Big J

Hot and sunny here in Sweden, but not silly hot (22-26c for the foreseeable). Took a while for the mist to burn off this morning though and my prework swim at 06:40 looked like this. Air was 9c and the water ten degrees warmer. It was quite disconcerting swimming in the fog as you genuinely couldn't tell where the water ended and the air began.

Even in the non-physical roles, the work ethic of younger Brits coming up leaves a bit to be desired. I used to work a lot with a harvesting company in Scotland (used them for haulage mainly) and they used almost exclusively chaps from the Baltic states for harvester and forwarder operation, as well as mechanics. It wasn't to pay them less, far from it. They just worked harder and produced more, as well as being more reliable. It's interesting to hear your reflections on your hill climb in Shropshire. We had a family here a few weeks ago from near Brighton (we manage some holiday lets) and the chap hired a mountain bike from us. We have excellent mountain biking here in the village, and the ski slope here is part of a national enduro cycling series. He reflected on the fact that when he cycles on the south downs, almost everyone has an E-mountain bike. I've yet to see a single one here. Loads of folk from the village cycle (MTB, road and gravel) and not one has an E-bike. It's fairly hilly here too. The average BMI is certainly a lot lower here, but the lifestyle hinges more around sport and physical activity than it does in the UK. Part of that is the free and open access to the countryside and also that sports are heavily subsidised by the state.

Yes, and because the work rate is low, the incentive to work is low. I used to love piece rate when cutting as I was younger, very fit and very good at my narrow niche (1st and 2nd thinnings on hardwood). I'm older and achier now, and whilst arguably fitter, only within the realms of cycling. It's hard to say exactly what's changed. Kids spend a lot more time in the virtual world and the things that we grew up doing to avoid boredom were often quite hard work (like fishing, building dens, sports). Consequently, we probably grew up fitter and stronger (on average) than the average kid today. Additionally, in the age before internet, our horizons were more limited. We'd be more inclined to be happy in our chosen job because 10,000 other careers weren't being dangled infront of us every day. This is speculation, but it's almost as if a plethora of choice can work counter to one's happiness. I can only reflect on my own experiences in Sweden, and the experiences of those around me. Where we live is (figuratively) a million miles from Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg. As I said, the consensus publically is that it was too many in too short a time, but here in our community, it's generally a good thing. Plus, as an immigrant, it's hard for me to complain about the border policy of my chosen country! I think it's sad that you're happy about your children not experiencing a multicultural education. I am personally very happy that my children are exposed to different languages and people from different cultures every day. Whilst we live in a small village, it reminds them that we're part of a larger world.

I don't even think with higher wages that Brits would entertain the idea of fruit/veg picking. The issue is that it has to be tied to production rate and like with chainsaw operation, the difference between the best and the worst is massive and hourly rates can't be paid in such situations. Another point potentially worth noting is that Brits aren't very good at sticking at one job for extended periods of time. I recall seeing a TV show where German and British employees swapped jobs for a period. I don't remember the name of the programme, but the German company was Faber Castell (pencil maker). They spoke to an employee who operated a specific machine and had done so for over ten years. He was perfectly happy. The job was semi skilled, but he was very good at it, had excellent work conditions and took pride in his work. It is more common in the UK (and I include myself in this) for employees to see each job only as an entry on their CV. A progression to the next opportunity. That short-termist approach to employment means it's unlikely for UK workers to stick at fruit and veg picking for any period of time as they'll be looking at the employment horizon beyond. It's a generalisation I know, but I do feel that there is truth in it. I found it to be the case with chainsaw operatives in the UK. It was very difficult to find quality cutters who were technically adept, hard working and without ego. The best cutters were running or wanted to run their own squads, and there were a lot of lads that thought they were brilliant when really they weren't. As regards immigration here in Sweden, no one will argue that it was done perfectly. Too many in too short a time is the consensus. The problems are obviously worse in the cities and we don't see the kinds of issues that they do. I really like that our school has 30% kids with parents born outside of Sweden. It's about 10-12% German/Austrian, and my daughters are at school with kids from Syria, the Baltic states, the UK, almost every country in Europe and even America.

