Sångshyttan Micro Season Calendar
One year has passed. Inspired by Japanese tradition and Alexa Firmenich on her blog Lifeworlds, we have created a micro season calendar. We followed life on the farm as it unfolded over the course of one a year , from March 2024 to March 2025. 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.
30 May – 3 June / Flowering breakfast
Now begins the most wonderful time when all sorts of edibles can be collected from the site. In the morning, a smoothie as rich as possible including many different species. Here: Ladys´s mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris), Water avens (Geum rivale), Bitter vetch (Lathyrus linifolius), Red clover (Trifolium pratense), Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria), Wild chervil (Anthriscus sylvestris), Sorell (Rumex acetosa), White currant leafs (Ribes rubrum), Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) blended with frozen Raspberries (Rubus idaeus), Brassica oleracea var. italica and Green pie (Pisum sativum subsp. sativum) from last year.
25 – 29 May / Timothy life
Grass has always been an important relationship on our farm. Especially timothy, Phleum pratense, which is one of the first grasses in the early summer. Many of the wreaths are tied by hand without strings or other aids. As decorations, birthday greetings, or exhibitions. The grass in harmony with the work of the hand and the beauty of the bound creations that emerged
20 – 24 May / Southern winds brings swirling swifts
I'm standing outside the house, barefoot in the grass. Feeling the warm southern winds caress my cheeks. The ear perceives it first, a quick sucking sound of birds sweeping close over my head. Then I hear the whirring sound, the familiar joyful sound of summer. The Common swift (Apus apus) has come and summer is really here. I respond with a summer cry. We are alive!
15 – 19 May / Dandelion blooms between Mayday tree and Lilac
Back in the 17th century, a French shoemaker is said to have put a sign on his door that read: free between Mayday tree (Prunus padus) and Lilac (Syringa vulgaris). Not a very long vacation though... a few days with the sun and warmth and everything happens at once. Under the trees, the yellow Dandelions (Taraxacum) shoot up and suddenly the lawn is not green but yellow. I think of all the wonderful paintings my mother made of those yellow meadows that has brought so much joy to so many.
10 – 14 May / The cuckoo seals our fate
From where we hear the cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, determines our fate. Its distinctive sound echoes across the land, we listen to the direction and then we rhyme. Södergök - dödergök (south- death), norrgök - sorggök (north - mourning), österkök - tröstergök (east - comfort ), västergök-bästergök (west- the best). Our relationship with spring and all its recurring sounds has created rituals that shape our lives.
5 – 9 May / Maple flower song with bumblebees
It's a healing sound to sit under the maple (acer) and listen to the bumblebees (bombus) buzzing around the maple's newly opened flowers. A few days and an opportunity for nectar before the leaves begins to grow and fertilized flowers slowly turn into new seeds.