The dream of taking back the cultural landscape
From ancient times, large parts of the outfield around the farm were a playground for grazing animals. Both cows and sheep roamed here. It was an important resource utilization for the farm and must have been great for the animals too. There was a fence from the farm down to Lake Bokke, the fence did not go up until far out on Bokkeryggen and then over what is the road to Notodden today and up towards Dålåtjønn. Today, most of this area is forest and there is little that reminds of lush meadows.
In the winter of 2021, we started. We raised part of the forest that had grown on the edge of the field towards the farm, as well as what we expected would be the new fence route. In addition, we also manually raised parts of what was to become pasture.
When the frost passed, we started putting up the fence. There were a lot of rocks and stones in the area. We used drilling machines to drill down iron posts that were then driven into the most difficult areas. The whole family contributed and we were very happy when we reached the finish line. The total length of the fence was 820 meters and with that an area of about 45 daa.
We have had good dialogue with the Nisi family who have had sheep grazing in Jonrud, so they had put in extra animals for this new pasture. On May 21st, the summer guests checked in, 13 ewes and 14 lambs. Within a month, another lamb was born too - it's been a long time since that happened at Bolkesjø!
The plan going forward is to slowly but surely cut down more of the coniferous forest in the area. It is important to take your time in such restorations and let the soil adapt to the changed conditions. Over the years, more and more grass will appear and the logging waste will eventually disappear.