The UK labour market was knackered long before there was full freedom of movement. Was it not the case in the 70s and 80s that unionised workers spent as much time on strike as actually working? And the productivity rate in the UK has always lagged behind the rest of the EU. It's an idealistic but arguably noble notion to say that without the option of cheap foreign labour that the youth of the UK will step up to fill the void. I just don't see it though. I work harder than most, and I'm fitter than almost everyone, but I don't have the grit to do the kind of work that agriculture demands. I'm not defending the working conditions either - it's hard brutal work, but then the remuneration is such that unless you're incredibly determined and hard working, you won't make enough money. How many people that have grown up in the UK do you know that you could see in that line of work? They have a more open attitude to immigration here because we live in a depopulated area. So much so that our council did a (really funny, especially if you live here) video to attract people to our area 6 years ago. They poke a lot of fun at themselves, but you get an idea of what it's like here (though we're not in Hultsfred itself).

You're obviously at the coal face, being in Kent. You'll be far more affected by the boats than almost anyone else. The UK has a massive skills shortage and part of it is people growing up these days not wanting to work in jobs that are physically demanding. There literally isn't a single UK born fruit and veg picker. It's similar here, to a lesser extent. Fruit and veg picking is mostly done by foreign labour. My brother in law and his wife (from Thailand) came into Sweden through that route over ten years ago. My sister-in-law picks blueberries faster than anyone I've ever seen and will happily do it all day. She doesn't even do that commercially any more as she has a cleaning company now. But my point is that I feel that immigration is far less of an issue that utterly useless people that contribute nothing taking up resources and offering little back in return. You don't actually need to do that much to be a net contributor, but that seems to be beyond the means of many.

I don't believe it is. What this serves to illustrate is the economic equality gap in the UK. It's much more stark than in other countries. Sure, Germany has variation in economic output (Bavaria being the richest, on the whole) but no where will you find the chasm between richest and poorest in the way that you do in the UK. This isn't to say that everyone in the SE will feel rich, far from it, but that economic divide still exists. I'm not saying that the SE and London need to be made poorer, rather that the rest of the UK needs to be invested in and brought up to that same standard. But I don't hold out a great deal of hope as all major infrastructure seems to take generations to get build now. For example, they started dualling the A9 from Perth to Inverness in 2011, with a target of finishing in 2025. This is where they're presently at: What's so inexplicable is that much of the terrain is just open moorland. How hard can it be? To contrast, they widened the main road from Mälilla to Hultsfred (local to us), finishing December last year. It went from single lane both directions, to something akin to the A303, with mostly three lanes, new bridges etc. It took them 15 months to do 10km, which involved an absolutely massive amount of blasting through the granite. They didn't rush it. They just got it done.

It's just the bemusement that so much of the Brexit vote was won off the back of the promise of 'taking back control of our borders' and now, post-Brexit, immigration is higher than it's ever been. I'm not wishing to over-simplify the situation - there are many push and pull factors. It's just quite funny, and another aspect in which the Brexit reality isn't living up to the fantasy. The UK is definitely densely populated. Given the shortages of workers to fill vacancies, I'd argue it's not necessarily overpopulated. Hard to say though and I guess it depends on which angle you're looking at it from. I was listening to a podcast the other day (forgive me for not referencing it - I can't remember which one it was) but they were talking about the declining economic state of the UK. If you take the SE of England and London out of the equation, the rest of the UK compares very poorly to almost all of the rest of Europe. That is to say that the lack of regional investment and the continued centralisation of power in London is buggering the rest of the UK. It's decades in the making now though, and I don't really see how it can be fixed. There isn't enough housing, the roads are shagged, educational resournces are stretched, you can wait 24hrs for an ambulance, childcare is extortionate and the number of people who are working but technically in poverty is increasing all the time. The tax burden is already massive, the UK national debt is historically high and the deficit is massive. I'm not pointing this out by way of schadenfreude. Much of my family and many of my friends are in the UK. It's just a bit depressing to see the situation deteriorate so markedly within your own lifetime.

I don't agree, and I don't think we're going to agree. I only interjected to point out that illegal immigration plays a very minor role in the net migration figures, and to laugh at the obviously counterproductive effect of Brexit.

