Shielings are small scale farms used in the summer to save the harvest by the regular farm for winter. Nature and the surrounding landscape forms the conditions of shielings and where it is possible to maintain them. Sometimes one farm has a shieling of their own and in some cases a whole village has a group of summer farms forming a larger shieling. There are lots of houses in a shieling: living quarters, stables, milk production facilities, storages for products, firewood and grains.
The milk is taken care of and turned into products in the shieling: butter, cheese and whey butter. Today there are other kinds of transportation and storage and therefore shielings are not so abundant as they once were.
The growing interest in locally produced foods leads to an awakening interest in shielings. In the region Jämtland Härjedalen there are about 20 working shielings today with animals roaming freely in the summer. Some of these welcome visitors and sell their products along with coffee and waffles and thin leavened bread (tunnbröd).
In Vemdalen there is another shieling belonging to Nybo gård. It is called Vikarvålvallen and serve food in the summer. Nybo gård was appointed Economusée in 2018.
By the National Park Sonfjället close to Hede there is a shieling called Nyvallens fäbod with mountain cattle grazing on the slopes of Sonfjället.
In Östra Arådalen, Oviksfjällen, there is a shieling with mountain cattle grazing side by side with reindeer. The shieling produces cellar matured cheese. Go there by the Fäbodvägen road leading between Persåsen and Börtnan to see a large number of old shielings. Today most of these are privately owned and used as summer houses.
