About us
Is it possible to live a "farm life" in the middle of a town while still working full-time? We don't know the answer yet, but we're doing our best to find out! In 2021, we moved to a house from the late 1800s, blessed with a large garden on the outskirts of the small town of Hallstavik in Uppland. Here, we grow vegetables and live a simple life with our sheep, chickens, rabbits, and cats. On weekdays, we both work in Stockholm – Mats as a politician and I (Martina) as a PhD student in military history. On this site, you can follow our efforts to live a more sustainable life while sharing our experiences and challenges along the way.
About me
My name is Martina Berggren. I am 30 years old and moved from Småland in southern Sweden to Stockholm in 2012. For a few years, I worked in the food industry, but then I decided to study history at Stockholm University. Since January 2024, I've been a PhD student at the Swedish Defense University, where I research animals in war and preparedness during the 20th century.
Animals have always been a passion of mine, and the dream of living in a small house in the countryside, surrounded by animals and plants, has been with me since childhood. Today, I am living that dream. One purpose of this page, besides being a diary, is to inspire more people to take on the same journey.
Why Stormhatt?
Stormhatt is the Swedish name for the flower known as Monkshood in English. In addition to being one of our most beautiful perennials, it also has a rich and fascinating cultural history. Stormhatt contains aconitine, a paralyzing nerve agent, which makes it Europe's most dangerous plant. In the past, stormhatt was used as medicine due to its pain-relieving effects, but also for executions and murders. Among other things, stormhatt is said to have been part of the poison that Medea gave to Theseus. Another name for stormhatt in English is wolfsbane, as the poison was used in the 18th century to kill wolves and other predators.