Annual report 2025
My stay at Opsal Gård was absolutely beautiful. For one, Nature is living there in it’s complete wilderness thanks to Geo’s deep care for it. Biodiversity is really important there and I experienced it concretely for the first time. A real opening to a better understanding of the world! I felt welcomed there as in a family; sharing meals, living together in this incredible farm house, laughing, playing, going on small trips… Geo has this unique capacity to create a safe and welcoming atmosphere, and is incredibly generous with her time, her knowledge, her interest in people and whatever we would need to work or go on trips. Finally, I loved the diversity of the work: with vegetable gardens, doing compost, working with wood, going dumpster diving, taking care of horses, replanting trees,… I wish to Opsal Gård and Geo to keep on inspiring people, helping Nature takes its own place, and spreading seeds of change. ☀️ Juliette from Wwoof 2025
This year there were somewhat fewer volunteers, often between 3 and 6. In total there were 55, including those who came on courses. Having smaller groups was a decision to give more time for each volunteer, and less stress. It worked well! There have been 9 volunteers from other years who have chosen to come back. So nice!
Although everything affects everything, the annual report is posted in different themes: Rewilding and Biodiversity/Livestock/Garden and production/Construction/Social
Rewilding og biodiversity
Arne Fahrenholz was at Opsal in November 2023 and inspired us about insects even in the cold season with snow on the ground. Now he came back in June and it was a pleasure to once again experience the Insect Messiah!
The big project he did was on ponds and wetlands. He took us to visit existing wetlands in the area. Then he made a new pond in the middle of the forest garden (from the original design). Its deeper and is designed out with a deeper knowledge. Then he went out into the surrounding wetlands to find moss and plants that can thrive.
Then he rehabilitated the pond we made before. He also wrote a small recommendation on how we can support with insects here on the farm and how we can get more wetlands. In the future, we want to use clay and not plastic in the ponds.Once a week we do the exercise where we ‘meet’ a more-than-human-being. It seems like a very important part of life on the farm and deepening the appreciation for what lives around us.
MORE-THAN-HUMAN-BEINGS
Once a week we do the exercise where we ‘meet’ a more-than-human-being. It seems like a very important part of life on the farm and deepening the appreciation for what lives around us.
Course with botanist and bumblebee expert
Eirin Bruholt from Lahumlesuse and the Botanical Gardens held two courses about wild bees and flowers which thrive in hay meadows.
The first course was with Jønsberg Secondary Agricultural School and then she held one that was open to everyone. She is a skilled educator and we learned a lot.
At the same time we met new and old neighbours and local students.
It was lucky that Arne, the volunteer with a special interest and knowledge of insects, was here and was active in the course.
FOREST
We cleared the old path down to the parallel road. Large ash trees have fallen there for many years, looming over the entrance. There were a bunch of us doing the job including our neighbour with a chainsaw. We also split some ash. We eventually have begun to transport it down to Harry to make planks. But THEN the storm came in September and many new large trees fell both in the ash forest and on the eastern side of the forest.
We removed a lot of aspen that has been growing in the Johanessurt field, the small field that is highest. Since the spruce clearing it gets much more light so its growing fast. It was absolutely incredible to see how the root network grows, but when autumn came we saw that there is still a lot left.
ONE YEAR, ONE TREE
We had a visit from Mari’s group where everyone is working on getting to know a tree over a year. Both the group from last year and this year meet. It was a lovely group which treasures and nourishes our respect for nature. We had another day in April, with lots of good exercises to deepen our contact with trees.NATURAL
FOREST MAPPING
With help from Michael, we have measured the trunks of the largest ash trees and have discovered mapping from the Innland County Governor’s biologist.
Tom Hofton is a biologist who has moved to the neighborhood with a lot of experience. We applied for funding for forest mapping, but unfortunately we were rejected. But we are going ahead anyway in the spring of 2026. Hofton has experience with mapping according to the type system “Nature types in Norway – NiN2” from 2021 and has also participated in research work related to NiN2 and NiN3.
Innlandet met with the Environmental Directorate on March 25th to argue that Opsal should be given voluntary protection status, but unfortunately it was rejected. They say that the area is not large enough but perhaps its most relevant that the scheme has had large economic cuts. After almost 5 years, it was disappointing but we just have to try again!
“BEAVER BROTHERS – a keystone species story”
We meet this modest ecosystem engineer through performing arts, music, history and nature experience.
“Beaver Brothers” is an outdoor performance related to wetlands, by Georgiana Keable.
It is performed by Adam Manthey Steen and Adrian Lara, with percussion, harp and singing, and creates a playful, poetic space where children can meet the beaver as a key species and ecosystem engineer.
Through music, rhythm and drama, nature’s processes are linked to human experiences in a sensual and engaging way.
After the performance, the students are invited into a workshop where they can explore for themselves how creative collaboration can shape landscapes and communities.
“Beaver Brothers” is produced by Scenekunstkompaniet Øy, and is performed in collaboration with local farms and the Wetlands Centers.
