Can a Brit be Self-Sufficient in Finland? | Land Tour 

When managing your forest, make sure to leave some of that deadwood around, it's the foundation for a healthy, diverse forest ecosystem. The rotting wood houses many insects which in turn attract a whole host of birds and small mammals who eat the bugs and make their nests in the hollowed out trunks. Unfortunately most forests in Finland are so carefully managed that the shortage of deadwood has driven many species near to extinction.

Welcome to Finland! Just found your channels through these videos, but thought that I'd warn you that we finns love following rules and to report those that don't. So since you are posting on youtube be sure to have all your ducks in a row (pun intended) if/when you get chickens or ducks, read up on the rules! You need to check with the municipality (kunta) how many are allowed in your area, register as a owner of fowl (siipikarjan pitäjä) and follow the rules when it comes to the avian flu. We are also not technically allowed to feed our chickens food scraps, so might be a good idea not to post things like that. Selling eggs is a whole other can of worms too!

You can see when this video was recorded from the weather since the snow came back just in time for chrismas and has stayd here despaite the temretures being near OC. Btw tempretures are predicted to plumit tu -20C to -25C in southeren Finland during the first week of January so I'd recomend prepering for the cold weather

Thank you so much, Daniel, for resuming your channel. You so articulate when talking about the benefits of your life style. It just does my heart good to know the current generation has access to this way of perceiving our relationship to the earth. I've always had a garden, but it took me many years to be able to live in a rural area, and you are so right. The look of glee on your face when you anticipate what you can do on your acreage speaks volumes. Happy New Year!

One thing you did not at least mention is berry bushes. Usually blackcurrant, redcurrant, gooseberry... Great source of food in Finnish climate. Also, be happy about the anthill... it means there are no snakes around :)

Happy new year, Daniel, and thank you so much for the tour. I can't wait to see your wildlife pond!

Wow, what a fantastic area to start your new journey. Have you considered a hoop house or caterpillar green house…may be an alternative to fencing to keep out the deer with the added benefit of being able to considerably extend your growing season. 🕺🏻🐕

The Karelian Bear Dog is a Finnish breed that might do well on your new plot…..

Can I just say how good you are at presenting? I usually have a low tolerance for these sorts of long videos but your presentation is relaxing yet engaging, almost like a professional documentary.

A note on lupins: They are not native to Finland (or Europe at all), but are a highly invasive North American plant that outcompetes local wildflowers.

every single old farm house in finland that i've ever visited has raspberries and currants and gooseberries planted somewhere on the grounds. in my experience those bushes can survive for decades even when neglected and it's another source of free food. even if you don't think you have any, you might want to look for some horrible brambly bushes next spring before you start clearing them away.

Greetings from Helsinki, Finland. Welcome to our beautiful country. Finnish people love collective work. You just get materiat to fixing your barn and then call people to help you. You must buy beer and grilling sausages etc. After work more beer and sauna. That is how things going here in Finland. 😊

Brit biologist been in Finland 18 years, 10 of that have been spent renovating old or new homes using natural materials and traditional techniques in Raseborg-Kimito region. Garden, greenhouses, orchard, chickens, sheep and forest/property management. Interested in regenerative ag, permaculture, utilising natural processes to manage and cycle resources on smallholdings, etc. If you're looking to build a network of folks pulling in a similar direction, feel free to get in touch. Welcome to Finland and good luck with your project. Cheers, Michael

I'm very happy I spotted your new adventure here in RU-vid. I'm Finn who escaped busy Finnish life into UK and made myself my version of Mossy Bottom'ish life style...something I could not have ever been able to create nor dream back there. You are very brave man to take on that challenge. Looking forward to follow your interesting venture and all of its challenges and rewards.

-18C is really a big difference from what you're used to in Ireland. I was just thinking what's new on your channel and then I saw that you posted some new videos. I'm looking forward to watch them. Happy New Year 🎆 to you and your little family and to everybody who's reading this 💕

Love that you're so focused on helping wildlife and keeping things as natural as you can..........top man, good luck :)

You don't really need to bury the fence, there isn't much to worry about that burrows, but it needs to be tall, the roe deer jumped my 1,2m and 1,5m fences until the 2m fence finally kept them out.

Congratulations and welcome to Finland! Be careful when making changes to a 99-year-old building. There are lots of salesmen who want to sell you new "better" windows or some extra insulation, but they probably will ruin the house in 20 years with mold or other problems. What has lasted for almost 100 years can't be that bad and should be replaced with care and a knowledge of traditional Finnish building methods.

