Welcome to the April / May Spring Issue, honoring the Divine Feminine, Women, Mothers, Earth, and Rebirth.
Back in our October / November ‘21 Issue, Andrea and I had mentioned on this page that we had moved from Long Island to the hills of northwestern South Carolina. Come this June, it’ll be a full year since we arrived, and now have completely settled in to our new home in the country.
One of the main draws to Southern Living for us is the climate — four distinct seasons with a blessedly short, mild winter. The corollary: a longer Spring and Summer; hence an extended “growing” season.
Andrea already has seeds in the ground as I write this mid-March. Additionally, between last year and this Spring we’ve planted a total of over 25 fruit and nut trees, and berry bushes.
This is quite the departure from last season when we didn’t get started until July — not nearly enough time to adequately prepare the garden for healthy planting. Nutrient-deficient soil yielded predictable results: undersized, sad-looking veggies. It would have been fine if we were growing micro-greens. But miniature tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, carrots and the rest left us … well, a bit wanting.
Being considerably more established in our new surroundings this time around, we built up our garden soil all winter long — feeding it our organic uncooked fruit and veggie scraps, mushroom compost and mulch. With a household of vegans, not a day did our garden go “hungry.” The growing phase was in “Winter Retreat.” For three months, though, we worked daily at prepping the garden, literally going underground, doing the heavy, labor-intensive work that, on the surface, is nothing mulch to look at (sorry, I had to). But now we fully expect our efforts will pay off with a bountiful yield.
On an individual basis, we might also reap a beneficent yield from a similar approach during the cold, dark months: tending our “inner garden,” feeding our soul daily by setting aside quiet alone time, enjoying nature in all its life forms, evaluating our habits and attitudes, and reconsidering our lifestyle choices.
With a generous serving of Love, make this your practice, and I say there’s a really good chance that Planet Earth — the place we ALL call home — will grow vastly better One Soul at a Time.
Peace All-ways,
Neil & Andrea
