Tuesday, Mar 1, 2022 • 19min
March 22
Play Episode
For our March episode, we climb high into the sky with our bird of the month, the skylark. We pot up chrysanthemums, make a pilgrimage to the Isles of Scilly, and look for boxing hares. We check in with our oak tree as it prepares for spring and we perform our own springtime ritual: gifting seeds for the equinox.
'As the Season Turns' is a podcast created by Ffern and presented by the nature writer and author of the Seasonal Almanac Lia Leendertz. Each episode, released on the first of every month, is a guide to what to look out for in the month ahead - from the sky above to the land below. Ffern is an organic fragrance maker based in Somerset. You can learn more about Ffern's seasonal eau de parfum at ffern.co
Read more
Talking about
Speakers
(1)
Lia Leendertz
Transcript
Verified
Lia Leendertz
00:01
Okay, welcome to the Ffern podcast, "As The Season Turns". Released on the first of the month, each episode will be following the changing landscape of the seasons, from the moon and the stars to the tides and the trees. I'm Lia Leendertz, author of "The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide". And this podcast is created by Ffern makers of small batch organic perfume who blend barrel age and bottle four fragrances a year, released at the equinoxes and solstices.
Share
00:38
We hope that this brief guide to the month ahead will awaken you to the rhythms of the year and help you to settle deeper into the seasons.
Share
00:53
It is March and spring is really happening now. Some of the visiting birds begin to return. Bumblebees are tentatively buzzing. The ground can be cultivated. Yellow is the color of March, bright daffodils, winter aconite, primroses, lemon toned brimstone butterflies and bright spring sunshine at least in between the showers and the Gales.
Share
01:19
March was once a pivotal moment in the year. In the roman calendar, March or Martius was the first month and in
Britain
the 20 fifth of March, Lady Day remained the beginning of the legal year until 1752. Some old land tendencies still run from Lady Day to Lady Day the month was named after Mars, the god of war and less famously "The Guardian Of Agriculture".Share
01:45
March was considered the month when both farming and warfare could begin because no one wants to be out crusading in the snow, Anglo-Saxon names for March included, meaning stormy month and hurried manner, meaning rugged man, both of which give a good flavor to the experience of being outdoors at the moment.
Share
02:12
The oak tree in March. The rings of a felled oak can tell us much about its life. Each darker ring marks one winter, each lighter ring one summer a broad pale ring is the result of fast growth during a good summer, while a dense narrow one is evidence of a cold one or a summer of drought. March is a restless month, swinging from winter to spring in a matter of weeks.
Share
02:40
For our oak tree, it is a time of important preparation. It must be ready to make the most of the coming warm weather and sunshine, while at the same time continuing to preserve itself from the hard frosts that can persist well into the month. So the oak watches and waits not only for warmer weather, but for longer days.
Share
03:01
Weather is unpredictable and varies from year to year, and to rely on increased temperature alone would be catastrophic. So the tree has also evolved light sensors which tell it when the days have reached a certain length.
Share
03:16
By the end of March, the light has won out over the dark for another six months, and the birds of our oak would be bursting. Young oak leaves, of which a large tree may grow many hundreds of thousands, are yellow, green and frilly, their scalloped edges, rippling in the sunshine now begins a new season for the tree, one of sustained and sustaining growth.
Share
03:47
Bird of the month,
Skylark
. This is a wonderful time to go out into the countryside and see if you can spot a Skylark
, chances are though that you will hear one first, and when you see it, the bird will be a mere speck high above your head. Male Skylark
rise vertically up into the air and then hover there, fluttering their wings to remain stationary.Share
04:14
They stay at 50-200 meters high for up to an hour singing their hearts out across the meadows, salt marshes, heath and farmland that they most often inhabit. The song is complex and varied, containing much mimicry of other birds. The songs of limits, corn buntings, curlew and redshank can all get thrown into the glorious mix, depending on the habitat that each
Skylark
inhabits.Share
04:43
Eventually they make a gliding parachuting flight back down to the ground. Skylights sing like this almost all year round. The song has different purposes throughout the year, but in the spring it is to attract a mate. Once they pair up, the
Skylark
go to the other extreme and make their cup shaped grass nests directly on the ground. Sadly, these are very susceptible to predators, which may partly account for the extreme decline in the bird's numbers.Share
05:15
Skylark
pairs will lay several broods of eggs through the season. The hatchlings leave The nest before they can fly after just 8-10 days, but they stay nearby and continue to be fed by the parents for a further 10 days. A little smaller than a starling, the Skylark
is an unremarkable looking bird with soft brown markings on the head and back and a pale brown breast. And the males and females are very similar.Share
05:44
You are most likely to spot one by its behavior, and song, looks have been much celebrated in poetry and music, and their song is traditionally associated with daybreak.