So idyllic Daniel! I love the new homestead! As a nature lover myself, I think it’s great that you have a natural meadow, a wetland, and forest habitat that provide great homes for animals and insects. They will enhance your lives on the homestead immeasurably and are such important parts of natural ecosystems. Protect them always!!! I very much look forward to seeing the progress on your new journey! Am excited, in fact! Thank you for sharing!

Oh, what a lucky wee girl your Juno is growing up in a natural environment like this .. Fresh air + home-grown organic food is a great start in life . Happy New Year to all 🎉🎉

There're plenty of ticks in SW Finland starting May every year; make sure to take your TBE shots as early as possible. Many ticks also carry Lyme so just take care and watch out for any symptoms if anyone gets bit.

I live in a pretty similar looking place in SW Finland, also 2km away from the coast. First thing we built was a playground for our two kids. We lived in a Parisian suburb in France before moving here. So quite a change, but I love the quietness. Our forest house has an optical fiber Internet, to work at home. Most properties in the area have this option, maybe you as well?

Your energy seems to be renewed in Finland. It just shows through in the vid; I can't wait to see the progress you will be making there. So very proud of you and your family.

Daniel, there's a new thing where the construction secretaries in municipalities have began to look for air pictures to see if they correspond to the stuff that should be on the property on paper. Every over 10 square meter building is put to tax. One thing is that nowadays you can't build a sauna close to a lake usually, but if the area had one before, you are allowed to build it again there. Thus I'd say that if you remove that hunter's lodge, build something on top of it, just walls and roof, test some stuff for other projects. Never let a building you have on your land to fall into the category of not being there, so you can make a new one on that site. With the new system of checking the buildings, there might be some that the previous owners didn't have to or know to declare as new buildings in the area.

i love how well spoken he is

It's such a beautiful home, I am so happy for you and your family Daniel. So much excitement awaits for 2024 and beyond!

Welcome to Finland from another Finn! Someone has probably already mentioned but you should build a greenhouse to grow stuff like tomatoes, cucumbers, chilis, aubergines, and zucchinis - if those are the sorts of plants you want to grow. My mum has never managed to grow those outside a greenhouse (unless you discount cherry sized tomatoes in hanging pots) and she did grow up in a farm in Finland. It not only enhances the warmth and sun's properties, but also protects the food from wildlife (my mum was recently very offended when a few deer ate rose berries right in the backgarden). There's also quite a few shrub plants with lovely berries you could plant - biggest worry with those are the birds, which are also very cheeky about eating cherries right off the tree. But I'm not an expert, this is just me seeing things over and over again over the years. Good luck with all the renovations, restorations and planting projects!

Brit living in Finland. Im a city person but envious of you skills and lifestyle. One thing I can not mention though is you mentioned sitting next to the pond in summer, you are going to get a lot of mosquitoes For me it’s torture as i am super attractive to mosquitoes for some reason but my general impression of Finnish countryside is anywhere that there is wetland or marsh you get a LOT of mozis

Oh Moss 🐕, I miss you 😢 SO happy for Daniel, Angela and Juno ❤ excited to join you on your journey

Man your voice and manner of speaking is so soothing, you could definitely be a voice actor.

I used to fantasize about moving to Finland, what an amazing country. I'm sure you'll learn Finnish in time, it's too beautiful not to. Cheers and good luck on your new horizon!

If you keep the meadow the biggest pain in the Bottom are going to be the ticks. So in summertime, pay attention to lower legs of your family. And cats and dogs will most probably carry few when the land is not frozen anymore.

I have a connection to Finland myself which is too complicated to explain here. But it's wonderful to watch you and your family establish a home in Finland. Thank you my friend and belated congratulations.

Ireland's loss is Finland's gain! Thank god for RU-vid! Greetings and best wishes from a wet and windy west of Ireland 🇮🇪 🇫🇮

I'm sure you know by now that picking berries and mushrooms is a national hobby in Finland, and encouraged by "every person's right" to roam the land - whether public or private - for the bounty of nature. Happy New Year to you and yours!

Remember deadwood is used for insects, which feeds the birds.. so leave some where you want them.

@2:38 "those Siberian winds bring back the snow" - Usually the air coming from Siberia is dry and cold (clear skies and low temp). Moist and warm air (clouds and snow) generally comes from a westerly direction. Anyway, you seem like a properly decent dude. Heartfelt welcome to Finland. I hope you'll survive the first winter. It's not the cold, it's the darkness...

Daniel, you are my idol. I wish you luck in a new project in Finland. Greetings from Serbia .

