Every year, we look forward to the harvest update from Robin and Ingrid at the MyHavtorn farm in Bollebygd, Sweden. Read their latest news below, and to learn more about the harvest in general (it's fascinating!), check out this interview with Robin.

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Ingrid and Vince in the MyHavtorn sea buckthorn orchard

Hej everyone from Bollebygd Valley!

As we noted last year, it’s been a nice tradition to share some thoughts from us here at the MyHavtorn Farm. We hope that you enjoy this tradition as much as we do!

As August has come to its end, so has this year’s harvest season, too (at least — almost). Our sea buckthorn trees did a good job and produced both berries and leaves of very high quality. Some of our sea buckthorn trees have grown old, having been producing berries for us for over a decade now; we’re doing our best to keep them in good shape, cutting branches to give them new life and provide them with the nutrition they need to stay strong for the years to come

One of the challenges in growing sea buckthorn is keeping the males in good condition. A sea buckthorn orchard is usually made of 10% male trees and 90% female trees, which the males pollinate via wind during the springtime. But the male trees are more vulnerable to disease and weather extremes, which can mean fewer flowers are pollinated — and fewer berries are available to harvest. So we work extra hard to keep these trees in good condition to ensure a healthy harvest in the fall.

This year’s harvest we have dedicated to the anchor of our family, the woman who gave us so much love: our mother, grandmother, and grand-grandmother, Ruth, who said goodbye to us last fall. She has been our inspiration in life, and it is she who taught us all we need to know and how to make something out of nothing. We are so happy and proud to still cultivate on the same soil that Ruth and her family did over 100 years ago. She was and would be so proud to see her great-grandchildren pick and eat the berries she loved so much. 🧡

Ruth and her son, Sven-Erik (Robin's father) on the farm

And there is a little something extra about this year’s MyHavtorn bottles: they are packed with some extra love, and we hope that you can feel it, too! 🧡

With love from Sweden

//Ingrid & Robin