Share
05:60
Inside the beehive in March as the weather warms and days lengthen activity within the hive increases lots of worker bees, non reproducing female bees that do most of the work of the hive must be raised to replace the bees that have died over winter, and so the queen starts laying lots of eggs into brood cells which are situated in the center of the frame and capped with a small dome of yellowy wax.
Share
06:31
There are more forays out of the hive to gather from early bloomers, sweet violets, blackthorn, pussy willow, and goat willow and hopefully return with pollen baskets laden. This month is essential to replenish the high of stores after the long winter. A wet and cold spring with few flowers can be disastrous, but a mild spell now will set the colony up for a bumper summer.
Share
07:04
Wild and naturalized daffodils, our native daffodil narcissus pseudo narcissus is pretty pale and delicate known as the lent lily and once widely and affectionately called the DaffyDownDilly. Due to habitat loss, it is not nearly as common as it once was, but clumps and drifts can still be found tossing their heads in the March breezes in fields and on verge is down the western half of the country.
Share
07:37
The best place to see them is
Gloucestershire
, "Golden Triangle", where a 10-mile footpath known as "The Daffodil Way" runs through woods, orchards and meadows. The Tenby Daffodil, Narcissus pseudonarcissus
subspecies obvallaris is small and sturdy and a boldy yellow. It may have originated as a cultivated flower, but it now grows wild across west Wales
.Share
08:05
Look out, too, for clumps of unusual daffodils, flowering and Cornish verges. These may be remnants of heritage cultivars, once the stalwarts of the Cornish cut flower industry, but dumped along road edges during
The Second World War
, when farmers had to turn their fields over to food production.Share
08:31
In season in the hedgerows, woods and fields, alexander's, bistort, burdock, chickweed, comfrey leaves, dandelion, fat hen, good King Henry, hawthorne tips, hot tips, nettle tips, orach, rampion, salad, burnet, sea beet, sorrel, tansy, watercress, wild garlic, winter cress, wood sorrel, tremulous, cowslips, violets and birch sap.
Share
09:01
From the seashore and rivers, oysters, scallops, mussels, elvers, coley dab, lemon sole, cod, haddock, whiting pollock, salmon, lava, pepper dulse, carigen, egrap, sea lettuce, sugar kelp, sea kale.
Share
09:21
From the kitchen garden, purple sprouting broccoli, brussels sprouts, chicory, kale, onions, radishes, cabbages, cauliflowers, chard, lettuce, spinach, turnips, forced rhubarb, sorrel, winter savory, parsley, chervil, coriander, rosemary, bay and sage.
Share
09:50
In the cool mist of a March dawn or dusk. If you're very lucky, you may see a remarkable sign. At this time of year, the hare are out in the fields, and it is mating season. When a buck is a little too persistent in the chase, a doe may turn and raise her fists. To see these battles under the equinox moon is considered particularly lucky.
Share
10:17
Take a pair of binoculars and settle yourself quietly along field margins and wait. Some say that in Celtic mythology, the hare goddess Eostre was linked to the change from winter to spring and to the moon. Each full moon, she was said to shape-shift into her hare, all other hares were sacred to her and acted as her messengers.
Share
10:41
The cults may have used hares in shamanic practices, studying their tracks and mating rituals to divine the future, and it was believed that they carried messages from the underworld as they emerged in spring. It was considered deeply unlucky to kill a hare until well into the 19th century. As Christianity took hold in Europe, hares began to be associated with witchcraft.
Share
11:06
One Dartmoor Legend tells the story of how a hunter named Bowerman disturbed a Coven of witches one night. To punish him, one of the witches transformed herself into a hare and lead Bowerman and his dogs into a bog, where she transformed them into piles of stones. Today these stones are known as "Hound Tor And Bowerman's Nose".
Share
11:34
Names for marches, full moon which falls on the 18th, "plow moon, wind moon, lantern moon and chased moon".
Share
11:46
Finally, spring feels unstoppable and the landscape beneath this month's full moon on the 18th is easing its way out of winter's grip with banks of pale, wild daffodils swaying in the March breezes and dots of blossom visible under its silvery light.
Share
12:03
Throughout the year, we will see a series of moon names that reference big seasonal jobs and the plow moon is the first of these, perhaps suggesting that the light of the full moon allowed people to carry on plowing well into the evening.
