Forest Family

Dates

2018 - Ongoing
Author

Touko Hujanen
Location Finland, Finland

Lasse Nordlund is the only person in Finland known to have lived self-sustained for decades. Now Lasse and his partner Maria Dorff share a home with their two children in Valtimo. The couple has in recent years become key figures in the Finnish “post-fossil” movement. Lasse and Maria are establishing a school for self-sufficiency, first of its kind in the world.

Energy politics, food and merchandise production and critique of growth economy are all acute themes and directly connected to the lifestyle experiment of Nordlund and Dorff and the founding of the self-sufficiency school.

I have followed the life of Nordlund and Dorff in 2018-2019 during four seasons, documenting the unique lifestyle of the family and the cycle of farming and the building of the self-sufficiency school with the help of volunteer work.

“Forest family”. Lasse Nordlund (s.1965) is the only person in Finland known to have lived self-sustained for decades. Nordlund has been living in the forest of North Karelia since the beginning of 1990´s. Now Lasse and his partner Maria Dorff share a home with their two children. The couple has in recent years become key figures in the Finnish “post-fossil” movement. Lasse and Maria are establishing a school for self-sufficiency, first of its kind in the world. Valtimo, Finland.

Nordlund has written a book Elämämme perusteista (2008), “The foundations of our life”, where he outlines the boundary conditions for self-sufficient life. The text includes a calculation for the amount of land needed for one person to survive self-sufficiently: If the food supply is supported with berry and mushroom picking, four ares of land is enough to support an adults need for food in North Karelia region. Valtimo, Finland.

The family´s hometown is in Valtimo where the winters are cold. During winter the outhouse is used less. The five-year-old son Justus, takes the evening wash in the livingroom. Sphagnum moss is used as toilet paper. Valtimo, Finland.

Lasse has been building a house for five years by hand which will soon become the family´s new home. Lasse is interested in producing most of his possessions by himself. The post-fossil movement doesn´t only concentrate on the critique of modern society but seeks to experiment and explore alternative operating models and collects knowhow of life without fossil energy. Valtimo, Finland.

The potatoes and swede are planted in the spring. Swede is an important source of food for the family. Lasse has eaten the same breakfast for over twenty years, he calls it “swede breakfast”. Lasse and Maria have also made most of their tools and clothes themselves. Valtimo, Finland.

The school for self-sufficiency is being built by volunteers. The trees are taken down with their roots to save energy. In all their work Lasse and Maria consider work and energy efficiency. Valtimo, Finland.

Lasse takes Justus for a nap. Valtimo, Finland.

July 2018 was the warmest month in recorded history so far. After the hot summer the IPCC published their report on the impacts of global warming which woke up the international community. Energy politics, food and merchandise production and critique of growth economy are all acute themes and directly connected to the lifestyle experiment of Nordlund and Dorff and the founding of the self-sufficiency school. Valtimo, Finland.

Lasse is making a new field to grow crops closer to the new house. Valtimo, Finland.

The family gathers material from a landfill. They are looking for anything that might be useful in the building of the school for self-sufficiency. Valtimo, Finland.

Fertilizer for the field is collected from the outhouse. Valtimo, Finland.

One of the volunteers is building a shed for firewood. Valtimo, Finland.

Few kilometers from the family´s home there is a pond where Maria and Justus go for a swim and a wash. Valtimo, Finland.

Lasse and volunteers eat together three meals a day. Valtimo, Finland.

Maria Dorff came to Valtimo for her university studies to write an essay about self-sufficiency. Her subject for the essay was Lasse Nordlund who was famous for his experiment to live in North Karelia in complete self-sufficiency. Lasse became his husband and now the couple have two children. Valtimo, Finland.

Work party volunteers take a swim in the pond after a days work. Valtimo, Finland.

Wood for the self-sufficiency school´s main building comes from a demolished timber house. The wood arrives at night and Lasse collects the load with volunteers. Valtimo, Finland.

Children of the volunteers observe forest work. Eleven-year-old Aamu, older child of Lasse and Maria, goes to school in Valtimo but she says she doesn't want to move the city as an adult but wants to live like her parents. Valtimo, Finland.