I agree. I think that none of us can really understand the situations that people so desperate as to cross the channel in a small boat find themselves in. And to have travelled across a continent, often with little in the way of assistance, shows a determination that most workers in the UK lack. Not everyone coming across the channel is genuine, but they at least deserve the benefit of the doubt and to be treated with compassion and as human beings.

I didn't say that immigration doesn't add to housing stresses. You were pinning most of the blame on those crossing the channel in small boats, and I was just pointing out that they don't make up much of the total number. Immigration certainly contributes to housing stress, but systemic failure in planning and house building by successive governments is the primary issue. Each and every year for decades now, house building targets have been completely missed. There are a heap of factors, many of which are above my pay grade. I am very glad that I'm not part of that any more. I went to see a holiday house the other day, with a view to buying it for letting out to UK tourists (that's going quite well so far this year) and it's on the market for £27k. It's been badly renovated (as in bodged) by the current owner, and whilst the facade and windows are good, it needs a fair bit of work inside, including replacing all the newly installed heating pipes because for some reason the owner installed plastic pipes rather than copper. Either way, house looks nice, location is good, plot is 1/5 acre, but it's too much work and it's only had one bid so far at £7k. Even at that price, no one can really be bothered. If it was on our old lane in Devon, it'd be £300k 😄

UK net migration in 2022 was just over 600,000. Immigrants having crossed the channel illegally in 2022 numbered 46,000. They are not the source of any housing crisis nor even a significant minority of immigrants who make the UK their home. All this after the Tories gave the UK back their ability to "control their borders" 😄

Fewer and fewer.... 😉

Very nice When you get a really good patch (like I had at the end of my pick this morning), you're doing a kilo in less than 5 minutes. I'm filling the freezer with the thought of blueberries with my yoghurt every morning and a blueberry crumble once a week. For a year, you need a fair pile of blueberries!

Hahaha! None of that hear, thankfully. This photo was taken early one morning this week picking blueberries with my wife a couple of km from our house. It's been a good season for them, so I've been picking most days to fill the freezer. I have about 80kg so far - it's very quick with the blueberry comb (4-7kg an hour)

I'm a few years out of date now, I'll admit. I worked with a Serra Bavaria belonging to Dan Franklin and it was an impressive machine. Fast and fairly accurate. The wider blades helped. It was actually the mobile version, but statically installed. The Trakmet I sold with my business back in 2018 is still going strong. Minimal problems with it and the only weak point (the spindle based raise/lower mechanism) has been replaced with a more conventional chain based mechanism. Trakmet seem to have grown strongly, and are very popular here in Sweden. If I were to offer general advice, I'd say: * Go as heavy as possible. You can't have too much steel * Go as automated and hydraulic as possible. You want to minimise manual handling. * Power isn't so important. Cutting speed is nearly always limited by the blade * Go wide as possible on the blades * Don't get obsession with super wide cuts - accuracy is hard to maintain on anything over 60-70cm with narrow blades * Think about your whole production line around the sawmill. This really needs a lot of thought. Happy to answer any questions

Chanterelle - I've only just started picking them. I'm hoping to get some proper quantities over the weekend. They grow very well here and it's possible (on the right site) to fill your car boot.

Yum yum yum

There is no mains gas here. Traditionally, it was wood or oil that was used for heating. Today's electricity price (as we pay a price that varies, hour to hour) is around 12 pence a kW. If I were to use the heating, my air source heat pump would cost me 4 pence per kWh and my ground source would cost me 3 pence. It's academic, as we don't have gas, but I don't think that gas could come close to that. Heating and powering our house in Sweden has been much cheaper than any of the much smaller houses we've had in the UK, and I believe that the efficiency of the heat pumps plays a significant part in that.

I find that many of our friends and acquaintances here heat their house to a level that is beyond my comfort level. I do run hot most of the time, I should say. All new heating installations here (with maybe a few exceptions) are heat pumps. Air/air, air/water and ground/water. Plenty of people are still using pellet boilers for their central heating, but I don't see any being installed. For me, the best thing is that it's much cheaper than fossil fuel direct heating. 300-440% efficiency and the ability to cool in summer. In winter it's much colder than anywhere in the UK and in summer hottter too. If it can be done here, it can be done in the UK.