What's in a name...

In my dreams...
This image is called "magical enchanted indoor forest", and the photografer is Russel Bernice
You find more of his photos here.

In Swedish this blog is called ”Parquet flooring gardener” an allusion to an old swedish urban legend. Perhaps it's international too? You may have heard it. A friend to a friend of yours have told you that some immigrants break the parquet flooring to grow potatos beneath. She or he have seen it for herself when she worked as a locksmith, changing looks in the appartement, or when she picked up her kid who was playing with the kids in the family.

You haven't? In one way I would be glad if this old misconception was forgotten. It's older than the first big swedish influxes of immigrants (from Greece and Turkey in the sixties and seventies). I'm not really sure when this rumour started, but I know it was first told about peasant families who moved into town to work in the factories. Judging from this and the evolution of different building techniques I would say it's from the beginning of the twentieth century.

It is actually possible to grow potatos beneath the parquet flooring in some buildings. I used to live in one. The floor was supported by a network of bolders, and to get a completely smooth surface, the spaces between the bolders was filled with sand. Sand is an excellent growing media for potatos, just add some water and fertilizer and the bulbs will grow like crazy.

Nowadays I guess that most swedish condominiums are built like the one I live in now. The parquet flooring is placed directly on a concrete suface and that's that. In other words: I can't even try... or, wait a minute! We bought a drill hammer not long ago... Hm....