FEATURE STORIES

Farming life on the rise

Running a farm today requires new thinking. For Rebecka and Filip Westermark, who took over a family farm in Sjöbotten, the answer was apples.

Strangely enough, it all started with a banana peel.

In 2020, Filip and Rebecka took over the farm in Sjöbotten. Filip's parents moved a few hundred meters away, to his grandfather's old house. There was a kind of shake-up within the family - the farm would live on, but not in exactly the same way as before.

- "We couldn't extend the barn," says Rebecka. So you have to start at the other end. What can actually be done here? What opportunities do we have on our farm? Every place has its own unique conditions and you have to think broadly.

Apples were never the plan. It was an acquaintance of Philip's parents who got in touch, she was involved in an EU project in collaboration with Brännlands Iscider. The question was whether they wanted to join in and test large-scale apple growing in the north?

This was right on the edge of the takeover, so the parents referred the question to the future owners.

- We actually slipped into a banana peel - or apple peel perhaps you should say. And so we stood there, with an offer that was a little too fun to turn down.

Months passed and before the apple trees arrived, they had time to have a dialog with Brännland's ice cider and prepare where the apple trees would be planted.

- One morning a driver from Finland knocked on the door and said he had 1000 plants in tow. We just had to get started," says Filip.

That the farm should be called Äppeluddens Lantbruk felt like a matter of course.

The timing turned out to be right. Both Rebecka and Filip felt it was time to try something new. They were already farming, but also saw the need to think long-term.

- "If you run a small farm today, you almost have to diversify," says Filip. It increases the chances of making ends meet.

Filip grew up on the farm, but Rebecka also had experience of farming. She grew up on her family farm, with a barn and horses, and as a child she insisted on having her own potato farm.

Right after high school, she applied for a job - and ended up with Filip's parents in Sjöbotten.

- "And this is where I stayed," she laughs. "There's something about this life that I've always been drawn to. The seasons, the routines, being outside. I think it's so beautiful to follow the year through nature and animals. The calves, the arrival of the swans, the spring crops. You feel like you're part of something bigger," she says.

Today there are about 1000 apple trees in a field behind the house and barn. Neatly lined up and with their roots buried in the lake bottom soil.

Most have done well, despite being planted in one of Sweden's tougher growing zones. The explanation lies partly in the varieties - many are Finnish and Russian, selected for their hardiness - but also in how they were planted. Rebecka and Filip arranged raised beds to avoid the wet ground in spring and get a little temperature boost.

- "Just getting up a few centimeters can mean that we go from zone 5 to zone 4 in practice," says Filip. "It gets warmer a little earlier in the spring, and that is often crucial.

In total, they have planted 34 different varieties. Some have already started to bear fruit, but it is only now that they are beginning to get a feel for which ones will work in the long term.

- "So, winter cinnamon... I was absolutely lyrical," says Rebecka and laughs. It tasted like raspberry soda. Pekka was more into cherries, all the apples we tried are good in different ways.

- We often hear that people think two trees on the plot is a lot. It gives you a bit of perspective when you stand out here," says Filip.

- "Come on, come on, come on," they both shout in chorus and whistle.

It doesn't take many seconds before the response is heard from the other side of the paddock.

Soon there are about 20 cows waiting for a treat. Svante, Sota and the oldest lady Silva and all the others of the SKB and Jersey breeds and some crosses with Angus. All three breeds of cattle are selected thanks to their marbled and fine meat.

The idea is to create a cycle. The sheep are happy to graze where the weed bracken grows - a weed the cows avoid - and there are plans to start beekeeping for pollination, and to put up hives to attract birds that eat the sticklebacks.

- "Organic is good, of course, but we want the whole system to be connected," says Rebecka. "It should give something back. We'd rather spend our time lambing than pulling weeds by hand.

Everyday life is a puzzle, but very different from a normal family puzzle.

They now have a daughter who is three years old, Rebecka is studying to be a textile teacher, and Filip has a job as a teacher at the Agricultural High School in Burträsk. The work on the farm varies greatly depending on the season. Now in the fall, it's harvesting, pruning - and late nights with the rest of the farm.

- "It's not exactly nine to five," says Filip. "It often gets late. But you get used to it and we help each other.

- I take the morning with my daughter, leave for the preschool and take care of the animals, says Rebecka. Then the day goes in one. We eat together, then I put the daughter to bed and he does an evening shift outside. We're inside around half past ten, right?

- It's that thing with the darkness, says Filip. In the fall, the window to do something sensible outside in the evenings shrinks.

Still, it feels worth it. They both agree that it is the desire to do something meaningful that drives them. To see results - not just in the form of apples, meat or wool, but in the whole.

- We want to be able to leave our place on earth in good condition for those who come after us. That's what keeps you going, even on days when you wonder what you're doing," says Rebecka.

- And it's fun, says Filip. "It has to be, otherwise you won't last in the long run.

Text: Daniel Bergeman

Photo: Patrick Degerman