Trädgårdsdags: Background, choice of focus and purpose - ethnobotany, tea & hardy exotic plants

Background and Choice of Focus

An endless swinging between fertile river valleys and cheerful farming mountain peoples in the hilly Laos.

Trädgårdsdags has from the start been ethnobotanically focused, that is on human use of plants for various purposes in ancient cultures but also how we can use them to our benefit today. The first seeds in the range were from a homegrown Ashwagandha plant (Indian Ginseng), which is known for its properties both for the body and cognitive ability.

This choice of focus stems from my early interest in ancient cultures and their societies: lifestyle, traditions and knowledge – much of which in our modern society may be forgotten.

This interest has led to many travels and longer stays in areas where people still live more in harmony with nature, where the knowledge of what can be used around them is as natural as our knowledge of what antibiotics and ibuprofen are used for. There is much inspiration to be drawn from these societies, both practically but also from their attitude towards life. It is very relaxing to see a group of people who are so content, caring for their close family and who in such a harmonious way are a natural part of the environment they live in. It creates a contrast to our lives here in the "western world" where both attitude and pace can be different – for better or worse.

The places where I have experienced this are mainly in Asia – I have both lived and traveled around in, among others, Burma, Laos and Thailand. The stays in Asia began long before Trädgårdsdags was started. It can certainly be said that a great inspiration for the plants together with their useful properties brought into this shop comes from Asia. It is worth mentioning, however, that all plants in stock are purchased from well-established EU growers or grown by ourselves; the inspiration for the plant selection is what can be gathered worldwide.

Sonson and grandmother in an Akha family who among other things grow tea in the area around Phongsali, Laos.

Teas

And so it continues to be. During my time there I have also encountered and been warmly embraced by the tea culture found in the mountains of the region. The tea culture is sometimes more modestly hidden and sometimes clearly present in the mountain regions of most countries in East/Southeast Asia. This is because the mountain environments there often create the perfect climate for tea cultivation.

Left: A small glimpse of the classic tea culture you can find up in the mountains in northern Thailand. Right: Me and the tea-growing Yao people from the nearby Yao village in the mountain valley, northern Laos. (photo: Teun Sengkham).

In Thailand the classic tea culture is more subtle but there are a few real gems up in northern Thailand near the border to Burma that produce really fine teas. In Laos the tea culture is also somewhat subtle among the local population, but there is a high demand for tea from Laos from, among others, China, which is why there are quite a few different producers in the country. As those who have traveled around Laos know, the country is 75% mountains, which explains the good availability of tea plantations. Laos is also one of the countries where the tea bush, or rather tea tree, (Camellia sinensis) originates from and grows naturally in the wild. The population in Laos also consists of nearly half various ethnic groups with simpler lifestyles, which makes tea cultivation an attractive occupation for a large part of the country's population. Laos mainly produces original teas for export to China. The climate in these mountain areas ranges from tropical to subtropical to temperate thanks to the altitude.

Left: A small tea-growing village in northern Thailand with historical Chinese influence. Right: Phongsali in northern Laos known for its green teas from its ancient tea trees.

In Malaysia the tea culture is much more noticeable, largely thanks to the British occupation of the country for over a hundred years 1824-1948. Up in the mountains in Malaysia there are vast tea terraces first established by the British, who brought their own variant of tea culture from China. Tea cultivation is possible here as well despite Malaysia below the mountains being a pure tropical country with the most stifling heat imaginable. The altitude makes a big difference. The tea plantations in Malaysia are not as many as in, for example, Laos, and the cultivated area of tea in the country has more than halved since the 1960s and the industry's growth is slow. The stagnation is largely due to the difficulty in finding labor. Malaysia is a fairly modern and developed country, compared to Laos a less developed society where the tea industry's rapid growth instead shows signs of a willingness to enter the industry. However, there are a few skilled tea producers with a long, interesting history up in Cameron Highlands which I have visited.

The vast tea plantations up on Cameron Highlands in Malaysia.

Also Burma, or Myanmar as the country officially is now called, has strong elements of British tea culture thanks to the same occupation during the same years, which is why black tea with milk is deeply ingrained in their culture. They also have a quite clear influence from China due to both the physical border and the significant part of ethnic Chinese living in the country. Burma therefore also has a strong culture of drinking green tea, in a similar way as in China. Burma is considered together with southern China and Laos to be the region where the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, originates from.

Left: The mountains in Burma – pictured is the mountain village Mindat. Right: In Burma it is not uncommon to finish both green (classic Chinese) and black tea frothed with milk (British inspired) as the green tea with its more neutral taste often is included and kept in thermoses ready on the tables.

The teas produced in Thailand and Laos align with the Chinese culture, where green tea is mainly drunk, and without milk. In Malaysia the production is almost exclusively inspired by the British due to the earlier occupation, which is why black tea with milk is mainly drunk. Burma, as mentioned, has strong elements of both cultures.