Greeting from Finland. Great to start following your adventures here. We also have a 100 year old yellow log house with mansard roof here. 😊

Very nice old orchard there, you can get so many plums from a mature tree but they do tend to shrink when left to the wild. Even though your area is more temperate than most of finland, peaches likely will not live. Even pears are not guaranteed but some hardy cherry trees are available to buy locally. Basically whatever is available at garden centers there will likely work, I'd also recommend berry bushes like raspberry, gooseberry and currants as they require very little care and produce well.

Thanks for an interesting video Daniel. It would be fascinating to know who lived in your house / land before you bought it. You have given us some clues with what they left behind but it’s always interesting to know their lifestyle and struggles. You did that with Maeve in Ireland which I thought was great.

I am quite curious how the house is on the inside..... When are you going to show us, Daniel? It doesn't have to be completely renovated though... Maybe we can give you even tips of how to solve peticulair(sorry, I don't know how to spell it) problems! I am very much into diy solutions, that means low budget solutions and I am shure a lot of your other subscribers as well! I am glad you got in touch with us again, after quite a long time of nothing! We wish you and your lovely young family an absolutely fantastic 2024! ❤️

What a great piece of land. It's always fun to watch your videos and the new adventures you begin. I'm watching the video where you are walking around the property and sharing your plans. It is Saturday morning, December 30th, 6:30 am. I'm having my morning coffee at Pt. Defiance ferry car park in Tacoma, Washington. It's a great place to gaze across Commencement Bay over to Vashon and Maury Islands as the ferry goes back and forth. Both of those islands were given their names by the great British explorer, George Vancouver. Good luck in Finland. Don Wilson, Tacoma, Washington.

I couldn't understand why you abandoned Ireland, but I get it now. Peace and prosperity in 2024.

As an advice from a Finn: If you happen to have a dead pine tree (KELO in finnish) standing near your yard or in your forest, DO NOT cut those, if not totally neccessary. They give for the whole enviroment a bundant playground: Insects and birds LOVE them! You have a lot better chance to see different woodpeckers, hawks and even with a good luck owls, if you save those! This goes ofcourse with ALL old big trees (bruce, pine, oak, birch and aspen). Ps. With 5-10 old aspens you might even get lucky to offer a home for a mesmerizing flying squarrel (not very common in other parts of Europe)! I live myself near to one of the most trafficed road in Helsinki metropolitan area and in a very urban area with high-rise, but LUCKILY my balkony faces 3 older wooden villas with their old gardens, that have survived the constructioning around. There are even 2 of these dead pine trees standing and what a pleasure I have had to look all those mentioned and many more, except owls. And only few kilometers away there is a forested park, where we have the flying squarrels. Not easy fellows to spot, but I am very happy we have them! ❤

Love your show in Ireland… wow now in Finland! Gorgeous! Wonder how you can legally stay there more than 90 days … as it is a Schengen country ??

Happy New Year to you, Daniel, and to your family. I look forward to watching your progress on your new home❤️

Congrats Daniel 🎉 New land, new life, new family, new beginnings. All the best ❤

Ireland misses you but delighted that you are so happy and in such a beautiful place, congratulations on birth of your little girl, may God bless your family with love and happiness all the days of your lives❤

What a wonderful set of plans. Can't wait to see it becoming a reality.

The newer building looks to have a large portion of modern man made and chemically treated material. Natural wood has natural mould and bacterial resistance. I've been moving towards all natural wood materials wherever possible. Good luck 🍀

Lupins are not really native originally, I think they came to Finland with ballast as early as 1800 like most of the new species that found themselves here. Hard to get rid of.

Wonderful! Canning and preserving is defo the way to keep food over the winter ovwr here. Do you have an underground cellar? A Finnish "perunakellari" - "potato cellar" partially underground is the traditional way of keeping food cool and safe. Thanks for a great video!

Hi again! When planting peaches here in Finland the best varieties are Frost and Riga, they both manage up to minus 30 or 40 and bear small but heavenly fruits. I like Riga the best because i have a bit of trouble with curly leave disease on Frost in rainy years. A good cultivar for having inside a high tunnel is Ice Peach. Have fun😄

Growing herbs is also one thing you might want to do as Finnish climate is great for growing them. You can then exchange (or sell) the excess herbs for other goods. If you end up selling you will face higher bureaucracy than you were used to in Ireland so prepare for that if/when you think of selling your goods. There is more and more demand for organic goods so might be good way to sell your excess goods after couple years of getting the things rolling...

Finland such a nice country with great food. I'll hope in the future that you'll make some Finish food video's. Happy New Year

Great video Daniel. However you aren't going to convince me to leave Ireland for Finland by telling us the sea froze over ha ha

I am so glad you talk so calmly en relaxed. I look forward to your adventures in Finland. Thank you! All the best for you and your family in 2024.

