Tegen, Naturreservat

The meadow flora is very rich in Tegen and the remains of fences, cairns and roads bear witness to the small-scale and varied agriculture of old.

The name Tegen means small field. Tegen is located as an isolated island of meadows in southern Årjäng's lake-rich forest landscape where the cultivated land is otherwise often adjacent to the lakes. The farm and meadow are an unusually well-preserved example of deciduous meadow farming. Cultivation cairns, farm roads, remnants of fences and the native flora bear witness to the small-scale and varied agriculture of old.

Within the reserve there are four buildings (dwelling house, barn, barn and smithy), as well as a cellar. The farm was inhabited until 1985. But the land was taken out of use in the early 1980s. Extensive mowing and grazing took place until 2001. After that, the farm's interior is more intensively managed through annual mowing and grazing.

Animals and plants

The geology of the area, where the bedrock is dominated by acidic rocks but with elements of carbonate-rich strata, in combination with the long-standing grazing, are the main reasons for Tegen's rich plant life.

The area was already recognized in the 1970s for its rich meadow flora with several unusual plant species. Bridal spurge, night violet, maidenhair fern, buttercups, haymaking grass, snake root, white pyrola, field gentian, spruce spurge and maidenhair fern are examples of flowers that grow on Tegens meadows. Cat's foot is found in drier areas. In spring, you can enjoy cowslips. Uncommon shrubs include cowslip and woodruff.

There are also a large number of valuable pasture trees, several of which bear traces of previous pollarding. Coppicing is an old method of leaf removal that involved cutting off the branches of the trees, about 2 meters up the trunk. This moved the production of leaves so that they were easily accessible to humans but difficult for animals to access. The cut shoots with leaves were tied into sheaves, dried and used as winter fodder.

Before your visit

The area is equipped with visitor facilities in the form of a parking lot for several cars, information board, accessible toilet and a bench table. Within the area there is a hiking trail that starts at the entrance to the reserve and is about 800 meters long. The trail goes through pastures. It is NOT suitable to bring dogs into the pastures.