Sångshyttan Micro Season Calendar
Inspired by Japanese tradition and Alexa Firmenich on her blog Lifeworlds, we now create a micro season calendar. We follow life on the farm as it unfolds over the course of a year. It describes different events and important relationships that we have with the more than human world on the farm. Instead of dividing each day into one of four seasons, the Japanese calendar is divided into 72 different sections. Each of these sections lies within one of 24 divisions, all of which have been given descriptively beautiful names. The 72 sections (or kō) only last for about five days each, but still perfectly describe what happens as life blossoms and ebbs.
12 – 16 July / Curtains of rain
Areas with low pressure weather sweeps in. One by one they circulate over the country and rain pours down. One day, 65 mm... Everything is wet. Both Roman snails and Spanish slugs thrive in this wet world. It is difficult to protect your crop, there is an imbalance between plants and their attackers.
7 – 11 July / Sounds of gathering
At the morning bath, a flock of starlings suddenly appears, squabbling and singing together; the the young "teenage birds" gather to head further south a little ahead of their parents and smaller siblings. Another day I see a large flock of gulls gathering in the meadow and after a while they are also gone. I sense traces of fall in my body.
2 – 6 July / A string of Wild Strawberrys
Nothing tastes as good as sun-ripened strawberrys. It's a long-lasting relationship we have with each other. I remember my dad showing his love by getting up early in the morning and picking a barrel that was waiting at breakfast. The smell is summer. Nature is constantly giving of its bounty.
26 June – 1 July / Toddlers out of the nest
Little ones grow up. Chicks grow and start to leave the safe nest. The barn owlets suddenly on night sit on the roof of the barn and scream for food. Magpie's babies squabble in noisy play. The White wagtale babies wag their tails as they play play hide and seek on the lawn. The deer fawn is out on a hike with mom. Everything is ripening and on its way .
21 – 25 June / Pink-blue shimmering evenings
The summer heat during the day gives the evening a special shine. It does something to my eyes when I look into the pastel-colored sky. Forgotten summer memories from childhood wrap around my heart and I smile at the sunset
15 – 19 June / Abundance everywhere
We are approaching the Swedish Midsummer Eve on June 21, when we tie flower garlands to decorate the Midsummer pole. It's like a river of plants in the meadows, everything sort of blooms at the same time and every year we say the same thing: There probably won't be any flowers left on Midsummer Eve..but there will be and we rejoice.