The coming of winter

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Im thinking about the practical things I need to do before winter sets in. Like cleaning out the gutters, and chopping and storing the dry wood and some boxes of kindling before the colder weather gets here. When winter comes, it sets in your bones. There is something nourishing about it, even though it strips you down to barest necessities, like keeping the fire going.

Last winter, my first here in the forest Garden, I got pretty grumpy being closed in this small space as we are.  The winters here are notorious, and you get cabin fever. But its also nourishing, that dormancy. That death. Because, like the ecology that surrounds us, when spring comes, you have such gratitude and appreciation for the spreading warmth, and even just the appearance of the sun, that growth is explosive. You want so much to make the most of these warm months.

So, in a strange way, I am grateful for the impending dark months. We will collect wood ash to feed the fruit trees and compost when the earth warms again later this year. We will hibernate. Bunker down. Prune everything back like berry canes so when the days start getting longer again, buds will flourish, more growth and more fruit will appear. Each season is a part of growth and fruiting, even when you are being cut back.