Tomta hagar, Naturreservat

Tomta hagar nature reserve, just east of Hallsberg, is an old pasture with many traces of long-term use. Cultivation cairns and moss-covered stone fences show the toil of our ancestors and that the land was used for cultivation, mowing and grazing. Tomta hagar is a beautiful place for a spring outing. In the distance, Hallsberg's urban area can be seen. Stone crackers and a choir of singers usually accompany the stay.

Ancient sea walls

The bedrock, at least in the north-eastern part, consists of alum shale that has remained here in the protection of the fault line. The shale is exposed in a quarry that has collapsed again. Otherwise, the bedrock is hidden by moraine, left behind by the ice sheet. The moraine was then redeposited on the shores of the ancient Lake Ancylus around 8 000 years ago. Today, we see a number of embankments on the slope, perhaps not so obvious to the casual observer. The embankments contain the swollen coarse material, and in the depressions the finer material has accumulated. The difference is reflected in the vegetation, which becomes more lush on the finer soil. In the deepest depressions there are small marshes that are usually filled with water when the snow melts. During the summer, animals graze throughout the reserve.

Dry valleys and wet depressions

Most of the area is pasture with more open stretches on the embankments and more closed tree vegetation in the depressions. Hazel and juniper bushes grow in the more open areas, as well as scattered trees, both conifers and deciduous trees, such as birdberry trees. The hazels are found especially in connection with the cairns. On some of the copses, only woodruff and gooseberries grow. The field layer on the embankments is largely dry meadow species with some more unusual herbs such as green night violet, dwarf spring onion, spring cinquefoil, bride's bread and wild strawberry. In the drier parts of the swamps, the vegetation is more lush with deciduous tree groves and a field layer characterized by species such as meadowsweet and common reed. The bogs are dominated by alder with some birch. The wettest parts of the bogs are home to species such as bladderwort, dwarf hedgehog bud, water primrose, water bindweed and marsh bracken. The slope in the northeast, above the shale quarry, has a grove-like character with a predominance of hazel and grove flora including bluebells, spring pea and desm bud. A number of amphibians breed in some natural ponds. The most exclusive species is the great crested newt, which can be found here in spring and early summer.