Oslo’s Urban Agricultural Oasis

In between highways, industrial areas and high-rise buildings, on land that once was an empty uncultivated lot we now find a blooming oasis of urban agriculture. This is Losæter, Oslo’s edible park.

For decades, no one thought that the ground beneath Losæter could be cultivated land. But in 2011, the process of making this little area between a highway and an industrial dock into vibrant cropland started. Behind the process was Futurefarmers, an artist collective passionate about our nature. It all sprung out from the idea of making a public ecological bakery where people could learn about ecological baking. But to bake you need crops, to harvest crops you need soil, and to take care of the soil you need people. So the idea evolved into making Losæter a public space where the whole process from seed to bread was done in one place.

The large concrete tower in the middle of Losæter is the exhaust from a major tunnel running beneath the

The Diverse Soil

In 2015, soil from 50 ecological farms around the country was donated to make the idea into reality. The soil was spread across the area to symbolize the diversity in Norwegian agriculture. Now, five years later Losæter is a symbol of what an idea combined with passion and hard work can result in. Here, what was a pile of gravel they now grow vegetables, fruits, herbs and berries, as well as keep bees and insects for food.

In the fields and greenhouses of Losæter you find hundreds of different species of plants, vegetables and herbs.

The name Losæter is a combination between the name of the area, Loelva and the Norwegian word Sæter/Seter, the pastures Norwegian sheep and goats roam during the summer. Losæter is a place where the people of Oslo may visit during the summer to escape everyday life, making it a sæter for people. 

Where Everyone’s Welcome

Losæter is a place for everyone. It is free and anyone may come to have a look in the park and join in on the process for harvesting food from the soil of Urban Oslo. Losæter has weekly visits by groups ranging from kindergartens to nursing homes. Here, the passionate “city farmers” educate groups and people about where our food originates and how we can use organic produce in food.

From the heights of Losæter, you see Barcode, Oslo’s economical hub.

A Passion for Education

One of the three full-time employees at Losæter is Emilie Sandell. She is a biologist that just finished a masters degree in Plant Sciences and works as a “city farmer”, maintaining the farm and educating visitors about the area and works. She has a passion for educating about food and produce and is in love with Losæter and what it is.

“I want to tell people about the origins of our food, and teach people to appreciate the work that goes into producing our food. I see that there is a lack of knowledge, but at the same time an increasing interest in the field. So I want to raise awareness about our nature and natural resources.”

Emilie Sandell
Food harvested in the farms of Losæter is used for public dinners cooked in Losæters kitchen.

Want to read more about the nature of the Norwegian capital? Then we suggest reading our story, Exploring the Oslo wilderness. Here at Nuet, we publish weekly blog posts about everything Scandinavian. Read more at nuetaquavit.com/stories and follow our Instagram @nuetaquavit to get instant updates on new posts.