Know anything about Sweden’s climate and daylight hours? For those of you who don’t, well, a very quick summary would be along the lines of: The south is much hotter than the north, but has shorter daylight hours, thus focusing on agriculture differently from the northern parts. The north has a lot of midnight sun, the amount depending on actually how close to the North Pole you go. Something both parts have in common is the fact that during the winter you can’t grow anything, making the actual growing season very short. Especially during the spring a common sight is Swedes feverishly working on their gardens. In a lot of places, maybe more so out in the country-side, people share plants by putting them out on a common table where people who want can take them and leave other plants if they choose to. The fact that everybody can improve their gardens for free is a really good idea I think.

 “Dagsverkan” is a common event as well (literally translated along the lines of “days work/operation”). This event involves everybody coming together to take care of the commonly- owned green areas. By dividing into work teams – again the social bit is just as important as the work that is done- people spend a whole day outside raking, picking up garbage, cleaning up mini-golf courses and cutting back branches. Fika is always an important way to wrap up a day’s work!