When nature takes over

Obviously the first thing you do when you see a sign that says Private Property is to get the camera ready and prepare for a photo shoot, so that's what I did a while back while out walking. This is one of Tungelsta's abandoned greenhouse nurseries. The business was owned by the Artvin family. They used to be called Andersson, but I guess they wanted something unique. For many years now the place has been slowly decaying, but the keep out sign was brand new so I'm probably not the only one in the neighbourhood that enjoy these types of places! I have made a flickr set in case you are interested so just press the arrow and enjoy the show!

Abandoned Plant Nursery

Sometimes I ask people if they can guess how many family owned greenhouse nurseries there has been in Tungelsta in the last 100 years. No one has ever been able guess the correct number. Or even been close. The correct answer is 95. Today 8 of those 95 plant nurseries are still in business. This is not one of them. This is Stenvreten at Karlsro. This greenhouse skeleton is the only evidence that there once was a nursery here. As you can see it's very over-grown, and on my visit on Saturday the place was crowded with butterflies. If you look more closely on the ground you can still see the foundations from some of the other greenhouses.




On a small hillside overlooking the greenhouses, this is the house where Viran Eklöf lived. She was the woman who owned Stenvreten. I don't have any information about her. But by the looks of it the house has been abandoned for around forty years or so, but there was still some window decorations left. As I walked around the house I found a marble table in the garden. As I stood there it was easy to imagine how it must have been to sit there in the berceau, drinking coffee and chatting away an hour or two. There was a padlock on the door, so I couldn't go in, but from a window that faced the greenhouses they must have been able to see the steam train pass by on the Nynäsbanan track. Next to the house there is a small barn, and if you continue past that building the road will take you up to a modern house. I don't know the people that live there or if they own this property, but it's a good location and I'm a bit surprised that no one has bought the old nursery.

Ugly Tungelsta

Once upon a time Tungelsta was famous for all the greenhouses. In total there has been more than 90 nurseries here. These ugly greenhouse skeletons at Gamla Tungelstavägen and Södertäljevägen haven't been in use for many years. I don't know why the owners have left them like this. Every time I look at them I see another smashed window so at least it gives the kids something to do.

First Snowfall

In the early afternoon it started to snow here in Tungelsta. I was preparing to go out and take a few snow photos, but the snow was already melting away. Last year we had a heavy snowfall in November and that time I got quite a few good winter photos. The greenhouse you see here belongs to Blomorado and is filled with Poinsettia plants.

Glowing in the dark

The Blomorado greenhouses at Bergdalen glowing in the dark late in the afternoon. Bigger photo. The greenhouses are filled with some 30 000 poinsettia plants. Photos taken from the hill, 30 meters from my home. My family used to own the greenhouses, but we sold a few years ago and now the business are run by our neighbours Ingemar and Danuta.

Picture Postcard

Summer colors at Sommarvägen (Summer Road) in Handen. If you walk really slow from here, it will take you several minutes to get down to Lake Rudan. If you're on the bike like me it's a sixty second ride.

The address is:
Sommarvägen 12
136 40 Handen
Sweden
That is if you would like to print this as a postcard and send it to them.

Bigger photo.

Behind the spruce hedge

Shot this photo on my Sunday morning promenade. The spruce hedge has been partly cut down along Blomgårdsvägen at Ålsta in Tungelsta. Behind it, the greenhouse skeletons from what's left of the Wall family business. Just to the right here is the Kryddgården complex. Only one of the Wall brothers alive today, I don't have any info about this property, but it is pretty much surrounded by the building site.

Christmas Already?

Not really. But the poinsettia plants are ready. Blomorado will open later in the week and I was there yesterday to take some photos for their website. This is greenhouse number six. The newest greenhouse built in the spring of 1990. Posing among the poinsettias are the new gardeners Ingemar and Danuta. Fact: There's 9 million citizens in Sweden. This year around 9 million poinsettia plants will be sold in december. CLICK HERE to see how the plants looked in October.

See where this picture was taken. [?]

Just after sunset

In November it gets really dark in Sweden. Today sun up was at 07:18. Sun down this afternoos at 15:46. It's not my favorite time of the year. But you can get some great photo opportunities. Had you lived in Tungelsta say 30 years ago this would have been a very familiar view. A glowing greenhouse. Today there are only 11 greenhouse businesses left. This is Blomorado. Shot half an hour after sunset. The poinsettia plants needs all the light they can get.

A Bergdalen Sunset

November is a good month for Bergdalen sunsets. Took this from the stairs. The greenhouse belongs to blomorado and is filled with poinsettia plants.

Before the storm

just in case. a before shot, from the hill at bergdalen. ingemar sounded a bit worried about the approaching storm. there have been a few bad ones over the years. if the wind gets hold of one piece of a greenhouse roof anything can happen. i will post another hill panorama after the storm.