Finland seems like an awesome country, I’m so excited to see what this adventure is going to bring.

Yep. I remember wild cranberries and blueberries from similar lands The flavors were way beyond the store bought kinds. My favorite were Scandinavian pancakes (crepes) with blueberry jam. You have really found a treasure!

It's a long way from Clare to here,nice to see you settling in to Finland.

I'm afraid that the animals that will thrive in that pond the most are mosquitos, which might make the area around the pond less ideal for relaxation :D

My dad made us a snow slide with plowed snow when we lived in Michigan. It was so much fun. Beautiful place to live you have!

Hello from France 🙂 I really loved watching your videos about Ireland Daniel, being Irish myself, but I'm so looking forward to following along with your Finland journey. All the very best with your plans & projects.

First thing you need to think is that you need to start everything as soon as possible, Finnish summer is so short that this is really what you really get.. If you want to grow tomatoes, paprika and such, you need to start them inside of the house and dig them to ground in may.. Glasshouse also helps!

Lovely plan Daniel. Have you thought about coppicing and pollarding your forest for long term fuel? Those were very popular management techniques in the Medieval and Early Modern periods. They do not require the total felling of trees and allow each tree to be far more productive over the years.

Do you still have the Mooming mug you drank morning tea two years ago? I was very surprised to see it and thought it might have led you to Finland. There is Nuuska Muikkunen on the mug with the pointy green hat. He is also an introvert.

It's just the "winter solstice" it marks the beginning of winter in a four season climate.

I just enjoyed & once again benefited enormously from your How to Thrive as an Introvert video. At the end timestamp 13:00 & just before, although it’s looking up at the sky through the trees, it looks just like looking at the snow in Finland down through your trees there. Juno’s First Year in Finland would make a fab children’s book and you could write & illustrate one each year as she gets older with the text becoming more age appropriate (for her) as she grows ❤ or you could do one for each main season eg Juno’s first Christmas (in Finland)

What an exciting journey you are on! I can almost see Juno in a few years as she asks you to identify each species of bird and creature around your home. As you described your plans for different areas, I could almost see your dreams come to fruition. You are wise enough to equate failure with learning, and in time you will produce so much fruit you'll become an expert in all manner of preservation. Thank you for taking us along on your beautiful Finnish journey!

Good health, and happiness to you, and your family, for the new year!, wow loads to do, but if anyone you can, you can, look forward to all that's to come.

What a great channel. Welcome to Finland and good luck with all your projects!

Hi Daniel!👍 Thanks very much for another amazing video. I am delighted to see a large number of welcoming Finns which reflects their loving culture and their hospitality. I am nature-loving too and wanted to move to Finland by buying farmland like you. I am not sure where to start. Nothing can be achieved without the help of lovely Finns and Daniel Indeed!!! So looking forward to hearing back from you folks!

Welcome to Finland! Your video was randomly recommended to me, I guess because Finns love hearing foreigner perspectives of Finland, especially if positive. I’m fascinated by your Irish project and eager to see what you can so here. Everyone will be rooting for you and happy to help.

Glad you're back! Like yourself, I am trying to better utilize land, but only 2.5 acres of 40 to 100 year old trees mostly like yours; pine, oak, beech, maple, etc. I fortunately also have a creek and healthy marsh next to land. Exhausting is deciding which to clear for fire wood and crop land, and which to keep to support ecology via deadwood for insects and bird nesting areas.

People in the Nordic were self sufficient with food for thousands of years, by eating a high rate of animal foods. Meat, dairy, eggs and seafood. And some vegetables and grains on the side. Good luck, and greetings from Norway.

Thank you so much fot your lovely videos. You are a great man with lovely personality. I was born in Finland y. 1949 but l have been living here in Canada fo 50 years now. I miss Finland so much, the beautiful nature, forests, lakes, quietness, sauna, the most beautiful summers and all. All the best for you and your family in Finland 🇫🇮 ❤, enjoy 👍.

So happy for you and your family. Sending love and best wishes for the New Year.

I watched the Irish videos faithfully and missed them a lot, i am really looking forward to see what you do with this mossy bottom.

You will see do many birds in your forest if you keep the deadwood for them. Some only nest in deadwood, which is scarce unfortunately, you might have noticed that.

That horror-shed, there seemed to be electricity anyhow! If that is working, it could be a bonus. The deer fence, check the "saving siskola". That pond, if it is shallow, it freezes all down, so as fishes only crucian carp? "ruutana" in finnish could survive. Strategic snow, snow is very good insulator too Wind is not howling under house if there is snowed plenty agiains it. Of course in spingtime you get it away, not so melt all under your house. And last point, in Finland you have the rights to colled berries and mushrooms on everywhere, if not doing it near any housing. And vise versa: there could be "stragers!" in your forest doing the same. But you could collet nice winter stash of dried mushrooms "quite easily" And what is better than creamy supparisoppa! =Funnel chantarelle-soup.

