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 April – 4 May / Chirping Barn swallows over exploding greenery in deciduous forest
The long-awaited return of the happy chirping from the barn swallow (hirundo rustica) makes you want to sing along. It's like joy is flowing through the air. They dance with each other and, in the background, the coniferous forest edge is transformed as the light green color of the deciduous trees blends with the dark green. The feeling of the long winter's darkness fades away.
25 – 29 April / Everywhere the joyful Wood anemone
The Wood anemone, Anemone nemorosa, creating white-green blankets that glow in the sunshine. You want to roll around in the greenery and scream spring cries in the warmth. Or just rest for a while. The plants replace each other at a rapid pace, bees and bumblebees rejoice
20 – 24 April / Earthworms head for the light and thrushes find food
The days get longer, the frost leaves the soil, and the earthworms, lubricus, moves as gardeners, preparing for growth. Suddenly, one mornng, the lawn is filled with different kinds of thrushes that have landed after long flights. Song Trush, turdus philomelos, Field Fare, turdus pilaris, Mistle Trush, turdus viscivorus. The air is filled with more songs, in different pitch and timbre, all with their place in the mighty chorus of spring.
15 – 19 April / The soil wakes up as the frost loosens its grip
Suddenly a swelling red bud pushes up through the dark soil. In the same place every year, it shines with its explosive power - the Rhubarb/ Rheum rhabarbarum. Its place that has been the same throughout my lifetime and beyond. Promising acidity in food and delicious pies to invite friends to visit. At the same time, the child in me cheers when I see, in the corner of my eye, the swaying movement of the White wagtail / Motacilla alba. - Now it's time to get the bike out again ... I hear my dad say. The White wagtail was
10 – 14 April / Liverleafs opens up to the song of the loon on ice-free water
She is nobel the Hepatica nobilis. So proudly she reaches for the light. Out of that blanket of withered leaves new life emerges, bringing hope and joy. She seems to be listening to the returning song of the black and red-throtated loon´s singing from the ice-free lake "Sången". The returning sounds awaken the sense of belonging to the place and we become more alive.
5 – 9 April / Everchanging April weather
In Sweden, we usually call it April weather when the weather is constantly changing. It is as if winter and spring do not find a smooth transition, as if it is difficult for winter to release its grip. Sudden snow is followed by warmth, rain by hail, like stirring the pot and waking up all living things.