on the edge of something new

field notes: spring equinox, first blooms, pruning

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A winter confession: I ordered more lavender plants than I currently have garden beds prepared.

It wasn’t a mistake. If you’re a plant person, I’m sure you can relate.  Ordering seeds and plants in the middle of winter is like going to the grocery store hungry. Dreaming of plants and gardens… there’s a pull towards growing new things, or getting more for your money by purchasing bundles and buying larger quantities. Then all the bareroots and plants start arriving in Spring, and the Aries energy of the season carries us forward. Such divine design.

As for the beds that need created… I’ll put down cardboard as a barrier to the grass and competing plants followed by soil and compost.  This regenerative growing approach of not tilling the beds is, in part, based on the principle that soil is a living organism, and there’s so much life that is destroyed when repeated tilling occurs.  Look at how the forest does it, with layers of leaves recycling nourishment, enhancing soil, and giving life to all.

So it has begun: trays of vegetable and flower seedlings are starting to fill the grow shelves in the basement. First… Cabbage, Broccoli, and Snapdragons. Next week it will be Zinnia, Calendula, Celosia, Cosmos, Basil, Amaranth, Marigolds, Rudbeckia, Elencampane, Feverfew, Tulsi, St John’s Wort… and outside with Carrots, Peas, and Turnips.

These days I walk with eyes wide open for green emergence and colors popping against the brown backdrop of a winter fully exhaled.

The first few naturalized daffodils (planted on this land by the ones who came before me) have opened with the Spring Equinox and New Moon in Aries this past week. The next delight was seeing the hellebores I planted in fall 2021 open for the first time. I love these so much, and they love shade, so their affinity for this woodland environment feels right at home. More hellebores please.

Yarrow (pictured below) is growing. This is one of the plants I’ll harvest this season as an ingredient in the biodynamic preparations. Biodynamic agriculture works in harmony with nature’s cycles, and lunar, solar and cosmic rhythms.

“The nine biodynamic preparations are made from fermented herbs, minerals, and cow manures. Three are used as field sprays, the other six are used for compost preparation. Because they are to be utilized in minute doses like homeopathic remedies for humans, biodynamic preparations are also viewed as healing remedies for the earth.”

— from the Josephine Porter Institute website

I opened my Biodynamic Gardening book again to add some notes to my calendar for the season, and also ordered the biodynamic preparations for this year. I plan to make my own preparations in the future, but many of them need started in Autumn and buried over the winter. Others I’ll be growing and harvesting this year (like the Yarrow), so I’m grateful to order the preparations to get started until then.

I think it snowed more mid-March than it did the entire month of February. When I spotted a couple days at 45-50 F, I marked my calendar for pruning blueberries and fruit trees, which needed to happen before the March 21st New Moon and Spring Equinox. After that, sap would be pulled upwards with the Moon in a waxing phase (not a good time for pruning). A bonus gift from pruning are the branches that I get to bring inside. I give them a clean snip, add to a vase of water, then watch and wait as they open into blooms with the light and warmth. I’m realizing though, it’s also giving me a glimpse of how much damage the sub zero temps we had in December damaged the peach tree buds.

Speaking of light and warmth. The Equinox has come and nature is in a growth phase. Plant tenders or not, it’s a time where you may feel ready to harness the upward energy and emerge.

If you feel a bit of heaviness and like you’re still exhaling winter, just keep noticing how the blossoming of spring continues to unfurl around you. As without so within, and just like nature, you may also be on the edge of something new. Watch for the miracle of beauty emerging from buried treasures in the frozen soil.

Listen here to call in Spring from within — snow melt, tree buds, pruning, new beginnings, and emergence. Ground with the elements whether they're present in your life or in nature. Lean towards the light and humbly receive these gifts with open eyes and an open heart.

Sending you blessings of renewal in the transition of seasons wherever you are.

Thank you for reading

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