In the Crofter Spirit

Täällä Pohjantähden alla

The Kajabaca winery is located in a historic area in Finland. The fields which now yield the tasty berries were once the base of living for the crofters (cottagers or peasants) who lived in the small huts around the fields. These people worked for a large mansion owning the land they lived on. Only after the working day was done at the mansion – often miles away- people were allowed to return home and work on their own small plantations. This work was often done during the night and the moon was called as cottager's sun during those days. A very famous Finnish book, Under the North Star by Väinö Linna, tells the story of these times in this particular area in Urjala, Finland

Kajabaca berry farm was established very much in the same spirit: the farming was done during the mornings and evenings while the week days were spent in the office. One could ask what was the motivation for Asta and Pekka, the Kajabaca team, to get into farming and wine making without having experience in these areas. Asta has been a teacher all her life and Pekka has worked as an engineer in technology companies, so going into farming was not a rational continuation to their careers. The somewhat crazy idea of establishing a berry farm and starting a winery grew from our love to the Finnish nature. Various kayaking trips in Finland took us also to visit some Finnish wineries around the Country. Previous visit to many grape wineries in Europe plus the desire to start growing something on the idle fields around our house initiated our dream which we now live.