Emerging Above the Soil
Don't forget about the energy it took to appear above the soil
Coming back from England, I feel like I am coming for a second spring. If I am honest, spring has always been a tedious season for me. Growth is hard. Emerging is hard. The garden has demands a mile long and the energy can be draining. Being in England and experiencing the incredible abundance that appears in their wild spaces was inspiring, though. England may do spring perfectly as the plants bloom right with Easter. The pheasants run through fields with baby lambs, and everything feels like it is coming back to life right when you want it. It was a jump start to spring that in northern Michigan gets blown past in a blink if we aren’t paying close enough attention.
Returning, I have struggled to get back into the swing of things here. My work for Perma Studio is taking off, and I am working to find my feet under me with a new business (that I am loving). I feel very much in the spring of life as I am growing new things, taking new approaches to life, and patiently observing when the right moment for everything is.
This winter was really important as every winter tends to be. The last year has been monumental for me creatively and career-wise, not to mention the personal side. A complete evolution of self. As I reflect on images of me this time last year I see someone very different than I am now. Something I am thankful for immensely. The growth has been wonderful, but it wouldn’t have happened without the willingness to let go of certain things.
Now, as I begin to cover the soil with mulch and compost and watch all I have labored to establish here on this land, I sense I am doing the same here, too. When we begin something new. When we emerge from winter, there is immense energy and tenderness involved. The energy can be good, but it takes its toll. To shift. To bloom. Growing in new ways is as life-giving as it is draining, but it is worthy of the outcomes it provides. I watch it now closely with the plants all around me. The peonies pushing their red stems and leaves from the soil. The tender leaves of the Cat mint moving towards the sunlight nearly before my eyes. The lavender stems greening more or less overnight. Even the buds of the leaves ready to bloom on all the trees are about to open, and I just think how much energy it all takes, yet how much life it will give in return.
Spring is a powerful time. I didn’t have the reverence or calm for it in the past, but now I find its lessons to be the most important part of this season. That the work is worthy for something that produces the fruit. The energy it takes to grow is to be marveled at and celebrated in even tiny steps along the way. That’s what it is to understand spring and to appreciate it. Our efforts will be evident soon enough, but how important it is to enjoy it all in the process.
This weekend, for paid subscribers, I will send along the guide for the season. I know I am uber late, but I am getting it together now! So look for it along with an update to the Member Space. I will also offer free 30-minute consults to any paid subscribers who would like it for their gardens this spring.
If you want to become a paid subscriber to receive the guides this year and access to the consult for your garden, you can update your subscription through the link.
Let’s Talk Phenology
As the planet shifts and moves around with wilder weather, it can be very hard in our gardens to know when to do certain things. That means we have to pay close attention to nature’s cues. Thankfully, scientists and gardeners have helped track some of the cues nature gives us in the gardens and land around us to know when the right timing might be.
This is where phenology comes into play. There are plants all around us that we can use to know the exact right time to plant something in our space. Instead of using something like a zone chart, which is still helpful but less clear or direct for your exact microclimate, we can use the cues from the plants laid out in phenology to help us understand and know exactly what we should be doing in our gardens and when.
I have used this chart from the Old Farmer’s Almanac for a while. It guided me to know what I needed to plant on our land to help us know exactly what we needed to create on the land around us.
This has become a way for me to read the cues about timing with less guessing (gardening is all guessing, no matter what). I love how it also keeps me watching nature closely through the process. I hope this is helpful! If you don’t have the plants listed, you can plant and establish them easily. The only one I would refrain from is Lily of the Valley because it can be invasive in some areas.
On my mind this week
I have loved getting back to life at home even if I hit the ground running with work. It has felt good to reconnect with this place we call home with new eyes and inspiration from our travels. I plan to share more but I really have needed time to settle in here. Here are a few things I have had on my mind lately:
Soil: I am getting fresh compost on our soil here. I love spreading it all and seeing the beds fully refreshed. We will spend the next few weeks preparing everything for mid-May and beyond planting. I am adding layers of mulch and compost to our beds this year and building up everything after a bad experiment with some other compost I wasn’t happy with last year.
Earth Week: At the Leelanau Conservancy this week, I took over their Instagram for a day to share about Earth Week and my ecosystem model for the climate crisis I shared here not long ago. They have an awesome event on Sunday at Tandem Cider if you are in town!
Fencing: I have been deep in building our new fence. After getting a hole from a rouge trailer and having so many rabbit issues last year, I wanted something to change. I feel really happy with how our dead hedge-style fence is coming along. It feels like the vision I always wanted for the place.
Grief: I thought when we came back, I would feel the weight of losing our golden way less, but I still feel her absence heavily in our home. We plan to memorialize her with a Service Berry that will greet us at the front of the house, just as many times she would. I still get all teary when I think about her, and I miss her presence. Even though we still have another dog, she was special and unique in her ways. It catches me just how deep grief is at times. As the woman said at the plant store, we don’t stop feeling the pain, we just become comfortable with it’s presence in our life. It couldn’t be more true.
English Architecture: I LOVED the combos of wood and stone in the English countryside when we were there. The way the natural materials all blended into the landscape as if they had been there since the beginning of time. I wish to find more ways to do this with our land.
Updating Some Furniture: We have been in our home for over 5 years now, and I love much of our space, but some things are really showing their wear, and I am trying to be thoughtful with what we do through this process. I am thinking about recovering some things, and I am very inspired to bring in some patterns, particularly from vintage linens. Textures like this bench are on my mind right now.
Massaged Kale: Don’t ask me why, but I am really obsessed with it right now. I massage it with olive oil, lemon, and course sea salt. Then I add a touch of rice vinegar, pepper, parmesan, and chopped walnuts. Man it is delicious! So simple too!
What are some things that have been swirling in your brain this week?
Becoming a paid subscriber is huge for my work if you want to support independent writing and receive more from me.
If you cannot do so right now, no worries. You can also share with your friends through the link below. Today's newsletter is free and public, so let your friends know if you liked it. This is a great way to support my work here.