldn't be surprised to learn that they have greenhouses for growing warm weather plants and tropicals, and for season extenders, too. Collecting and growing Cacti is among the top hobbies in Sweden now. It is all the rage.

In the winter, the nights in contrast, are longer than normal, and light is precious. Hence, candles through the ages were highly valued to bring light into their dark winter. They are part of the culture and at Christmastime, they celebrate Winter Solstice with parties and burning of candles, because from that point on, the nights will steadily grow shorter and the days longer. Sankta Lucia Day is the Celebration of Light- of hope, faith and sacrifice.
So, we light lots of colorful candles, decorate our table with blue and white china and lots of natural greenery, berries and other things from Nature, beautiful red flowers and make gingerbread cookies, Lucia Bread and drink lots of Glögg!

~Annie

It's a delight to celebrate one's heritage in plants and other cultural identification.

When I traveled to Italy not so long ago, the one thing that brought me to tears was the garden in front of my grandmother's primitive stone house (she was born in 1887). The iris and peonies reminded me of her garden in MA.

My northern Italian relatives make their lasagna with mushrooms, not tomatoes, but there are warning signs everywhere about picking poisonous fungi!

It's a delight to celebrate one's heritage in plants and other cultural identification.

When I traveled to Italy not so long ago, the one thing that brought me to tears was the garden in front of my grandmother's primitive stone house (she was born in 1887). The iris and peonies reminded me of her garden in MA.

My northern Italian relatives make their lasagna with mushrooms, not tomatoes, but there are warning signs everywhere about picking poisonous fungi!

This past summer I spent some time in Alaska and was surprised at all the plants you can grow there. It was also surprising to see the difference a few days made. You could hike a certain trail one day and wildplants were just a foot tall and come back to the same spot a week later and they would be blooming and 4 feet tall. I was there before summer solstice and the swarms of mosquitos emerged so I thought it very livable. But it was odd to land at just after midnight and watch the sun setting from the plane.

we saw cabbages growing in alaska's matanuska valley that were at least 24" in diameter, and broccoli plants 4' tall.
i've often thought that their mega-summer crop production is a blessing for those who need to can & preserve foods to last through the long winters. a 24"+ cabbage is a whole lotta saurkraut!

it's a wonder a specialty market hasn't capitalized on that. that's incredible. i'd always read that more light doesn't make stuff grow better (like for starting seeds you're not supposed to do more than 16 hrs/day), but apparently that doesn't always hold true, huh? tammy

They was a lot of attention given to that idea Tammy...back in the 1970s. There were quite a few articles written about that very subject in the old Organic Gardening magazine, the ones that were printed on recycled newspapers - no color glossies, very few ads and lots of great articles about things that showed you how to grow food and flowers and be more self-sufficient. How you could produce-more-with less, and make-it-yourself-with-what-you've-got-on-hand.

At that time, Grow Lights also came into being and greenhouses really popped up everywhere. Cold Frames and Compost piles and building Burmed Houses out of recycled materials with Skylights and ceiling fans and Solar Panels. And a whole lot more. Save energy - Save the Earth - Grow your own, feed the world and Live in PEACE!

~Annie

what happened?!? look at how much damage has been done to the world since then. :`( at least there are lots of folks who are concerned and trying to make a difference. and peace- well, hell, we won't even GO there.

my first thought was if someone pays more for baby veggies, they'd pay more for giant ones, too (as long as they tasted good; well, ok as long as they looked good with the way people shop nowadays). taste & pesticides- that's why i grow a lot of my own stuff. at least as much as i have time, space & sun for. i'll admit i don't shop organic (too expensive), but do shop for taste, not looks. t

What happened? Greed my dear!
Politicians and Big Business started the ball and the insatiable appetite of greedy, spoiled Americans joined in and began handing them the power to rape the world.

More money, More things, Bigger this and better that; Look younger; look rich and glamorous; Smile big and talk sweetly even though you are corrupt inside because esthetics is what counts, right? More Food; More products, more luxury, More, More MORE!!!! Spare no one and nothing. And the politicians said to big busines, "Just to show how sincere we are, we will offer up America's children first!" It has been a snowball from hell since then...
That is what happened. IMHO

~ Annie

At the risk of angering our OT censors, I gotta say...ain't that sweet annie somethin'...i love you, girl.

Annie,
how do you pronounce glogg?

how do you pronounce glogg?

Here is a link that might be useful: how do you pronounce glogg?

annie!
thanks for the timely posting of your swedish recipes ... i know a young man going to sweden for a study abroad semester, and i'll be baking
those gingerbread-pepper cookies to give him for
christmas. they sound fabulous! i'm thinking about brewing up some of that glogg for a christmas party :)

i'll second that thought, pup - annie's a gem - so generous with her knowledge and enthusiasm, and i soak it up like a sponge :)

cheers!
marsha

The Swedish letter ö is not an 'o' with an umlaut over it, but an actual letter. It has three pronunciations:

1. "u" as in "full"
2. "er" as in "her"
3. "eux" as in the French word "deux"

The Swedish letter G = [ j ] before e, i, y, ä or ö, and pronounced [ g ] elsewhere.
The letter ö in the word Glögg is pronounced similiar to the "er" as in "her".

So, the word Glögg is pronounced like "Glergg".

~ Annie