From these countries and areas I will soon begin to bring in original teas, which either come from tea trees that are 20 meters tall and several hundred years old, or that have been grown by an ethnic group in the area, or that have another interesting story. The teas will be available both in the web shop and in our physical shop here at Ågården in Marieholm.

Left: 20 meter tall tea trees in northern Laos. Right: The Yao people from the nearby Yao village harvest their gold – their idyllic little community along the river in the mountain valley has grown much since the tea industry in Laos began its journey.

Hardy Exotic Useful Plants

[It should be established that all plants we bring into the shop are either purchased from well-established EU growers or grown by ourselves here in Sweden. The species' origin can, however, be from other parts of the world.]

When bringing plants into the range I usually try to keep within a certain framework. They should preferably meet a couple of different criteria:

1. The plant should produce something edible or otherwise be useful – such as of medicinal or household value
2. They may be exotic, that is originate from another culture or have unusual, remarkable properties with documented uses
3. They should be hardy in our climate here in Sweden and parts of the rest of the North – they should thus be able to stand outside year-round at least in the mildest parts. Read below for one of our guidelines on how this can be achieved:

There are quite a few exotic plants that originate from foreign mountain environments where the climate is more like our climate. Something that is not necessarily the case in the lowlands of the same country. Even if the climate is not exactly the same, some of these plants are hardy against the same types of environmental conditions that we have here in Sweden. Examples of such plants are Black Goji which originates from the Tibetan plateau, Jiaogulan from a mountain region in southern China, Tasmanian Mountain Pepper which grows at high altitudes in Tasmania and southeastern Australia, as well as Monkey Puzzle from the volcanic plains in Chile. Of course also the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, which if you have read above you already know by now.

Top left: An unusual sight – pines & rice terraces growing together in Phonsavan, Laos. This is explained by the high mountain plateau Phonsavan lies on, which gives a colder climate in what is otherwise a tropical region. Top right: Jiaogulan found growing on a tree in the wild up in the mountains in Yot Ou, Laos. Bottom left: Black Goji growing among our open field cultivations outside Lund, Skåne. Bottom right: Tea bush of the hardier variety 'Tea by Me' in the snow outside our greenhouse at Ågården in Marieholm, Skåne.

There are also other countries with exotic flora where one can look for inspiration below the highlands which one might not immediately think have a similar climate to Sweden. Examples of such countries and areas include China, Japan and North America. Examples of plants that come from the lowlands in these regions are Asimina, Yaupon & Water Tupelo (North America), Japanese Torreya nut & Strawberry raspberry (Japan) as well as Chinese Toon, Butterfly vine & Five-leaf Akebia (China).

The third requirement we almost always apply when bringing in plants. When it comes to seeds we sometimes bring in those that lie outside the hardiness limit in our climate. Many of these plants are easy to move indoors during winter.

Continued Search for Exciting Flora

Future trips to both Africa and South America in search of inspiration for further useful flora with attractive properties will take place. I am also planning a trip to the Himalayas to among other things examine the cultivation of Black Goji in its natural environment more closely. Which comes first will be updated here when the time comes.

The Purpose of Trädgårdsdags

The purpose of the business is to promote a cultivation that is long-term useful, exciting and simple, to bring us closer to the natural which does us good again as well as to reintroduce and shed new light on forgotten knowledge which intertwined with our modern technical capacity creates new opportunities with the best of both worlds.

One of our strategies in the effort to make cultivation easier is to use cultivation methods such as so-called food forest cultivation. The name is a bit misleading for some who get the image that you must have a whole forest in your garden, something many do not want. The term rather comes from taking inspiration from nature’s own ecosystems with their different layers and internal collaborations, which is most clearly depicted in a forest. You can build a nice and well-kept park based on the principles from a food forest. The point is to create a diversity of different plants, which enrich both the soil and surrounding organisms the longer they are allowed to grow undisturbed in place. To create as healthy and cultivation-wise effective an environment as possible, you want to combine different layers that do not have direct competition with each other (rather the opposite). For example, you can have: a nut tree in the canopy layer that gives shade on the hottest days, a berry bush that fixes nitrogen to the soil in the shrub layer, both edible herbs and a useful ground cover that ensures that weeds do not take over the place as well as some kind of protection in the so-called "second layer" in the form of hedge plants like bamboo, serviceberry or cherry dogwood. If you want, you can also have for example a fruit-bearing climbing plant that climbs on the trunk of one of the larger trees.

The purpose is to establish plants with the attractive properties you want, in a place where you might otherwise have had to spend time clearing completely unwanted weeds instead. Such a system creates a healthy ecosystem with beneficial organisms which benefit the plants in their surroundings and also saves your time in terms of care in the long run.

Besides this, we use various types of practical tools and solutions to make cultivation as practical as possible.

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Thank you for this time. If you have read this far, I hope the reading gave you something!

Text and photos by Johannes Billsten