The spring (or vernal) equinox, is the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator, an imagined line in the sky above Earth’s equator, from south to north. It is the point when both day and night are of equal length and marks the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. Until the eighteenth century, the spring equinox was considered by many parts, to mark the start of the new year. This is a time when light and dark have evened out, and we rejoice at the opportunity to emerge from winter anew.
Spring brings a time of quickening. Sap begins to flow after a winter of stillness, fresh buds emerge from the earth and the tips of trees, and insects and animals wake after a season of hibernation. The natural world is a chirping, budding, and it is a time in the year when we begin to experience more creative energy, a reminder that spring has long been celebrated as a moment of rebirth, fertility and new possibilities.
As daylight starts to increase, and we experience more light, we may feel a building of imagination and the creative sparks of new ideas. The equinox has long been known as a representation of new life, illumination, and of new beginnings.
Here are some activities that align with this time of year, both for your landscape and for the metaphoric internal garden within:
The sowing of seeds.
For your landscape: Always an exciting time of year, early spring is when we can plan out our gardening season. Cold weather seeds can go directly into the ground and we can begin to plan our seeds indoors for starts that will be transplanted after the time of frost has passed. Mapping out how are gardens will be laid out, we begin to see a clear picture of the gardening season ahead.
Inner Gardening: As we begin to collect and ready or seed packets, we can begin to ask ourselves the metaphoric question of: What seeds will we plant for this year? To find clarity this month, try out new ideas, have fun connecting with early spring’s playful, curious spirit. Look closely at what seed ideas you want to plant & foresee what you want to harvest in the months ahead.
New Projects.
For your landscape: Outline your wish list for the gardening season ahead. Now is not the time to hold back, let yourself dream freely about all the ways you’d like to transform and nurture your growing space. Once you have a full list of ideas, you can then begin to schedule the work and plug them into your calendar.
Inner Gardening: Now is an opportune time to focus on some new projects. To help set the tone, start with something small and more easily accomplished. Chart your course for larger project that will take longer and break them down into approachable phases and steps.
Declutter and Reorganize.
For your landscape: Whether it is your garden shed, garage or mudroom, now is the time to clean out storage and workspaces. Giving your tools a good cleaning and reorganizing them will start the garden season off right.
Inner Gardening: Springing cleaning is a tradition and the perfect time of year to declutter places that tend to gather a lot of stuff, especially during the winter when they act as a refuge from the cold. Spending time reorganizing can lighten the load and help us with a fresh start. Also seasonal, it is time to get rid of things which no longer serve us.
Equilibrium.
For your Landscape: How can we manage and work to maintain our landscapes AND have time to relax and enjoy them? Finding ways to support your gardens to thrive, such as using organic fertilizers and installing smart irrigation systems, can free up time and allow space to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Think ahead to creating balance in the relationship between you and your landscape.
Inner Gardening: Take a cue from the equinox and ponder balance in our lives. What adjustments do we need to make? Perhaps more time is needed in one area and less energy spent in another. The early spring is a miraculous time to make thee minor adjustments and allow for more balance in our lives.
