Lì xià – Chinese start of summer

5/6th May – 21/22nd May Blue bells ring in the turning of dandelion time. Hedgerows waking up welsh poppies and wall pennyworts abundance is everywhere aquilegias, lilac and mayflowers According to the ancient Book of Rites, on Lixia the emperor would lead the Three Ducal Ministers, the Nine Ministers, and senior officials in greeting the summer, and the Read more about Lì xià – Chinese start of summer[…]

Take me I’m yours

The poem today A tawny owl roosts in a nearby garden. Swifts flash and glimmer as they chase each other across the sky, Clematis and Veronica bloom,Honeysuckle and Elderflower bud. Hawkbit stems stand tall amid grasses already going to seed.And the branches of the Ash tree, outstretched in wild abandon, Each tip raised up toward Read more about Take me I’m yours[…]

Wild garlic and rhubarb

Cuckoos and dandelion clocks South easterly winds scatter blossom forget me nots and bluebells burst into blue seagulls and crows a jet black cat soaking up the sunshine and having it stroked in Flies darting to and fro in the sunlight and the dappled shadows dancing across the grass chased by a tiny tortoise the Read more about Wild garlic and rhubarb[…]

April moon gardening

Pisces/ Aries lunation 2nd – Full moon  Harvest rhubarb kale purple sprouting Waning GibbousSew crops that develop below ground, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, radish, beetroot. Summer bulbs & onions Waning CrescentRack & weed, Prune Dark moonReflect, review. 17th New moon in Aries Dream plan. Waxing Crescent Sew crops that develop above ground lettuce, salad, cucumber, tomatoes & Read more about April moon gardening[…]

April

April takes its name from the Latin word aperire, meaning ‘to open’ New life bursts forth from translucent red pomegranate tips on the branches of the handkerchief tree and I stand surrounded by a choir of lilac leaves as they open soft, furry, almost-purple buds and unfurl into delicate new leaves with blushed red tips sounding their Read more about April[…]

Vernal Equinox – Ostara

The time of the year equivalent to 6am We enter the light half of the year and rise from sleep Light reaches its peak of increasing at 4 minutes per day compared to 1 minute/day at the solstice. It will continue to increase but more gradually from now until the summer solstice. The full moon Read more about Vernal Equinox – Ostara[…]