Katajamäki

Contact:
Ossi Kakko
Tel/fax: +358 34 71 80 40
Email: ossi@kulma.net

Specialty: Wild food
Region: Southern-Finland
Languages spoken: FI, EN

Katajamäki (Juniper Hill) is a small eco-community and a gathering place in the centre of Finland attempting to maintain a sound balance between domestic life and cultural activities.

About 10 persons are living at Katajamäki in the wintertime, but their numbers will double in the summer, as usual. The animal stock includes poultry, dogs and bees. The community is located on the outskirts of a protected old growth forest area of the Hill of Life and the Lake of Life which still have clean water. The wild life fauna is extensive: raven, loon, eagle owl, fox, bear, elk, etc.

A part of the vegetables and most of the herbs the community need is grown in a greenhouse as well as in the fields. The forest yields herbs, mushrooms and berries etc in abundance and the lake, plenty of fish. The rest of the food from is acquired as much as possible from local farmers by trade or exchange. 

Wild food product gathering and preservation:
Especially interesting are the current experiments of Ossi planting edible plants and herbs in the surrounding forest, gathering and preserving them with Lacto Fermentation and Low Temperature Cooking.Ossi is not a fixed inhabitant yet of Katajamäki, he follows courses in different places, but he spends as much time as possible in the community.He is ready to teach you what he discovered in this field by assisting him in his daily activities. His creations taste wonderful!You can participate in the community for shorter and longer time. If you stay for a short period of less than a few months you are “guest” and you pay 10 euro per day for a bed and food, if you stay longer, you can participate in decision making, have more responsibilities and pay per month. 

Katajamäki is centrally located in southern Finland, about 100 km north of Tampere and about 300 km north of Helsinki.

More information on lacto-fermentation, practices, history, books you can find on the website Wild Fermentation.