Left City for a Simple Life AS Norwegian Sheep Farmers

We left the city to follow our dreams of a simpler life as sheep farmers on a Norwegian abandoned farm. If we had known back then the reality of running a farm, I am not sure we would have made the same choice again. It all started in 2015 with a young newly married couple and a dream of living behind the stressful fast track living of the city for a life in calming tranquil environments close to nature and animals.
Our farm adventure stared in 2015. We found a small farm one hour north of Bergen in Norway. The price was reasonable as the farm had not been farmed in more that 60 years. Let’s just say that it was a fixer upper. But with is 33 acres of land we saw an opportunity and made an offer. In the end we had the highest bid. It was ours (we thought).
Have a look at our home page: www.norwegianf...

[@wayneevans3342]

Keep going, you will get there. The idea of promoting traditional farming breeds and methods as a way to conserve traditional landscapes is sound. Its not about meat production outputs alone but a wider range of long term gains such as habitat renewal. Im sure in time you will gain the momentum you need to see some financial reward but in the meantime you must enjoy your lives. You are raising a family as well as animals and all will prosper in the end. Well done!

[@Norwegianfarmlife]

Thanks so much for your encouraging words🤠👍

[@Vilhelmnilsson]

Great point there Wayne. Couldn’t have said it better.

[@jankristianhoem6360]

Er selv i startgropa med drift i liten skala. Godt å se både de gode og dårlige opplevelsene i prosessen. Snublet over kanalen din med en tilfeldighet og sett flere av innleggene deres siden. Fortsett med drømmen 😁👍 Kan løsne etter hvert 😊

[@Norwegianfarmlife]

Takk for det og lykke til med din gård🤠👍 Hvor i landet holder du til?

[@Vilhelmnilsson]

It’s easy to let one’s professional ambitions stand in the way of happiness. I can relate all too well to your journey. I’ve been farming in sweden for 10 years and certainly stood up against my own fair share of failures and disasters. Especially in the beginning it was hard to know what the focus of the farm was as I was chasing an idea and a belief I had about how things should be. I’m happy you’ve taken your failures and turned them into opportunities for growth and maturity. It’s the only way to go really. Liking your videos. Keep it up.

[@Norwegianfarmlife]

Thanks for your kind words and good luck with your farm🤠👍

[@QuietestKris]

Thank you for sharing!

[@lisafaust3801]

Thanks for sharing your valuable experiences...

[@neutonrenda2303]

I'm so glad that I watched this video, it explains a lot about your farm and experience. I love watching your content. It's all worth your efforts for sure.👍❤

[@Lkristina65]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful story ! My mother is from Norway so your videos are extra special to me ! Happy new year from Florida ! God bless you and your family and your animals ! ❤️🙏🏻✝️🇳🇴

[@Norwegianfarmlife]

Thanks for your kind words and happy new year to you and yours.🤗🎉 Do you know where your mother is from?

[@Lkristina65]

Thank you for your message. She is from Bergen and my dad is from a farm in ōland Sweden. Both my parents have passed away so watching your videos brings me such joy and reminds me of the times we went back to Sweden and Norway visiting family. Thank you again for sharing your wonderful life with us! God bless you !❤️🇳🇴

[@Jonas.mf399]

Fint dere beiter ned der det ville ha grod igjen uten dyra😊

[@wendybond9374]

I’m attracted to your channel because I’m interested in life in Scandinavia. Many of us in the US have European heritage, and specifically from Scandinavia. We see the amazingly reasonable prices of small farms and summer homes there and it peaks our interest. We wonder how our ancestors made it, or why they struggled and went the US for more land and opportunity, when it appears to be such a idillic place to live. We see that the cities attract the majority of the population but these charming cottages sit empty. I love to see you going against the grain. I can see there are struggles, but I can see it is a beautiful life as well. My husband and I have been fortunate to live in a community that was settled by Scandinavian immigrants. We live in a 1904 Swedish farmhouse on 9 acres within a ferry commute distance for my husband to work in Seattle. Sadly most of the winter he leaves in the dark and returns in the dark. Spring time he feels part of our small farm again. We also have sheep, a couple pigs, chickens, and goats. The last three years we have hosted a small outdoor school that is here from Monday to Thursday. My son attended until he was too old. The school is moving to another location and I hope to add more events and farm tours in addition to marketing produce, herbs, and wool products to visitors who are interested in this lifestyle. My children are starting to come more regularly with my grandchildren to participate in projects that the farm offers. I’m hoping their youthful energy and tech savvy can help us be more income generating as my husband’s income pays the farm’s bills currently and we are getting closer to retirement age. I smile when I see your farmhouse and see the style of architecture and roofline and dormers are very similar to my own. Fortunately we don’t deal with the quantity of snow that you have and our growing season is probably longer too. I just want to encourage you to keep going! You are making a beautiful life there and you don’t need to be experts in anything for your content to be interesting. Negative comments come from people who know nothing about the challenges and hardships of farm/homestead life, and think all animals should live indoors. Ignore them and keep up the good work. Thank you for making your channel as accessible as possible by being in English! I love your accent. I would also be interested in seeing more lifestyle content l that seems normal to you but is of interest to us, like what your family eats, recreation you enjoy, animal names and their stories, family gatherings and holidays, etc. Thank you for sharing your life with us!

