Our farmsead was established in the early 1900’s by John and Aina Harma who sold it to Toivo and Edla Kalander in 1912. Toivo and Edla Kalander sold it to Valentine Ahlbeck in 1917, who lived here until he died in 1946. The farmstead was abandoned after Valentine Ahlbeck died, and was not reinhabited until 1982 when Tim and Laurie Melby bought the property. Tim and Laurie had 3 children on the property, a son: Kaare, and 2 daughters: Ani and Aemilii.
Kaare and his wife Pamela would end up raising their family at the homestead, the first time the homestead had remained in one family across 2 generations. Kaare and Pam bought the homestead from Tim and Laurie in 2019 and have been working to rekindle the agricultural traditions of the homestead, returning it to a farmstead and raising a diversity of plants and animals. Kaare and Pam named the farmstead “Finnskogen Farm” in honor of the Finnskogen region of Norway that Kaare’s ancestors had immigrated from.
As Finnskogen Farm has been developed, Kaare and Pam have worked hard to incorporate regenerative and permacultre principles in their design. They have focused on building soil health, and transitioning the forests surrounding them into a more resilient mixed broadleaf forest. They have also incorporated many perennial crops and are even working on establishing some hybrid hazelnut trees. With goals of building a resilient and robust local food system, the future of Finnskogen Farm is bright.
Finnskogen Farm 