Over the course of three weeks in September, we created a new performance, which was performed for Vallset School and Steiner School in Hedmark. During this time, the costumes were created by costume designer Caroline Bang. The performance began in the large, newly restored barn – a human-sized beaver hut. From there, the children were guided down to a stream on the other side of the farm. The trip served as a time travel and part of a dynamic experience.«Beverbrødre» er en utendørs scenekunstforestilling knyttet til våtland, av Georgiana Keable.
After the last part of the performance, the children participated in building a dam, a future “beaver utopia”. In this way, the children were both actors and spectators in their own “beaver universe”. Through active participation, they learned about the beaver’s habitat and about the beaver’s role as an “ecosystem engineer”. This became a metaphor for how we can imagine a sustainable future, where people and nature live in harmony.
Generally
GENERALLY, we need more grazing. The cows graze on one pasture from June to August/September. There are many other places where grazing is needed, we are thinking of sheep and cows. Visiting a local farmer who has succeeded to support good hay meadows,
he commented that sheep often prefer herbs to grass and they need sturdy fences. We are thinking about buying cows, but then of course you are bound to milking if you want milk! We have been offered an old cow from Fokhol and a calf from Ommang Søndre.
All the birdhouses we set up last year have turned out to be inhabited and the first swallow arrived on April 30.
This year we did not get to mow the whole meadow for the first time as it suddenly got very wet. It must be mown by the end of July at the latest and we have again tried to find out about silos to ferment and avoid drying.
Still, there were a lot of insects and we have made several ponds in the streams!
Farm animals
Working with the horses
New Year 2025, Georgiana left the farm for some weeks and the next day the horses escaped and broke the fence so that they had to be moved to the pasture they use in the summer. We repaired the electric fence to make them safer. As soon as the frost melted, we made a new fence and moved them back. We have started to make new fence posts and fence from spruce clearing in the east pasture. That is to say, we remove bark and paint with tar.
We switched to a local farrier but he was very unhappy with the horse care. Afterwards we heard from another person in the horse community that he is unhappy with most people, but it was such strong words that Georgiana began to doubt whether we could keep the horses, since she has no previous experience.
Then we were very lucky. Vilde Gjems came to a wild bee course and had just started as an apprentice in farrier work. The first few times it took ages and we spent many hours on each hoof with Ciabatta. But it has given us a lot of courage and now it is happening quickly and the hooves have become so much better. Vilde has also given us good techniques for communicating with the horses. During the autumn we have spent a lot of time putting a harness on Ciabatta and driving with her. We have gotten so far that she drives with a sled. We have also worked on walking Triton and want him to get a harness too.
Vilde has also made us aware of the dangers of sweet grass and laminitis. We had to call a vet once. After that, we arranged it so that Triton doesn’t eat so much, but it’s a challenge when you have horses of such different sizes!
The chickens
In January 2025 we got 2 Icelandic hens and a rooster, and two Brahma hens. Within a week the goshawk had come and taken an Icelandic hen. Then we shut them so they weren’t allowed to go outside, but made a larger outdoor area that should be safe. In May they were allowed out in the open. During the summer they started laying and both Honey and Sjokolade started to sit on the nest. They were amazing mums and we got 6 chickens, two roosters and 4 hens.
But in September when it started to get cold and gloomy, the goshawk came again and that time we lost the beautiful chicken, Solstråle, and Sjokolade who had been a super hen. Since then they have been fenced in again. We have installed electric lighting and expanded so that there are now 3 laying boxes. For now we get one or two eggs a day, but the 3 young ones have not started laying yet.
We have slaughtered Toto and Tito, the two beautiful roosters. It was quite tough for the one who has been following them since egg time.
In the future we want to expand the fenced outdoor area so that they get more sun. We have also planted a tree and a bush and are planning a forest garden in the area so that they have more opportunity to get away from the Goshawk, the space right outside the hen house has been open.
Garden and produce
Vegetable garden
The vegetable beds were better prepared in the autumn. We made cold frames in spring 2024, but they became difficult to water. Now we made them so that they are easier to open, and can be reused for next year. March 16th the potatoes were planted.
The Jerusalem artichokes were planted, and we focused on cabbage for the first time this year. The carrots grew well, so we plan to plant them again. The potatoes grew well, but it took too long to harvest them thanks to the beaver project, so shrews ate many. We have to avoid that! Again we have added compost and covered the vegetable beds and the soil is just getting better and better.
We made liquid compost which worked very well for the tomatoes in the greenhouse.
Greenhouse
We restored the white windows that have been here probably since the demolition of the building in the 70s. Then we decided to make a small greenhouse. The plan was for a carpenter to help us but he didn’t come. As one of the volunteers said – that was good – we had to do it ourselves.
After we had put up the stone wall we realized that where it was, the snow would fall from the roof of the Farmhouse and destroy it, so it had to be moved. Bit by bit, we figured it out. We planted tomatoes and had a huge crop.
Berries and the apple orchard
We pruned all the berry bushes pretty heavily in the west apple orchard and also some of the apple trees.
