SPRING EQUINOX

I always felt the time between Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere) and Summer Solstice is one big exhalation of Nature: the days are getting longer; the nights are getting shorter; all is ready to come to life once again as Nature so wisely does every single year in a never-ending cycle of resting, growing, blossoming and withering...

It starts slowly some time in January, when you notice the little sprouts of Galanathus Nivalis carefully popping their heads up, soon followed by Eranthis Hyemalis and different varieties of the Narcissus family ...

Nature is gradually waking up from the Winter sleep, which is all about preserving energy in the ground, the earth, the bulbs, the seeds.

Now, when the frost is disappearing, the temperature is rising and the gentle rain of Spring is starting to soften the earth, it is time for us to prepare for the growing season.

Spring Equinox is celebrated around the 21st or the 22nd of March, at which time the days and nights are of equal length, and from where on the days are getting longer, heading for Summer Solstice.

I suggest you prepare plant starters and sow them indoors; even a window sill can work just fine as an indoor greenhouse.

You can sow, or plant, all kinds of herbs to keep them for many months.

You can sow and grow all kinds of edible flowers, which add nutrients to your salad and beauty to your daily life.

And you can definitely grow all sorts of micro greens, which are tiny and delicate and do not thrive well later in the year, when it gets too hot for them.

Spring Equinox is about inviting Nature into your home and celebrate the fortunate life it is to be a human being.

There is an environmental aspect to start growing your own, as well. Transport is a pollutant, and the more you can grow at home, the less lorries will have to transport your food, and the less pollution you will create.

This is one way to be considerate and mindful of our Carbon Footprint.

View it this way: you are growing healthy food, you enjoy the taste and beautiful sights, you feel good about your grower ship and about your reduced Carbon Footprint.

What is there not to love about Spring Equinox...