We are Eyðun Eliassen (60) and Anja Eliassen (52), and we live in Trøllanes. Eyðun was raised in Mikladalur and Anja in Saltangará, so we are both newcomers in Trøllanes.
Eyðun is a full-time farmer, and Anja works part-time on the farm and as a dental assistant in Klaksvík. Anja has a degree in agriculture at Royndarstøðin in Kollafjørður.
We started in agriculture and food production in 1993 when Eyðun became a tenant of Uppistova. Eyðun continued the tenancy of the plot of land after his uncle Rosenmayer Wolles. In total we have approximately eight merkur of land ( Merkur is an old measurement for land. According to dictionary, Sprotin: one mørk equals 16 gyllin, each gyllin again equals 20 skinn). We have 30 gyllin in the northern half of Djúpadalur and six merkur in Mikladalur, in Líðin on the west side of the island.
One half of the year we live on the shadow side, as the sun sets for the last time in Trøllanes on Michaelmas on September 29, and we do not see the sun again before St Gregory’s Day on March 12. It is indeed very dark here during the winter months.
Uppistova is a family farm. Our four children, including their spouses, help us in the daily work, and we also get a lot of help from family, friends and acquaintances.
It is of great importance to us that the product is tasty and that we can tell a good story. We do our best to preserve traditions, as the food culture is rich on the outlying islands. We are also very happy about the farming life, as nothing tastes as good as when you have grown the food yourself.
In addition to meat and animal by-products, we also sell duck, duck eggs, chicken eggs and rhubarb. We sell whole and chopped rhubarb as well as rhubarb jam.
During the spring, we prepare the vegetable fields and harvest the first rhubarbs in June. The sheep is in the outfield throughout the summer, so during that time we only need to tend to the ducks. During the summer, a lot of time goes into taking care of the land and the vegetable fields, as well as making hay. In September and October, most of the time is spent in the mountains and with slaughter. For this we get outside help. A typical winter work day starts with us feeding the sheep, the hens, the ducks and the dogs. We have three very nice and skilful sheep dogs. In November and December, we kill the ducks that are to be sold for Christmas.
The food production takes a lot of our time, but occasionally we do dedicate ourselves to other things. Eyðun guides tourists in the mountains, and sometimes we host “Heimablíðni” dinners upon arrangement.
