Seasonal Wisdom // Welcome March

This year I have made a commitment to myself to really connect in more with the changes throughout the year. To live with more seasonal wisdom, to feel and be more present to the world around us that we are of course just a tiny, tiny part of. I’m aligning with this through my own yoga and self-care practices, and also in my yoga classes, workshops and day retreats that I offer to you. So this is the first in series of blog posts month by month where I’ll explore and share with you things you might also like to watch out for, take notice of and be present to.

I’ll be including sunrise times, changes to the hedgerows, what happening if you look up - moon phases and meteor showers, what you might be doing in your garden or allotment, foraging tips, as well as what you might be eating now and some seasonal recipes, perhaps a poem, and details of celebrations, traditions and key dates for the ahead month too. All with the aim of hopefully allowing you to feel more aligned with the world around you, and help you notice more that’s changing all around you if you only take the time to pause and see it as this year unfolds. To help you appreciate the the moment you are in, instead of stumbling through the year, stuck in your own head, and wondering how on earth another year has passed, seemingly unremarkably.

The March moon

The moon with it’s monthly waxing and wanings and nightly passage through our skies is a constant and a magical reminder that we are all part some something much larger. It has been the inspiration for songs, poetry, rituals as well as huge significance for so many cultures through time. The words moon and month both come from the Latin ‘mensis’ - as it was once depended on for keeping track of the time and the seasons. I’ll be talking more about the significance of moon phases, and what they might mean to you in Aprils season wisdom post next month.

~ March Moon Phases ~

First quarter - 2nd March

Full Moon ‘worm moon ‘ - 9th March

Third quarter - 16th March

New Moon - 24th March

March - Full Worm Moon

The full moon in March is called the ‘worm moon’ and is happening on March 9. It’s the first ‘supermoon’ of the year. The Full Worm Moon will be the first of three supermoons in 2020, according to EarthSky. This means that the full moon will coincide with perigee, the point in the moon’s orbit at which it’s closest to Earth. When the moon’s at perigee, it appears brighter and larger than a standard full moon. The Full Worm Moon will be this year’s second-closest full moon to Earth (the moon will be 357,399 km from earth on 9th March supermoon).

The names of the full moon usually correlate with nature, as it was the Native Americans who named full moons to track seasons. Called the ‘Worm Moon’ because as the weather warms and the ground softens, earthworms begin to appear, attracting birds and a sign of spring. There are other names for this months moon, including the “Full Crow Moon” , since the cawing of crows signals the end of winter. and the “Full Sap Moon” because the sap of sugar maple trees begins to flow around this time. Also the ‘Lenten’ Moon (we are now mid Lent), and also down to the Old English word ‘Lencten’ which means Spring as a reference to the lengthening days.

~ Nature ~

It’s really starting to feel Spring like now, winters grip is barely holding on. The sun rising earlier and setting later means more daylight which almost seems to grow day by day. All the way until the vernal (spring) equinox on 20th when day and night will be the same length. The equinox is the moment at which the centre of the sun is directly above the equator, so day and night are of equal length all around the globe.

There’s daffodils in abundance, blossom on hedgerows and trees(blackthorn and hawthorne are noticeable in my own garden now ). The earth is starting to wake up after winter hibernation. You might start to see some butterflies as pollen for them to feed on becomes available. As well as hedgehogs waking up and snuffling around for slug (a huge ‘yes!’ say all the gardeners). It’d also nest building time for many birds, like blackbirds, robins, song thrushes and wrens.

Oh and here’s something delightful perhaps you didn’t know - the male wren builds a succession of nests and invites the female to choose one, which she then lines with feathers. How delightful is that?

~ Seasonal Food - growing and eating ~

Kitchen Garden - what to sow

So if you have a veg patch or an allotment now is the time to get planning (if you haven’t already through the depths of winter) and seed buying as you can now get some seeds started indoors. Courgettes, winter squash, tomato’s can be started off in a heated propagator mid month.

You can also start to make direct sowings outdoors if the weather is mild, especially if you have warmed the soil with cloches or plastic sheeting first. With for example spring onions, peas, rocket, beetroot, leeks, carrots, broadbeans. And planting early potatoes, garlic and onion and shallot sets too.

You can also mulch fruit trees and bushes with garden compost or well rotted manure, and apply an organic high-potash fertiliser.

Also get preparing your soil and beds for more direct sowing next month.

Kitchen tables - what to eat now

Eating food in season, at it’s very best is a joyful (and delicious!) thing. Noticing the ebbs and flow of the seasons through food can be glorious, but of course if you by your food in a Supermarket it can be hard to know what is actually in season - as pretty much everything is available all year around. If you grow some of your own veg you can have more of an understanding, or simply if you notice when in the supermarket where your fruit and veg has come from (UK, Spain, South America……) it should give you an idea of what is seasonal here in the moment, and help you make more of a connection with nature and food and the seasons. Shopping local at farmers markets and small indies that use more local suppliers, or a veg box scheme may also help you out in this way.

Here’s some ideas as to whats in season in March:

In season now you have kale, winter cauliflower, cabbage, parsnips, brussels, sorrel, swede, celeriac, winter lettuce, chicory, spring greens. Herb wise there is winter savory, parsely, rosemary, bay and sage.

For fruit there is the most beautiful forced rhubarb (and being in Yorkshire who could possibly say no) as well as cooking apples you may have stored.

Recipes

Here’s some interesting rhubarb recipes by the ever creative Anne Jones -https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/19/anna-jones-rhubarb-recipes

~ March Dates ~

1st - Start of meteorological Spring

8th - International Womens Day

9th - Holi (Hindu spring festival)

20th - Vernal Equinox - start of astronomical spring

22nd - Mothers Day

29th - British Summer Time begins

About Spring…… when actually is it? There are so many different markers of the beginning of Spring. Both meterological and atronomical Spring starts here in March, whereas in the Celtic seasonal calendar the 2nd February marks the beginning of Spring with the Gaelic Imbolc festival. Whosoever calendar you use, and however you look at it, but the end of March we are definitely in Spring!

~ A poem ~

And finally a beautiful peace of poetry to open your heart and mind perhaps a little more into the joys of March and of the Spring. Stunning words by Billy Collins here……

Today By Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.

From Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins

Thank you for making it to the end! And I hope this post has maybe inspired you a little bit to look around and see what you notice day to day, night to night. Do please share what you notice, I’d love to know. And stay tuned for April Seasonal Wisdom….coming in erm April!

Susan x