FREE Every Friday
No. 8
Friday February 20, 2015
The Arjeplog Times Your weekly paper with news, views & interviews. Since 90/91. Season 24.
Jenny is Living Her Dream Jenny Viklund works more than most people and she loves it. She runs a farm in the wilderness and she also works full time as a teacher. She says that farming makes her feel good, it is not a burden, it is a way of coping. If you do not watch TV and avoid social media it is not difficult to find the time to run a farm with 50 animals and to go fishing and hunting whenever you like. Jenny Wiklund is 35 years old and has an 8-year-old son, Melvin. Nine years ago she bought an old farm 30 kms from Arjeplog, called Aisjaur, which is the lake nearby, on the road to Laisvall. The farm is situated one kilometre from the main road and Jenny has to keep the road clear of snow all by herself. She says that it is not a problem because she loves sitting in her tractor and listening to the radio. Sometimes she has to walk home or go by snow-mobile which is also not a problem for her.
Jenny enjoys driving her tractor with which she clears the snow as well as other tasks.
Jenny Viklund loves her animals and they love her.
When I arrive at the farm I hear a dog barking and a cat is making its way from the barn to the main house. Jenny and Melvin arrive on a snowmobile, they have been taking care of one of the many tasks on the farm. They take me to see the sheep and the goats and a recently born lamb. The breeding is carefully controlled as the animals are forest sheep from Värmland and are an endangered species. People come to check that Jenny is doing it correctly and so far they have not complained. Jenny explains that the old stock do not produce as much as modern sheep, but they are well adapted for a life in the forest and even give birth in the flock. Mostly, they are free to roam
around wherever they want. Jenny has decided to help save these once common breeds and follows a strict procedure to keep the blood lines. The goats that live together with the sheep are Jämtgetter, goats from Jämtland. Behind the barn three enormous Linderöds pigs are very happy to greet Jenny and nearly push her over. The brown male is only one year old and weighs more than a grown man. Chicken, turkeys and pearl hens prefer to be inside the barn. They are also unusual species and the eggs would hardly fit an EU mould. They are all different colours, shapes and sizes. continued on page 6
INSIDE: Hot Se at: Juan Manuel Micó-Soler, GKN-Dri veline; The Silver Museum, 50 ye ars, Sofia Flinkfeldt, Silver Museum.