We put new paths into the berry bush jungle so that it’s not a jungle anymore. By summer it was MUCH easier to pick berries. We’ve made juice and lots of jam.
Georgiana was on an apple grafting course and all three trees have survived and are growing in the east apple orchard.
Schubler Hage
We have become members of the national organization for historical gardens – Schublers hage and had a visit from Kjell Hødnebø.
Working with wool
When Georgiana first moved in here, the neighbour brought wool and now we have finally started using it seriously. Thanks to Mila, who has lived here for a year, we started carding, felting and spinning. There have also been several visits to the spinning circle at Åsvang.
Milagros Gola Singh lived on the farm for a year. She has become the leader of the flax association and cultivated a flax field here with support from Nordgen… She planted about 24 different varieties and it grew well! Mila has moved on to Fokhol farm and we have planted angelica in the same place for next year.
Herbs
The herb garden is starting to establish itself little by little. Mari Jerstad has invited us to join Urtearv Hedmark (part of the national project Urtearv). Mari has moved to Vallset and it is
an inspiration to work more with herbs and make contacts with other local tradition bearers. We celebrated 50 years of the herb garden at Domkirkeodden in Hamar.
Wood for winter
We had about 8 cubic meters of firewood at the beginning of winter 2024. We didn’t work so much with firewood in early 2025, but in the autumn we caught up.
A lot of birch and other trees that have fallen in the storm so we won’t just burn spruce next year.
The road authority has cut firewood along the road which is also being chopped for our woodstore.
There has been a new sawmill and a new saw blade, and it is whizzing so much better now!
And now there is even a new woodshed.
Building and Yurt
Barn
After the work on the barn in 2024 there were a few things unfinished. Manfred from Drømmeverket could not do it so Svein Erik Wolden, (who has worked on the glass veranda and kitchen) stepped in.
He has also secured the back in the north, but that was partly with putting up concrete. Georgiana was away during the process. It is important to be present!
The windows into the stables were restored.
The walls have been washed outside to remove rot.
Archaeology visit
Hilde Rigmor Amundsen, a professional archaeologist, has registered a very large and well-preserved tar mill with a pit, embankment and gutter, and has entered the registration in Cultural Heritage Search. It is here:
It is also added to Askeladden by Egil Vrålstad Brodshaug, archaeologist in Innlandet.
Yurt
Helene Bøhler, from the board, asked if the farm wanted to house her yurt, a Mongolian tent, standing here, since it has been at the Ringsby family cabin for several years and was in danger of rotting. Yes! Then we traveled a small group, loaded the yurt into a rental car and transported to Opsal. Here it was washed and dried and a nice place was found for it to stand. Now we will wait for the right time to set it up but it is safely in the barn.
Windows in the small house
Now all the windows in the main house have been restored. We have started in the ‘Føderådet’ and discovered that it was green paint so they are painted green.
New bathroom
The bathroom has leaked occasionally, and during the beaver show trial period, there was a complete crisis with water pouring down into the kitchen. Now a new floor has been installed by Wolden and the plumber installed a new shower cabin. It is lovely!!
Social events, contact with neighbors and organizations
It is difficult to distinguish categories here, for example on the bumble bee courses, many good and important networkers were discovered. Activities that relate to human connections are noted here.
Chefs at Aarendalsuka
This summer a small group from the farm went together to Arendalsuka to cook food for Ex-tinction Rebellion people. Just before the national election they were raising awareness of the oil nation and that there is no plan for phasing out. We cooked for about 40 people. The food was either from the local organic cooperative garden, organic from Norganic or from the dumpster. It was fun and they were very grateful.
Christmas Party
On December 6th we held a Christmas party for the fourth time.
Last year we had a choir in the autumn and a performance at the party. We didn’t have that this year, but we were determined that it would not be any less of a good party.
The food was actually very good, thanks to the delivery of elk meat for lasagna and many who brought incredibly good cakes. Storytelling from the new book by Georgiana – Norwegian Folktales, singing with many elements from big and small and Christmas carols around the tree, games and an angry ‘Nisse’ who encouraged us to pour beer for the trees.
About 30 adults and children came and it was fun!
General
There were a lot of other visits to local concerts, exhibitions, May 17 events and the local second-hand shop. Fokhold farm has invited to a meeting and party, which we really appreciate. There was also a great visit to Ommang Søndre and we are considering buying a calf from them.
During the year, the three grandchildren come quite often to stay at the farm for a weekend or a week. They are usually very positively received by the volunteers, it seems like they enjoy having contact with the younger ones. Sometimes it becomes part of their lessons but often they choose to join in their free time. Most people love to play and here is a perfect excuse. So they dance and sing in a circle, draw together or play in other ways. Last year we made Shrove Tuesday buns, went ice skating, climbed etc.
Little by little we got to know our neighbours better and this year we were invited to join Tiurleiken – a great honour and experience.
We have been inspired by one volunteer to have a Dharma sharing circle once a week, we continue to have regular meditations for 15 minutes each morning and have our weekly roundup and evaluations which is a very important part of the community life.
The annual report is written by chairwoman, Georgiana Keable Jerstad