Lunch at the summer farm
Dates 2025
Every Thursday during the summer season
from 19th June – 11th September
Price
NOK
375,- per person
(275,- per child upto and including 14 years)
Getting to Lykkjesetra, the summer farm
There is a pleasant hiking route or book transport with the hotel.
Address: Jønnhaltvegen 538, 2632 Venabygd
Make an enquiry
Traditional food served in historic surroundings
At Jønnhalt, among the mountain pastures and about 6km from Venabu, lies the small summer farm of Lykkjesetra.
Once a working farm, it has now been converted into a simple restaurant with respect for old traditions. Food served in these peaceful surroundings evokes nostalgia. Let time stand still and absorb the pace of an older way of life.
As a guest at Lykkjesetra, you’ll be welcomed by the “budeia” or dairy maid. She will serve a generous farmhouse lunch and tell stories about local pastoral farming, food traditions and how local agriculture has influenced the development of the area.
A traditional farm lunch
The menu is inspired by the old farmhouse fare that was prepared for special occasions (weekends, christenings, etc.). You’ll be served sour cream porridge, cured meats, crispy sour cream waffles and seasonal berries. The hot dishes are cooked in a wood-fired, cast iron stove – the old-fashioned type of stove that requires some experience to use successfully.
An old pattern of farming life
Summer mountain pastures
The pattern of farming was similar to that found in the Alps and elsewhere.
In early summer the animals were brought up to the summer farm where the dairymaid and children would stay. While the cows, goats and pigs grazed the women tended the animals, milked the cows and made cheese. Keeping the animals in the higher pastures meant that the fields in the valley could be cultivated for winter feed. At the end of summer everyone would return to the farms in the valley.
The women and children living at the summer farms had a simple diet. They baked their own bread and ate a lot of porridge and dried meats. There weren’t many food plants on the farm, but most people had rhubarb and some chives.
This way of life survived into the 1960s, and while there are still a small number of summer farms, they are mostly managed differently now. Sheep are brought to the mountain with their lambs to graze every summer, but few people live on summer farms as they used to.
Today Lykkjesetra produces much of the winter feed for Venabu’s horses.
One of the last dairymaids tells a story
‘When I was a little girl, my mum used to take us children to the farm every summer. We had several animals; cows, goats and a couple of hens. The hens provided eggs for pancakes and other goodies, and my little brothers thought it was great to collect eggs.
One morning, they had been arguing for a long time about which of them would be allowed to bring in eggs from the hen. Then the hen took matters into her own hands and went in through the bedroom window and laid the egg on the bed herself.
After that, the argument ended – they were afraid that the hen would carry on like this!
