In this post, I probably mentioned how the fields of southern Bjäre looks this time of the year, after most farmers have finished or at least come a far way with their potato planting. How the white fibrecloth makes it look like the whole area is once again covered in snow. I've also shown photos where you can see the fibre cloth from ground level, but it's really from afar, say from Kullen peninsula or from the sky, that you realise just how -- well -- eye catching the use of these laborious "sails" are on a landscape scale. A few months ago my sis was on Google Maps/Earth exploring (or snooping on her penpals *lol*) when she took a look at some more familiar surroundings: home and the fields down by the shore where we work each spring. Laughingly we realised that the photos were taken just in time to get a snapshot of the spring white potato fields.
Now, it isn't that noticable in the pic above (where an eagle-eyed viewer can see that we aren't finished "weaving" -- as we call it -- our field), but just look below:
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| This is a pretty big pic as is the one below -- click on them for a better view. |
That's our field (our as in the field we work in, not as in owning it -- our boss owns it), the one with the "island" in the middle. In the above pic you have a scale, but hopefully the houses and the orange-roofed shed help some with the scale here. Our field is somewhere around 260 metres long, I think, so while the strips of fibercloth might look narrow, they aren't. And more precisely they certainly don't feel narrow once the wind catches them while we're laying them out!
Edited to add: I finally got the plug-in to work on this computer too so I grabbed a few screenshots myself. With this monitor not being in widescreen format, I got a better size images and you can see even more of the covered fields. Like above, please click the pics for a larger size/better view.
(Yes I thoroughly enjoy satellite images and aerial photography -- love seeing the world from above! Says the girl who refuses to go near an airplane...)
Edited again to add: For anyone who wants to check out Bjäre peninsula on Google Maps, here's a link to guide you to the right place. You'll soon spot that the covered fields are most common on the south side and up along the western coastline: that's the more plain areas, the other half of the peninsula is more hilly due to the Hallandsåsen ridge and better suited for smaller fields, pasture and woodland.
That is totally fascinating! Thank you for sharing your work with us. Amazing what satellites can capture!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the day. Erin
So interesting to see how the landscape looks like from a satellite. I can't even imagine how you manage to handle the fibercloth. I just love Google Earth. It's like travelling. Unfortunately I upgraded my iPad and lost Google Earth. The next day I understood that I wasn't alone: people went crazy when they understood what they had done. I really miss flying all over the world by Google Earth. Mea
ReplyDeleteGoogle Earth is addictive, really! It's really fascinating seeing the earth from above, isn't it? (And to see how the whole world is joined together, which of cause everyone knows, but it's one thing to know and quite another to actually see it.)
ReplyDeleteI could also add that the white the sheets look, the more layers they've put on. We do some parts of the field with a single layer of fibercloth and others with double layers, but some early bird farmers use up to three or four layers to make sure it doesn't get too cold for the potatoes. In Google's pics we appear to have just used single layers.