WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome to the

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How to Live in Denmark

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podcast.

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I'm Kay Xander Mellish

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I've referred to the

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Danish Year before on

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How to Live in Denmark.

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It's a series of events that

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are simply expected to

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happen every year in

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Denmark, even if they

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aren't

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formal holidays.

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This year, I'm going to try

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to do a podcast every

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month about aspects of

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the Danish year and

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how they fit in to the

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overall context of where

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Denmark is coming from

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and where it's going.

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April.

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As the long Danish winter

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finally draws to an end,

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it's time for Danes to

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start planting their

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gardens.

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Now.

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In early April, it's

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rhubarb, parsnips,

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cabbage.

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After the risk of frost is

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gone in late April, you

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can put down some beets

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and chives and parsley,

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all

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good traditional Danish

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food.

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By May, you can try with

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the tomatoes, which may

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or may not ripen,

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depending on whether or

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not

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you get a warm, sunny

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summer.

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Always a roll of the dice

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in Denmark.

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One year we ended up with

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hard green tomatoes in

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September.

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The growing season in

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Denmark is short.

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If you miss the planting

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deadlines, you're

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probably out of luck.

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And even if you're in luck,

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the amount you spend at

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the garden center will

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far outstrip the amount

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it would take you to buy

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the same foods at the

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corner market.

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But Danes love to garden.

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They love to touch the

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earth.

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Denmark industrialized

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fairly late compared to

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the rest of Europe, really

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not until the late 19th

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century, and even then it

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focused on cooperative

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agriculture for export.

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Denmark is still known

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around the world for its

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butter and bacon.

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The idea of the farm goes

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deep into the Danish soul.

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Many Danes still carry

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the name of their family

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farm in the name they use

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today.

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The Danish word for farm

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is gaard, spelled GAARD

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So the names of jewelry

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designer Ole Lynggard or

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golfer Nicolai Højgaard

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or politician

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Pia Kjærsgaard all

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reference what was once

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the family farm, the

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gaard .

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Danes love nature, which

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is why weather is always

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an appropriate topic of

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conversation.

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They're also very good at

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historical weather.

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They'll tell you that the

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rains this April are just

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like the rains of April

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2014, or that we haven't

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seen

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this type of wind since the

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summer of 2006.

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If you live in Denmark

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with a house in the

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suburbs with land

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around it -- parcel

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houses, they're often

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called.

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You have a lot of room

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for gardening, but people

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who live in apartments

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often have what is

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called colony gardens.

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Colony gardens are

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patches of land set aside

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in the cities and then

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divided up for urban

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residents to

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have a garden. They

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usually build a little

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house on the plot as well,

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although you're only

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allowed to

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live there during the

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summer.

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During the winter, the

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electricity and the water

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usually get switched off.

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The houses are generally

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wooden, small, cramped

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and a little thrown

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together.

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In the tiny kitchen, there

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are often chipped plates

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and glasses.

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Out in the main room, old

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chairs with cushions in a

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grandmotherly fabric.

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A few board games ready

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for rainy days.

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Out front there is a

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flagpole and a big Danish

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flag on holidays.

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Always, always, the

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colony gardens are

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surrounded by a hedge

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for privacy.

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Colony gardens are run

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by an association, so

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you're supposed to be

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friends with your

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neighbor

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colony gardens, but keep

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them at a distance.

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Good fences make for

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good neighbors and

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all that.

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Getting a colony garden

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requires either buying

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one or getting on a long,

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long list to get one.

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Which means that very

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few of the 15% of the

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residents of Denmark who

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are not ethnic Danish

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have colony gardens.

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As I mentioned in an

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earlier podcast, the list

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of residents tends to

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look like the 1957

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Copenhagen phone book.

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In my Copenhagen

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neighborhood, which is

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very diverse, there was an

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initiative to change this.

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A few years ago, a little

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bit of land was freed up

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by the railroad tracks

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and the idea was to create

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a unity garden.

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Half of the land was set

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off for people who were

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not born in Denmark, and

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half was set off for

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people who were.

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The idea was to meet up,

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work together, exchange

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knowledge, have summer

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picnics and meet across

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cultures.

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Last summer I walked past

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on an evening stroll.

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The people around the

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picnic table all appeared

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to be Danish.

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Walking along the

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gardens, the ones with

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Danish names on

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signposts were

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flourishing, full of

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flowers

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and fall squash, while

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most of the others were

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abandoned, full of weeds

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and thorns.

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Maybe the non-Danes did

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not want to spend their

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summer evenings and

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weekends scrabbling in

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the dirt for

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food that you could buy

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much cheaper in the

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supermarket down the

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street.

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If you come from a poor

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country where your

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parents had to garden

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out of desperation, or

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where city

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people look down on

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farmers, you might not

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want to spend your

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weekend

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play farming at your

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garden,

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getting down on your

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hands and knees in the

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mud, which is one of the

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Danes' greatest

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pleasures.

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Diversity and inclusion

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does not mean that

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everybody enjoys the same

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activities.

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Colony gardens could

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fairly be called

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"pæredansk", which

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translates directly to

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"Pear Danish".

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These are things that are

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thoroughly, unmistakably

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Danish.

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Rugbrød, or the

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distinctive Danish rye

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bread is another thing

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that is "pæredansk".

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It's the thing that Danes

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miss most when they

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travel abroad.

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Topped with fried fish or

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liver paste or sliced eggs

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for lunch.

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It's one of those

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traditional foods that

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yeah, people still do

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actually eat.

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People can also call

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themselves Pear Danish.

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It has nothing to do with

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pears, the fruit, or pairs

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in the sense of couples.

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"Pær" in this context

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means "very".

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You could also say that

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something is "pærenem" -

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very easy - or

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"pærelækker", very tasty.

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This can apply to either a

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meal or a person.

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To be Pear Danish, you

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don't necessarily have to

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be ethnic Danish, but you

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have to

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be thoroughly soaked in

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all aspects of Danish

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culture, pretty much to

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the exclusion of any

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other culture.

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That's not me, even after

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many years of living in

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Denmark.

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And it's apparently not

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those neglectful

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gardeners who signed up

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for those tiny colony

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gardens

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down by the railroad

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tracks, the gardens that

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now lie abandoned.

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Some Danish traditions,

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like cake breaks and

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"hygge" and long summer

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holidays,

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are adopted and

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appreciated by

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newcomers.

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And some are not.

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And that's the How to Live

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in Denmark podcast for

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this week.

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Follow me, Kay Xander

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Mellish, on LinkedIn,

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where I post a lot about

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Denmark and Danish

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working culture,

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or find all of our

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transcripts at

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howtolivendenmark.com

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You can also book me, Kay

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Xander Mellish, for a

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speech or workshop to

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your group or

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organization at

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events.

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howtolivedenmark.com.

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See you next time.