[@Chestnut_tree]

I salute your for your courage~

[@Lkristina65]

Thank you for your message. She is from Bergen and my dad is from a farm on ōland Sweden. Both my parents have passed away so watching your videos brings me such joy and reminds me of the times we went back to Sweden and Norway visiting family. Thank you again for sharing your wonderful life with us! God bless you !❤️🇳🇴

[@NorwegianHomestead]

Awesome video ! Nice to see your story with sheep , both the good and the bad. We took over our homestead in August , and the plan is to get chickens first .. Then I hope to get pigs at some point.

[@Norwegianfarmlife]

Thanks and good luck with your homestead🤠👍

[@jerrystout3032]

Great Job guys great 👍 prop perty

[@1viridis]

Thank you for the candid honesty of your story, and all best wishes to you! Those are such beautiful sheep. If shorn, would selling fleece to spinners and felters help with income?

[@user-os7xb9fq8q]

I just found your channel! Thank you for sharing your story. It is inspiring.

[@babanravi]

❤ from India. Your farm looks like Himachal Pradesh and uttrakhand village life in India. Usually they also go with too much hustles due to harsh weather conditions . There also snow fall is 1 meters thick, you can try growing trees like apples, oranges, etc. Also tell us which trees can be planted in Norwegian village for long term perspective. And how you heat up your surroundings...As in India without we don't survive, so keep cows. Unless you develop large milk production or products out of them to sell, you can't earn or survive.

[@bigears4014]

It's a lifestyle not a money making exercise, now you know you'll enjoy it more

[@an67481]

Look into Regen agriculture, moving the animals every 2nd day, to solve the problem of fertility on the soil. I love seeing this realistic story telling of small scalr farming, keep it up!! ❤❤❤

[@Norwegianfarmlife]

Thanks for the tip!

[@jurgenh3671]

👍👍👍

[@sanderengstrm2232]

Kjempe bra at deko beite at ikkje skogen tar øve

[@ahkkariq7406]

Jeg begynte å se videoene dine for kanskje et år siden, og tok det fra begynnelsen den gang, så kom ikke helt hit den gang. Av en eller annen grunn forsvant du for meg, men nå er jeg her igjen. Skal si dere har fått kjørt dere! Bra at dere nå har valgt å ta tiden til hjelp. Tar jeg feil når jeg innbiller meg at kanalen din har grodd? Er du i ferd med å nå et nivå der seertallene vil begynne å balle på seg? I så fall vil du få inntekt fra kanalen, og det fortjener du i aller høyeste grad. Du skal se det blir muligheten til både å gjerde inn og redusere jobb utenfor gården etter hvert. Lykke til videre!

[@tunintunin3417]

Bureaucracy is the biggest obstacle for us farmers. I am often on the edge to give up.

[@forrestvalleyfarmer]

I respect you for trying to live of farming. The sad truth is that your farm will never be sustainable economically for farming. I would much rather see if you could sustain land maintenance or animal care through other means such as renting out room or cabins, or creating woodworking stuff from your own forrest. Animals and meat is to competetive.

[@snithereens]

09:03 what is under neath the many bumps? Is stones with moss on them or rather earthy bumps?

[@Norwegianfarmlife]

Me and Marianne created a big list of income ideas on the farm but it takes much time and capital to realize most of them so for now we have decided to slow down a bit while the kids are so young. 😊

[@forrestvalleyfarmer]

@@Norwegianfarmlife Sounds like much of the same struggle as other farmers. Need for capital makes a lot of farmers have way to much debt. Just curious considering the amount of water you have at your farm. Have you tried growing wasabi? Not sure how it would work in Norway.

[@saethman]

Mye stang ut for dere :( Hvor mange sauer hadde dere på det meste?

[@Norwegianfarmlife]

Ja, av og til må man stoppe og ta en fot i bakken. Kan ikke alltid klare alt man vil på en gang. Vi var oppe i 14 stk på det meste. Det kunne vi ha fortsatt med dersom vi fikk gjerdet inn hele eiendommen og hadde et større område vi lagde høy på. Slik vi har det i dag går det ikke.

[@saethman]

@@NorwegianfarmlifeJa, det virket fornuftig å ta en fot i bakken og et steg tilbake :) Så får dere heller skalere opp igjen steg for steg

[@hardyjensen8110]

👍🐓🐣🐈🐑☕️😁

[@snithereens]

09:03 are the bumps stones with moss on them or just earthy bumps?

[@matthewaamot2961]

Well, this video removed any interest I had in farming in my ancestral homeland..... 😭

[@Norwegianfarmlife]

The reality of farming can be tough but we still love it🤠👍. For every thing we learn it becomes easier. I would advise you If you want to give it a go to work for farmer for a while to learn and to see if this is something for you.

[@matthewaamot2961]

@@Norwegianfarmlife I think it's a real shame that a country / beaucracy would think it had the right to tell you if you could buy a farm, if you could buy the animals, and if you could sell them when it came time. I'll stay farming in the US, for now at least. It sounds like a pretty tough go in Norway. 🙏

[@gabrielhofstatter5746]

In short: even if you live in a country full of tax incentives and subsidies, agriculture is not for amateurs. I hope that with time they recover and achieve success. Greetings from Brazil, the country of agriculture.