How exciting! Can’t wait to see what you do with the area 😊

I have a very similar piece of land also in south western Finland with the log cabin from 1924. 😀 Last year we set up a fence to keep out the deer and I started my first garden. Have been trimming the old apple trees little by little in the last two years. It will be interesting following your work as well.

This video is well timed. As Turku region is predicted to have down to -30 next week. (1st week). The cold is starting now and already at new years we should have -20.

You mentioned in your previous video that the windows need some repairing. If you want to save little bit of money and give some experience to restoration work students. I suggest you contact some Vocational colleges (ammattikoulu) that may have restoration courses. One of them is Raseko that I went to my self and has mentioned restoration students. Usually you pay for the materials and the work but its alot less than a professional team. Note that the work is still overseen by a teacher so the quality stays quite good.

Found your channel a few videos before you moved. Will enjoy watching you make this a sustainable living! And enjoying Finland!

A Happy New Year to Daniel and Angela and little one hope you have a wonderful New Year in Finland 🇫🇮.💟💟💟⛄️

super inspired by this mate - I'm considering a similar move to Estonia in the coming months. Will be watching your progress with interest.

Actually, in Finnish winter, the coldest days tend to be sunny, and the warmer days are cloudy.

Love your channel. Wish I was young enough to volunteer. Maybe a granny nanny?

Do not gloss over or ignore the free protien. Apart from the cost of the gun and amunition, venison is free and delicious.

It feels like another kind of freedom 😊 The deer fence sounds like a big and necessary job. Wondering if you have issues, as I do, when there are too many dependencies before you can start something you really want to do.

Welcome to Finland! Many people have already suggested a Finnish lapphund, which is a fantastic breed for the countryside. Another option that's been gaining popularity is a Samoyed, which I happen to have 2 of myself. They are a bit larger than Lapphunds, a bit more work (sledding etc.) than herding oriented and require even more activity due to their intelligence and tendency to find that activity by themselves if not provided. They tend to be a bit more independent than Lapphunds as well. Both are beatiful choices, it's up to what you want in your dog! If you want to preserve the forest, remember to keep some of the deadwood, especially standing deadwood. They are very important for the ecosystem as some have already explained in the comments. Your neighbours will surely have opinions, event more than necessary, on what kind of wood to fell for the fireplaces. Hope you have a nice first winter, although the return to the rare with the extreme cold these past few weeks might have been a shock! Also by law you have to try and get rid of the lupins as some already pointed out. Goog luck, I'm going on year 4 of trying to get rid of them at my summer house..

This is awesome :) I will be glad to follow along! We're doing something very similar here on our 5 acre plot in Estonia, and that as two people coming from Belgium :) I recognise the enthusiasm when first starting out on a new project like that ! We live on the island Saaremaa, that might be 'not so far' from your place. Who knows we can meet some time in the future :) Much succes on your journey !

Best wishes to you and your family Daniel . I have missed watching and listening to you in Ireland . I love your enthusiasm ... You really are a breath of fresh air and deserve to do well . Keep up the good work .

Your land looks a lot bigger than mine and I've 4.5 acres... Lol I need more trees!! Your comment of contented exhaustion rang so true. I love collecting firewood for my new wood burning stove in my tiny home too. I also have a meditation stone albeit a wee bit smaller than your glacial deposit! It is comfortable though. Health to enjoy Daniel, Angela and Juno in you new life. Looking forward to your videos

An orchard, a pond, forest grown wild, a field full of deer, an ice age meditation boulder, proper wood sauna... You've got your work cut out for you, but if you make it's going to be magical. A word of an advice: get your TBE vaccine before spring because the area is likely infested with ticks due to overpopulation of deer in southwest Finland. One more reason to keep the deer away.

I'm so happy for you... A new family and home in Finland GOD BLESS YOU.. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO. YOU ALL.... can't wait to see more... 👍🎉🎊

Well see what it's like if it get's to -30°c like they promised😅. I still doubt it. Any body knitting you wool sock's yet? Let me know it you need pair or 3 real Finnish had made ones 😉🇫🇮

Daniel I am so excited to see what you do with your land. It is going to be a wonderful adventure and I look forward to watching your progress. It sounds like you have some marvellous plans. Wishing you great good luck with it all. Happy New Year to you, Angela and Juno. Debs x