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.
26 – 30 September / Frostbites
After heat comes frost. Everything gets covered in ice, the grass, the flowers, the windows. The sheep that were shorn have their own tippie to warm themselves in. It's Tove Jansson's The Groke (Mårran) who has placed her large body over all living things to get into the warmth - but everything she touches turns to ice. The cycle of nature, slowly turning life into death to be brought back to life when spring returns. A time for rest and reflection
21 – 25 September / Heatwawe
Autumn is here but suddenly a wave of heat arrives. It almost feels like summer despite the autumn colours. The Nasturtium is still growing, strong and vibrant with flowers shining in yellow and orange. It's good late summer flower for our bees that soon will be resting for the winter. I think about Mother Earth and how we heat her body and how she will react.
16 – 20 September / Sheeps arival
Thanks to an EU grant, two good relations in the neighbourhood, Alexander Baker and Helena Backius, are being supported in restoring the meadow flora that can only be found in a managed landscape. Burning moss in spring, removing all grass after flowering and then grazing animals. Now the sheep have arrived. It is healing to sit among them and listen to their ruminations.
11 – 15 september / Apple harvest
Now our apples of different varieties are ripening and boxes are driven to a local muster to return in as bag in box, apple jam is cooked and we enjoy putting our teeth into a fresh acidic and sweet smelling apple. We have never seen so many apples and so beautiful and not infested by pests. 2024 an apple year
6 – 10 September / Trees changing colour
Almost without noticing it, the trees change colour. The fresh green of the past has turned into a saturated green and now it is suddenly brown and red, soon yellow and orange. Now I am more attentive, every day something new happens.
1 – 5 September / Late summer heat wave
Suddenly, warm winds sweep through the landscape. The water warms up and the morning swim becomes more enjoyable. The grasshoppers are playing their last meadow orchestral works, which become clear when almost all migrating birds have left us for the year.