We are two married couples that live in Stóri Dímun. In one house, Eva and Jógvan Jón live with their children, Døgg and Sproti. In the other house Eva’s brother, Janus, lives with Erla and their kids, Óli Jákup, Andrea and Tór.
Eva and Janus were raised in Stóra Dímun and are the eighth generation that run the farm. The farm has been in the family for 213 years. The siblings left the island at the age of 14 and returned when they were in their mid twenties. In 2011, Eva took over the tenancy of Dímunargarður after her father, Óli Jákup.
We all work full-time on the farm. Our production is diverse, and the season as well as the weather set the agenda for what can be done. Each season has its own tasks. Maintenance and the work in the barn is rather time-consuming during the winter. The root crop fields and the outfields keep us busy during the summer.
We have a saying that the year starts with the lambing season. That is when we spend a lot of time in the outfields keeping watch over the sheep. Then there are the root crop fields that need to be ready for the sowing in May.
The summer is spent with tending to the sheep and the root crop fields. The summer is also marked by the tourists. The grass needs to be harvested in July/August, and we also begin to harvest the root crop fields. Some roots are in the soil until the following May. By early September we slaughter the bulls, whereafter we slaughter the sheep. The meat will air-dry in the outfield, and it is a very time-consuming process. Usually, we are done with the meat by November/December. The rest of the winter is spent tanning the sheepskins and working in the barn.
The food production is the main income on the farm, but we do also have other sources of income. We sell tanned sheepskins, and during the summer we have lodgers and organize walking trips. About a year ago, we started a collaboration with the brewery Okkara to use some of our roots for a root beer. The root beer got the name Mai, named after the early garden turnip, which is called mairót in Faroese. It is the first of its kind in the Faroe Islands. We grow the early garden turnips and make juice out of them, which is then sent north to Velbastað where Okkara makes the beer. Mai can be purchased in the state owned liquer stores and in Tax Free stores.
When we develop new productss, it is imperative to us that the production is compatible with our key concepts. We are small producers that are few and far between with a limited distribution chain. Therefore, we prioritize quality and price over quantity.
