Finnish Eco-Agrotourism Association – ECEAT Finland

The organic farm of Kirri with its over 400 years of history provides a beautiful setting for festivities and many types of occasions as well as accommodation round the year. Catering services are available for pre-booked groups. Delicious country fare has been the mainstay of our business for over 30 years.

The stone cowshed built in 1896 can host summer parties for up to 150 guests. In winter, the main building has space for 70. For gatherings of 10 to 15 people, three cottages and a smoke sauna on Lake Kirrinjärvi are available round the year.

The farm shop sells milled cereal products made from crops grown on our organic farm, honey, traditional talkkuna powder from Vilppula Mill, home baking on Fridays and seasonal products, including jams and Christmas specialities.

Accommodation

is available in the old main building of Vanha-Kirri, the new Uusi-Kirri building dating back to the 1920s, holiday cottages and a traditional farm outbuilding. The total number of beds is 59 in summer and 39 in winter.

Two welcoming rooms with shared facilities can be found on the first floor of Vanha-Kirri. Steeped in rustic romance, Uusi-Kirri main building offers six double rooms decorated in the 1920s style. The common area serves as a small meeting and training room, and the kitchen is suitable for cookery classes.

Our lakeside holiday cottages – Pihlajakumpu, Mäntykumpu and Kuusikumpu – have 20 beds in total. Each cottage features a fully equipped kitchen, a private beach and dock, a rowing boat, barbecue, swing and sand box.

Additionally, the 19th-century outbuilding sleeps 20 in the summer, free from the humming of electrical devices.

The accommodation is not accessible as such, but ramps can be organised if you notify us in advance. A play area, cots and a high chair are available for children. Dogs and other pets are welcome by prior arrangement.

In our catering services, we respect old-time recipes and local foods. The meals are based on ingredients from our fields, heritage dishes and fish from local lakes. The main ingredients are always 100% Finnish. Our farm provides the bread and porridges, potatoes, wild herbs and berries. Our specialities include cold-smoked pike from our smokehouse, heritage roast of Petäjävesi baked in a rye pastry and salted fish. The starter of our rye bread goes back for more than a century.

On our organic farm we grow wheat, barley, oats and rye. They are sent to Konnevesi or Ylöjärvi to be ground into milled products. Our farm produce is sold in Heinähattu direct sales outlet in Petäjävesi and food circles in central Finland.

In summer, we lease some sheep and chickens to manage the landscape. We cherish heritage plants in our garden, including lilacs, burnet roses, peonies, bistorts, asters, cutleaf coneflowers, and spirea shrubs.

Surroundings and activities

• We have a marked forest trail where you can walk independently or with a guided group by arrangement.
• You can fish in the local lakes (fishing permit required).
• Bicycles, canoes/kayaks or snowshoes are available to rent at Rantapirtti (15 km).
• Hiking trails (Tampinkierros 7 km, Karhunahas 15 km, Töllintaival 3 km)
  and marked kayaking routes (including Wanha Witonen) can be found in the area.
• The distance to the old church of Petäjävesi, a UNESCO world heritage site dating back to the 1760s, is 1 km.
• Other attractions include Heinähattu direct sales outlet, Petäjävesi Radio and Telephone Museum, and the Road & Traffic Museum of Central Finland.

Directions

• Train: railway station in Petäjävesi, 3 km
• Bus: bus stop at the crossroads, 2 km. From Keuruu: from the bus stop at the crossroads, go back for approx. 1 km following road 23 towards Keuruu, turn left to Kirrintie road, walk 940 m and you have reached us. From Jyväskylä: Take an OnniBussi bus to Petäjävesi, walk back for approx. 100 m to road 23, turn right and continue for approx. 2 km towards Keuruu. Turn left to Kirrintie, continue for 940 m.

• Motorists/cyclists: From Jyväskylä, follow road 23 to the west for approx. 30 km and you will reach Petäjävesi. Continue in the direction of Keuruu and follow the brown signposts.

Opening times and prices

Open round the year. Advance booking of the services is necessary.

• Single room: EUR 65 to 85/night
• Double room: EUR 90 to 130/night
• The prices include breakfast (EUR 12).
• Smoke sauna EUR 350 (including heating of the sauna, towels and a non-alcoholic drink).
• Bonus for ECEAT Finland members and visitors arriving without a motor vehicle or a flight: Organic coffee with delicious organic pastries.

Ecological and cultural actions

• Some of the farm’s forests are included in a national biodiversity programme (Metso).
• Wetlands, a sedimentation basin and buffer zones (3 ha).
• When walking in the forest, we recommend that our visitors follow existing paths or forest machine tracks.
• Recycling of old materials; for example, old roof tiles from the cowshed were used for the roof of the smoke sauna.
• Building materials sourced in our own forest.
• Restoring buildings with respect for old skills and materials.
• We save water, for example by using rainwater for the first rinsing of root vegetables.
• We use detergents and cleaning products with the Swan eco-label.
• We favour local foods, and the main ingredients are always Finnish.

In the future

• We will step up our efforts to reuse old, recyclable materials.
• We will examine the possibilities of opting for “Land travel on public transport” and informing our guests about it.
• Renewing the heating system; for example, we will look into the possibility of using energy from biomass.
• Understanding the farm’s cultural history value and using it in our activities in collaboration with the Museum of Central Finland. Such finds as Swedish thaler coins from the 17th century have been made in our fields, which indicates that our lakeshore field may have been used as a trading place.
• Cooperation with wild herb entrepreneur Hanna Penttilä.