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Thus on to Ön (and on and on) the stately cavalcade proceeds.

Their gay balloons and nylon skins oppress the dank and lowered sky

while rubber boots and hearty feet propel their worthy steeds.

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There were some fine bicycles, hats and particularly well-dressed people who eschewed sou'westers and made an effort!  Thank you all.

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The tail at rest and in action!  The Pied Piper of Hamelin has nothing on us...

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The great event!

So, Cykelturen! Skarume? happened, despite the rain!  It was with great trepidation that we set up, pretending the sun was shining and that soon there would be children laughing and running about on the yellow rug.

Alas, it was not to be.  A steady mizzle set in and those of us left behind at the school to set things up were overjoyed to see the brave souls of the cycle tour spin up on their steeds with their balloons gallantly flying.

We ran out of food; the Västerbotten smörgästårta was not only astonishingly well presented; but got eaten very quickly; we had to cut more wood to make handlebar gardens; Ingela Hansson of Baggböle Gård sold lots of excellent eggs and chutneys and Bella Bella repaired at least 20 bicycles!

Some photographs from the Maestro Voss are to follow, and some recipes for those who missed them on the day.

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Some delectable chutneys, jams and eggs...

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Cykelturen! Skarume? is underway...

Eggs have been purchased for the smörgåstårta from Baggböle Gård, recipes are being collected, bicycles rescued, farmers called, workshops instigated...

Only two days to go!

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The time to collect birch sap has just passed here.  As the first leaves begin to form and the sap rises, it is tapped and fed into bottles.  This old folk remedy, rich in vitamins and minerals, is best collected at this time, as when the leaves open it becomes bitter.

Birch has about 0.5-1% sugar in its sap, in comparison to maple with 2-5%.  As about 100 units of birch sap are needed to create one of syrup, it's no wonder it is less commercially successful than its cousin!

However, drunk neat, turned into birch lemonade or beer, its distinctive woody taste is becoming more well known outside the traditional stamping ground of Eastern Europe, where it is traditionally bottled and sold.

Tapping a tree about 8" across, a few feet up the trunk ensures not too much sap is taken, although most can be tapped for days at a time before drying up which means gallons can be collected!

It needs to be frozen or pasteurised within a couple of days, as it is highly perishable.

Of course, it's best to combine the sometimes slow, drip drop tapping with a riverside barbecue...

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Some more eating together, with the delights provided by the organic, KRAV-certified plants of the Hällnäs greenhouses.  Turning a bag of local basil into pesto with Västerbotten cheese - a twist with no Italian ingredients!

Eating such food in the still-cold air of Lycksele, usually associated with warmer climes, brings into focus the issue of groundedness.  When the same town has 5,000 year old petroglyphs in its centre, local food has obviously sustained human life for a significant length of time.

Do we eat what we're used to or try new things?  How does one keep one's identity, tied up as it is with food, and experience a new culture, with all the culinary offerings it affords?

Meat and drink.  In the original sense of food rather than flesh, our meat and meetings mete our relationships. Con vivo.  Conviviality.

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Salad.  Do you eat a lot?  Or enough?  In case you wondered where it came from, here are some pictures that will probably help you understand.

Growing from seeds to packaged plants inside the same enormous greenhouse, herbs, lettuce, and flowers are pampered. 

So why do they die almost as soon as one gets them home?

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"It is enough to smell, to crumble the dark earth,

While the robin sings over again

Sad songs of Autumn mirth."

Edward Thomas

Luckily the short dropping of leaves that is Autumn has vanished, along with the frozen nights, and today Umeå is basking in apparently unseasonal sun.  Umeälven is almost free from ice, and the sunbathers are out in force.

Fresh from trundling at high speed around Norrland to Kiruna and beyond, we are bringing a fresh perspective to the production and consumption of food.

Stay tuned for pictures from inside Hällnäs salad factory... 

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Making and eating together.  Taiwanese evening.

Get a group together and show them, then eat the proceeds!

Do you know a special dish?

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Productive places, as the days lengthen.

Hello Hesiod!  I think that should probably be the title of a slim volume somewhere.

Organising to grow, when there's only a small window to do it in renews a connection to the seasons that is often lost, or at least overwritten in the palimpsest of modern life.

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Cykelturen Skarume?

A big yellow cycle ride through Umeå followed by a picnic, workshops & more! Meet at 2.p.m at...

If you have Facebook, follow, like and whatever else you do. If not, have a look for updates until the day itself!

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Phototropism!

Is it possible to be productive in the short growing season of Umeå?  It seems that even rather more southerly plants enjoy the situation behind the windows of the Architecture School.  Cucumbers, courgettes, red peppers, sweet peas...  We hope to make a map of how productive the town could be, having been struck by the brown grass that covers most of the areas that in Britain would at least have wild flowers!

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May 11th.  Cycle tour around Umeå, followed by a picnic with local food producers, growers, interested parties, musicians and bicýcle repairers!  Pimp your bike, discover what grows in Västerbotten, try drinking birch sap, and talk to farmers.  Bring a picnic, find out where your food comes from!