Few people know that Korso, mocked for its harshness, is a wonderful natural destination with no less than two nature reserves.
Unbelief.
That word best describes the feeling of a couple from Espoo, gardener Kimmo for Englund and natural product adviser Maija Suomela came when a year ago they visited the Tussinkoski nature reserve in Korson Vallinojja.
“We wondered if this natural paradise could really be located in Korso,” says Maija Suomela.
Tussinkoski is a nature reserve of about fifteen hectares in size, whose nature is protected because of the beauty of the landscape and the valuable groves.
The Tussinkoski stream valley is so lush and diverse that you could imagine it in a glorified national park. Steep slopes, high cliffs and beautiful landforms bring to mind an amusement park created by nature.
The only thing missing from the image is Tarzan, who crosses the rushing rapids in spring and autumn with a liana tied to large ferns.
Laura Rautavuori and Pedro Laguardia from Helsinki climbed Reimankallio.
Englund and Suomela visited Tussinkoski because they had been presented with an exciting offer.
In the summer of 2021, Englund worked a couple of days a week for the Herttoniemi food cooperative. The cooperative has its own field in Korso, but it also rented land from the garden of the Lehmusto farm located in the middle of the Tussinkoski nature reserve.
Lehmusto was originally a farming farm, which the Helsinki resident Reiman a teacher’s family acquired their summer place in 1917. Since then, the farm has been owned by the same family, either in farming, as a market garden or as a summer place.
Englund was picking currants in the yard when the farm’s summer resident and the owner’s sister stopped in the garden and asked the pickers if any of them would be interested in maintaining the farm’s old garden.
“When he mentioned that the keeper of the garden could also rent space for the apartment in the handsome main building, I immediately announced that I was really interested,” says Englund.
The main building of the Lehmusto farm in Korso Vallinojja is at least 120 years old.
Englund and Suomela lived in Espoo’s Tontunmäki in an apartment building and farmed a small rented plot.
“We wanted to grow food ourselves, and we had been dreaming of a larger cultivation area for a long time and had been looking for one without success,” says Suomela.
When he got home, Englund told Mustonen about the offer and showed his wife the photos he took of the farm.
“Finally, when I checked the map service that the farm is located in the middle of a nature reserve, I understood how unique the place is,” says Maija Suomela.
The couple accepted the offer and moved to Korso already in October.
“We only established the vegetable garden in practice this spring, but the harvest has already been obtained from, among other things, salads, kale and garlic, which we had time to put in the ground before winter came,” says Englund.
On the farm, the plants are grown using the no dig method, where the soil is modified as little as possible. The goal is to create favorable conditions for beneficial organisms in the soil and thus also for plants.
In May the couple founded a joint company. Uoma Wild & Sour organizes counseling and recreation related to wild herbs and mushrooms for individuals and work communities.
Englund already had a company specializing in regenerative farming and soil improvement, Uoma Earthcare, whose operations will continue in the new company.
The couple grows vegetables using a method that improves the soil and sells vegetables and processed products from them on the farm on Thursdays.
They are especially proud of their kombucha, which they make by fermenting nettles.
“We make fifty bottles of it a week. I specialize in fermentation, and later on, at least sauerkraut and fermented pickles will be available for sale,” says Suomela.
The courtyard of the Lehmusto farm is protected as a very important building heritage site.
The couple enthusiasm for the primary production of food was ignited in Helsinki’s Kallio.
“We joined the Oma maa food cooperative and noticed how good well-grown food tastes,” says Suomela.
Oma maa is an organic cooperative with a distribution point in Kallio, among other places.
Englund has a master’s degree in political science, but five years ago he studied gardening. Suomela, who worked in environmental organizations, took a wild entrepreneurship course seven years ago and got so excited about it that she studied for a natural product advisor qualification. Before that, he had completed a master’s degree in anthropology.
Nature has been close to Suomela since childhood, as she comes from a small farm in Orimattila. Englund is from Helsinki.
Kimmo Englund and Maija Suomela regret that the trees on the side of the yard had dried to brown and had to be cut down.
Couple wonders about Korso’s reputation as a residential area, whose bleakness makes jokes.
Few people know that in addition to Tussinkoski, there is another nature reserve in the Korso area, Rauno and Liisa Ruuhijärvi forest, established in 2020. Its area is no less than 52 hectares.
“Korso is beautiful in places other than Ankkapuisto and nature. When we biked around the neighborhood and handed out brochures, we noticed how nice the old houses and residential areas are in Korso. Compared to Espoo’s new areas, they have their own nuance,” says Englund.
Suomela was surprised how warmly people have received them.
“Many have said that it’s wonderful that you came here. Korso has the atmosphere of a small village. We feel really welcome.”
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