Real winter

As usual, spring and summer here in Finland went fast over. Even though we still have the mystic August left with full of enjoyment as the new harvest gives all kinds of gifts of nature. People come from summer holidays and gather together to enjoy darkening warm nights. Garden parties with barbeque and small graden lamps are the thing of the month, as in August we get the dark nights again!
Before summer news I want to tell what kept me busy this spring. My biggest effort was my graduation from university. In March I went for two weeks to northern Finland to Kilpisjärvi. My university gave me the opportunity to spend that time in the research station there to finish my thesis. I also enjoyed the nice snowy landscapes with -15 to over -30 degrees of Celsius. The place Kilpisjärvi is exceptional in Finland as its nature is really mountainous like northern Norway. Despide of writing I went to skiing to the lake Kilpisjärvi.
It was so touching to feel the real winter again, the one I remember from my childhood. There was snow about one meter high and you could see stars and also the Northern Lights in night time. In southern Finland we hardly get minus degrees and there was not enough snow to ski in the whole winter.
Those two weeks were my real winter and I noticed how effective they were spiritually. Even though the light time of the day was very short, the snow gave so much light to the landscape and so many beautiful colours to the sky. Combined with that extraordinary mountainous landscape the beautiful light of the Lapland went deep in my soul and I could feel the mystic powers of nature.
I decided that I have to get at least one week of real winter every year, that keeps me vigorous and full of life along the dark, gray and nowadays wet wintertime in South-Finland. I just wonder how to arrange it. Usually we have to be in Bio Fach just at the same time as our children have the winter vacation from school.
By blog about twelve days in Kilpisjärvi is in Finnish but you can see the photos of the landscape in http://kilpisjarvi.blogspot.com.
The 15th of August in cloudy Espoo, where nature starts to prepare for the coming wintertime and the birds collect together to fly away to south.
Yours, Marja(´)

After Bio Fach 2008

February has usually been a very bright month in Finland. The days are getting longer and the sun appears after a dark winter time. Brightness has been overwhelming because of the snow which reflects the light. But now we do not have any snow in the southern coast of Finland. So, no real winter joy of skiing and skating!

I am sitting in the sunshine of my kitchen window and wonder that our life must also change here and now. It is not the third world people who are causing climate change - it is us small minority living in affluence. Still, we can not go back to the Middle Ages, we have to see the possibilities of today. This is really our opportunity to evaluate the deeper meaning of our life and the things we do.

Many things which are bad for the environment are also bad for us. It´s better to walk or to bicycle instead of driving a car or eat less meat and more vegetables. For me organics is not only a way of producing food, it is a way of life which respects nature and human values.

In every day business life organic products are easily just products among any other products, no big difference. When you look at the world statistics it seems that organics is just another way for the industrialised world to get the goods it wants from the developing world. Also organic products are increasingly produced in the third world and consumption is in the western high-income countries.

Anyway, it was so good to visit Bio Fach in Germany, the biggest organic trade fair, and notice that there still is the heart of pure gold in organics. The whole thing is about striving for changing things to the better, make a difference and do the right things in life and business. It seems that people strive to think holistically on the one hand and keep concrete and practical on the other hand. Organics can make a difference worldwide and it also can offer you a better life. All those high human values are there and integrity and transparency make sure that they are not forgotten.

The 25th of February in sunny Espoo, where you can already hear the birds singing their spring songs.
Yours, Marja(´)

Hey Friends of organics around the world!

To start with I want to welcome you to read and follow this blog. If you are interested in the nature here near by the Arctic Circle or want to get familiar with our everyday thoughts and solutions towards a better organic way of life, join here.

Organics has been an important part of my life for about twenty years. When I got my first and second child I wanted to give them a happy childhood and moved to the countryside and worked on a biodynamic farm. This lead me to study agriculture and my education as a Bachelor of Natural Resources has certainly been useful in my career as an organic entrepreneur. Nowadays my work is with organic marketing and "Napapiiri Organics" brand.

Although I love to work with animals, plants and the soil, I need a deeper insight. And philosophy has been one of my favourites since school times. Now I have had a pleasure to concentrate on that too by studying philosophy in the University of Helsinki. So, this gives perspective to my writings here. There are a lot of issues in organics and the natural way of life which are complicated and need to be analysed and seen from different perspectives. I don´t want to claim that I have good answers but as philosophers usually I may have good questions, which can help each of us to find our own answers and solutions.

We who are deeply involved with organics and feel that it will have an important part in the future of our planet are scattered around the world but sometimes we can feel lonely in our own society. My wish with this blog is to get in contact with you others out there in different parts of this planet and share my thoughts and inspire discussion and promote development for the future, where we want our children to live in.

The 17th January in Espoo, Finland where there has always been at this time at least minus five degrees Celsius and the land white with snow but now some plus degrees, cloudy, grey and rainy. We certainly feel the climate change!

Marja(´)

( by the way, marja is Finnish and means berry)