From Our Woods and Garden
When we started creating our country home at Lilleroosi in 2011, we had no idea what this place would have in store for us. It was only later that we discovered dozens of old wild apple trees growing in our woods – each bearing slightly different apples.
And since we belong to a generation that believes good food should never go to waste, we gathered the apples and pressed them into juice. More juice than we could drink. So we made cider. More cider than we could drink. So we made jelly. And that's how some of the flavours of Lilleroosi come to life – just like that.
Every Year Is a Little Different
We don't believe our selection needs to stay the same year after year. Nature decides what each season has to offer. When it's a good year for apples, we press juice. When cloudberries are plentiful, we make cloudberry jelly. And when the woods offer us chanterelles, we already know where to look.
Apples, raspberries, musk strawberries, blueberries, lingonberries… Every season tells its own story. Some become juice, some jelly, some jam. And some flavours may remain nothing more than a memory of one unforgettable summer.
A Place We've Come to Know Slowly
When we first arrived at Lilleroosi in 2011, we knew very little about its past. The property had previously had five Swedish owners. There were no buildings here – we were starting entirely from scratch.
One summer, we were wandering through the coastal woods and meadows nearby when we came across a grassy track running through our neighbour's land. Although we hadn't seen anyone there during our first two years, that very day our neighbour, a woman in her eighties who had been born in the village and belonged to the coastal Swedish community, happened to be there with her husband. We never made it to the sea that day. Instead, we invited them over for coffee.
Back then, we had almost nothing – a small camping area, the foundations of our future house, and a simple wooden table with a long bench. Sitting there together, our neighbour shared a little of Lilleroosi's history. Long ago, potatoes had been grown in these fields. Every autumn, they were stored for the winter in large covered mounds, and in spring they were taken to the market in Stockholm to be sold.
Since then, we've been getting to know Lilleroosi little by little. We didn't come here with a business plan or grand visions. Instead, we've taken our time exploring this place, allowing Lilleroosi itself to show us what it has to offer.