Share
12:18
Farming and gardening begin in earnest this month, often in gusty conditions, as the name wind moon suggests. The name lantern moon for March's full moon partially reflects the fact that we are now midland and chased moon may also allude to lengths constraints, but the word itself originates in the old English word lengten, which means spring and is in reference to the lengthening days, which are hard to ignore is this month we reach the equinox when day and night are finally the same length.
Share
12:57
March wins. When does the result of a difference in air pressure between two neighboring areas? The more extreme the difference and the closer the two areas, the greater the wind, high air pressure tends to come with cold air and low pressure with warmth.
Share
13:15
In March, the sea around the
British Isles
is still extremely cold, but the land is being heated by an increasingly warm sun, leading to great differentials. At the same time, the jet stream starts to head northwards, which brings warm weather while driving areas of low pressure towards us. It is a time of considerable instability and turbulence before warmth winds out later in spring.Share
13:45
During the course of March, day length increases by two hours and 28 minutes to 13 hours and four minutes in
Inverness
and by one hour and 54 minutes to 12 hours, 50 minutes in Padstow
. The average sea temperature this month in Orkney
is 7.1°C, and in Penzance
is 9.4°C.Share
14:18
The Saint Agnes Labyrinth is a ritual journey to help sailors to tame storms before they leave shore. The
Troy Town
labyrinth on Saint Agnes, Isles of Scilly
, is the only centuries old stone labyrinth, The United Kingdom
, although it is rumored to have been rebuilt by Lighthouse keeper Amor Clarke in 1729. He may have done so on the site of a much older labyrinth, possibly a part of a larger Neolithic landscape.Share
14:49
Clare Gogerty in her book "Beyond The Footpath" says that such labyrinths are frequently found on the shorelines of
Sweden,
Norway
and Finland
, often near ports, and that they were walked by fishermen before setting out to sea to ensure a good catch and to ensnare unfavorable winds.Share
15:07
The names of some of these labyrinths, "Trojaborg, Triborg and Trojanborg" also allude to the defensive walls of
Troy
, which were built in a deliberately confusing and layered way. Like the Scandinavian labyrinths. The one at Troy Town
is a classical labyrinth, one of the simplest and oldest kinds, and the type associated with the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.Share
15:32
A classical labyrinth usually has seven circuits, as at
Troy Town
, but sometimes has 11 or 15. A labyrinth differs from a maze and that there is no possibility of getting lost. There is one route in and one route out. Therefore, the purpose is contemplative and ritualistic, like touching wood or crossing yourself at the thought of danger.Share
15:59
Ritual of the month. The spring equinox is a moment of balance, winter and summer, bowing to one another on equal terms. But it is also a time of great change, the beginning of spring and the joyful business of this season. To embrace this excitement, perhaps you might give some seeds to a friend, collect them from a plant in your garden, pop to the local garden center or supermarket, or support your local nursery.
Share
16:31
Given their wonderful contents, packets of seeds are cheap and cheerful gifts and the perfect way to mark this shift between seasons. You might decide to plant these seeds together, marking the moment with a small intention or hope as you cover each seed with soil or tip a few into an envelope for someone far away. A lovely thing to receive in the post.
Share
16:55
You don't need a garden to plant a seed, only a little soil. You can plant them in a pot on the balcony or in a tray set on a window sill. Give wildflowers to a nature enthusiast, herbs to your favorite chef and fast-growing poppies to an impatient friend.
Share
17:17
In the Ffern studio. This month, in Ffern Somerset Studio, the team is busy preparing for the release of Spring 22. This fragrance was designed in collaboration with the Michelin starred chef
Skye Gyngell,
who introduced the sweet, sharp accord of elder flower and gooseberry at its heart. This accord is surrounded by sunshine top notes of orange and pink peppercorn, warm floral mid-notes of jasmine and narrowly, and a hint of spiced earth at the base with vetiver and ginger.Share
17:55
The bottles have been filled and are now being packed by hand into trays made with mycelium, that's mushroom roots which have been trained to grow around wood chip ing's a byproduct of the timber industry.
Share
18:08
These trays are fully compostable and good for garden tasks and in keeping with our March ritual this season Ffern has included a slip of poppy seed paper in each parcel which can be grown into a lovely bright, be friendly poppies in the mycelium trays.
Share
18:30
Thank you for listening to this month's episode. If you've enjoyed listening, please do like and subscribe, all episodes are released on the first of each month.
Share
18:42
You can read more about the year ahead in my book "The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide To 2022", also available as an audiobook.
Share
Break
Add podcast
🇮🇹 Made with love & passion in Italy. 🌎 Enjoyed everywhere
Build n. 1.38.1
Lia Leendertz