Välkommen till Hissbro Garden

The Stewards:
Rebekka Olivegren and Paul Terrell.
Rebekka (from Sweden) is an architect and Permaculture Designer. She runs the Bed&Breakfast and is experimenting with the garden which was created as a nursery and show garden for perrennials. After ten years work as co-owner and manager of Sweden’s premier course and retreat centre she is now on the board of trustees at Ängsbacka (www.angsbacka.se) in Värmland, Sweden.

Paul (from the UK) is a musician, therapist and workshop leader. Presently Paul runs therapy training courses in the UK and is involved with various musical projects. Together we have a daughter, AnaClara, 7,5 years old and one cats.

The Garden:
Hissbro Garden is a small park, formerly a nursary business that sold perennials, created over 15 years by the previous owners. The plant school was specialised in old “grand-ma” perennials, medicinal plants and herbs. We took over in may 2007 and has since then renovated some of the houses, reshaped and simplified the garden and introduced vegetables and more edible plants. In the end of the summer 2009 we opened a small Bed & Breakfast. Se our homepage, www.hissbrotradgard.se. The garden is about 2,000 sq. m. with a stream running through it and a small pond. It consists mainly of flower beds, trees, bushes and lovely sitting areas. The area with the fruite trees and berry bushes has been turned into a vegatble garden with raised deep beds. On this small piece of land we are creating a compact garden with edible plants, fruit & nut trees, berries, herbs, medical plants and perennials. We are developing it to be a place for beauty, recreation and inspiration.

Recent projects:
Autumn 2009: We started to transform a corner of the garden, which had been a series of flower beds with bricked paths and a small lawn with fruit trees, into a mini vegatable garden with fruite and berry trees.We moved a lot of perennials and found new places or owners for them.

Winter early spring 2010:
We cut down a few big trees to give less shade. The vegetable garden was formed with raised beds and planted with seeds. Cultivating the vegetables for the family and the B&B.Boxes where built for cucumbers, tomatoes and pumpkins as well as slug traps etc.

Summer 2010:
Maintainance of the garden such as manureing, weeding and slug hunting.

Autumn 2010:
Harvesting, storing, jam coocking, drying etc.


The Activities:
Activities here range from gardening as weeding, watering and slug hunting, building, carpentry, housework, child care ( much jumping on the trampoline and fantasy games ), cat care ( when we need to go away ) to celebrations and outings.

The work ethic:
We are enthusiastic people and passionate about life, the environment and creating a sustainable environment and future in the world and at Hissbro. We enjoy creating together with others and believe that good communication and a sense of fun can produce miracles on every level.

The food and accommodation:
We have two main houses and a couple of small ones. The Studio is for the family and our offices and the Little House & Temple is for our Bed & Breakfast and guest accommodation. Your accomodation will be comfortable and nice but the location will differ depending on how many guests we have. Meals are taken together in the Studio or in the garden. The food we eat is mainly lacto-ouvo-vegetarian with some fish and occasionally sheep or chicken meat. As much as possible we consume organic food and always without additievs or unnatural chemicals.

Location:
Hissbro garden lies on the northern outskirts of the village of Billinge, which is situated in the south west of Sweden. This area of relatively flat agricultural land is dissected by two main ridges with some of Northern Europe's largest beech forests. Close to the southern ridge and in one of the most beautiful and slightly hilly areas lies Billinge. There is a national park nearby with a spectacular gorge and beech forests where we occasionally fetch fresh spring water.

Billinge Village:
The village is small, with about 800 inhabitants and has a museums, pottery, bakery, school, oversized church and several second hand and antique shops. The villages on either side have shops, restaurants and pubs.

Transport:
Hissbro lies 15 mins, from the local train station by bus or car. The busses stop within 100 yards of the house. The trains connect with Lund and Malmo, the two nearest cities ( 20 and 40 mins. ). Nearest airport is Copenhagen ( 90 minutes ). The local town, Eslöv, is about 20 minutes by car or bus/train.

We welcome you from 1 of March to 20 of December.