Ängsmark kring Hohults by

The landscape around the village of Hohult is open with meadows that have been cultivated since the medieval times. The pastures are filled with haybarns, pollarded trees, and a rich flora.

Äng är åkers moder ”Äng är åkers moder” is an old Swedish saying which roughly translates to “meadows are the mother of the field”. The saying comes from that the meadows were used for growing grass that were dried and then given has hay to the livestock during the winters. The manure the animals created during the winter was then spread on the fields and not on the meadows. This continued for centuries and led to soil impoverishment in the meadows. Today are these meadows very rich in flowers because of that.

Haybarns The multiply haybarns are a sign of how important the livestock was in the old days. The barns are often built of horizontal logs and located quite a bit from the village. Some villages had meadows several kilometres from the village centre and having a haybarn in the meadow was the easiest way of taking care of the grass. The hay was stored in the barn until winter and then the hay was transported, often with a sleigh, home to the farm.

Pollarding In many of the meadows can you see peculiar old trees. They are often gnarly and not so tall like the surrounding trees. The trees have been pollarded which was an old way of collecting leaves for the livestock. In the old days were the leaves a very important complement to the hay for the livestock.