Spuds

We're closing in to one of the emotionally biggest holiday for a Swede in general: Midsummers eve. Bigger than Christmas, bigger than Easter. This year the eve arrives the day before the actual summer solstice, so it can't be more perfect.

I won't go into detail about all the traditions for this weekend, that would take far too long and probably bore you. But one of the thing that has to be on the table is fresh potatoes, preferable dug out of the ground minutes before the are put in the pan to boil. 

On my walk, over to The Garden in the grove I saw that their potatoes probably will be perfect for next weekend.  Every year the first potatoes are auctioned out to gourmet restaurants and chefs and some shops. The potatoes usually get a price around or over a thousand Swedish crowns (about 95€) per kilo. The Corona pandemic has changed that this year. An article in the newspaper tells me that all auctions are cancelled. The growers interviewed have instead decided to give them away to the people working at hospitals. If you want to buy the very first fresh potatoes in the shop the first price will be 300 crowns (28€). Very soon you can find them at 10 crowns (0.9€) in ordinary shops.

Another item that needs to be on the table is strawberries, maybe you saw my blip of the first two I was given by my landlord. The same afternoon I saw that the price for fresh Swedish strawberries in the shopping mall, was 60 crowns per litre (5.5 pounds). 

If you think potato plants are boring I give you a nice, unknown, butterfly that landed in front of me.