Wintering
By Kim Deans
We are wintering here at The Oasis. It’s early June and as the days shorten into the winter solstice we have found an unexpected slowness to life this week, brought about by last minute changes to my work schedule and Angus finding his physical limits. Maybe you relate to only stopping when you are forced to. Every time I walk past the garden bed that is now covered in the frosted remains of last summer’s bountiful abundance of tomatoes, basil, zucchini, beans, corn and cucumbers the word wintering lands in my head, gently reminding me that rest is productive. I feel a sense of renewal as I witness the cycles of nature in our garden. I can sense the RESToration happening under the soil as dandelions start to emerge through the frosted tomato plants.
We ARE nature. Tuning into nature’s seasons and cycles is how we align to the guiding force of nature in all aspects of life – within ourselves and outside of ourselves in our relationships, businesses, and landscapes. Our landscapes reflect the people who inhabit them so restoring our capacity to honour natures seasons and cycles goes hand in hand with achieving the regenerative outcomes we desire. Rather than viewing life as a perpetual harvest, honouring the seasons and natures cycles reminds us of how nothing in nature blooms all year round, that there is a season and cycle for everything including RESToration.
Winter is a yin energy, it is about turning inward, grounding, nurturing, reflecting and rejuvenating. Less doing and more being. Nourishing ourselves with seasonal produce and slowing down as the days shorten. Allowing ourselves to rest and recharge over winter restores our reserves to fulfill our potential and allows for more flow in our life. Yin and Yang energies will come into balance, either intentionally or when we hit the brick wall. When we keep pushing on through we will end up being forced to stop through sickness or injury.
Practising biodynamics is about working with life forces and the natural rhythms of the Earth and the cosmos and inspires us to appreciate the virtues of winter. The Earth inhales in autumn and winter as everything goes to ground and enters a winter dormancy. Energies come down to the ground to activate life in the soil and root growth in winter. Spring is when the Earth breathes out and above ground life bursts to life, with plant growth peaking in summer. The Earth appears to be asleep in winter yet just as in our bodies, this period of winter rest is when life works underneath the surface to RESTore itself and build reserves for the activity ahead.
Rest assured that when we embrace the magic that is winter we are building the foundations for ourselves and our soils and landscapes to be vibrantly healthy and productive.
“We may have thought that in winter the earth goes to sleep, but winter is the season when the plants above the earth fall down to be digested while warmth and light re- cede into the soil and the earth becomes inwardly sensitive and alive. There in winter the forces of warmth and light are caught up by lime, while the forces of tone and life are caught up by silica, and both substances are enlivened by their complimentary processes. Then in spring the earth dozes off to sleep and “dies” again as plant growth out- wardly expresses the activity that took place within the earth in winter when it was sensitive and alive. In winter many perennials go dormant above ground while their root growth comes to life. “ - Hugh Lovel (Read the whole article by Hugh on The Importance of Winter here)