Oppmanna - Vånga Harvest Festival

Vånga Harvest Festival 2014

Fruits, vegetables, handicraft and much more was offered at Oppmanna-Vånga Harvest Festival 2014.

The Oppmanna-Vånga Harvest festival is organized annually in September to celebrate the year's harvest. Mrs. T booked early this day for an excursion as the region is famous for its fruits and vegetables and she wanted to have her share of both raw materials as well as the refined products at offer. We arrived among 3500 other visitors to discover what almost 70 market stalls had put on display (see also www.vangabacken.com/skordefest). Many seemed to know what they where looking for and traffic on the parking lot was busy as cars where continuously coming and going. We took two tours around the stalls, talked to some people and then returned home via lake Ivö. Our "catch" is presented in the last picture.

RAWMATERIALS

The APPLE season is here. Could this be AROMA?

Apples have been cultivated in the Vånga region since medieval times when the monks from Bäckaskog monastery initiated the idea (Borglund Linn 2014; Grönhults fruktodling i Vångabygden).  The orchard of Grönhult, one of the oldest in the region, carry some 35 different varieties. We purchased "Discovery" and Mrs. T praised this to heaven. 

Market stalls with fruits and vegetables.

Apples, plums, pears, raspberries, carrots, leaks ...endlessly.

Rawmaterials where in abundance. It was only the raspberries that disappeared into customers bags before I had any chance of even photographing them, let alone purchase. The size of all the fruits amazed us as in native Finland we do not recall having seen such large and juicy product. When we reached the car on our way home we tried the plums - could not resist - size, juiciness and taste were of top class. 

PROCESSED PRODUCT

Stalls form long rows forming a square on this field.

Processed product from the sea and the fields.

"Vånga 77.1" is a blooming business that run conferense, restaurant and bakery services. They also produce their own beer made of birch sap, different marmalades and apple juice. "Vånga Must" also offer ecological apple juice made of a variety of fruits including the provincial apple AROMA that was introduced in the 70's as a hybrid cross of "Ingrid Marie" and "Filippa".  Åhus Sylt och Bär purchase sea buckthorn berries from different places in Sweden, including Öland, and makes a juice rich in vitamins and especially omega-acids beneficial against inflammations and gastrointestinal disorders but is also recommended for improved blood circulation. We now take a sip every morning of this "elixir".  The gentleman from Näsums Laxrökeri said that eel has been in abundance this year due to suitable conditions out in the sea that has brought the fish to the eastern coast of Skåne. This eel was smoked the day before, and I can only regret that we had run out of cash at this point.

HANDICRAFT AND OTHER PRODUCTS

Well-designed baskets.

Professional design and manufacture at all stalls.

One could have spent a small fortune running through all the stalls. Mrs. T talked to the lady selling "Luffarslöjd" or small household produce made of metal wire. Bending the wire is an arduous and heavy task to carry out and fingers easily get twisted. Great homemade marmalade (tasted some), unusual metal work enameled in a colorful way and many well designed handicrafts exchanged ownership. Mrs T, a proud owner of a hand loom is discussing the manufacture with a specialist, below.

Mrs. T discussing home made rags.

Some senior gentlemen had brought their own and well kept motorcycles for the audience to admire. One was an old Swedish made Husqvarna from 1933 and the other a British AJS made by Hercules in the -50's. They are used every week according to the proud owners.

Maybe not the fastest, but steady.

Äppelriket sorts, packes and distributes apples from 94 farmers in southern Sweden.

With the above commercial presentation of Äppelriket we now leave the Festival area, jump in the car to drive back home via lake Ivö, as usually. This time conditions provide for slightly better pictures.

Lake Ivö viewed from the main road.

And after Ivö we spotted more "fruit" on the right hand side of the road - giant pumpkins, a field full of them. Had to get a few shots of them, too.

We soon arrived at home to display our own "harvest" from Vånga, below.

"Candies" of the soil.




I know that you wanted to be there, too. Vånga Harvest Festival was a high class act, well organized with fresh and high quality (home made) products. No wonder this small village attract thousands of visitors each year. But it is not all over yet. Why not join the Kivik market in Österlen end of September. This is going to be big!


Have a very nice week everyone!



:-)