An Active Early Permie Winter

Winter is on its way. We are starting to see the first signs that our colder temperatures are darker days are here. The leaves are on the ground and night seems to come ever so early. Your natural inclination may be to hang it up for the year and await the buds of next Spring. The truth is though, Winter is as important a time as any other for the regenerative natural space. As the trees become bare and underbrush begins to die back, we can see things only visible during this time of year. Use this gift!

The cooler months are largely a time to observe. As you walk through your space, do it intentionally. Set the goal to try to examine things in a new way. Look for patterns and unique topographical features. Think about how they may have gotten there and imagine creative ways to use these findings. Also, always be on the look out for bare ground. Winter offers the unique opportunity to do this and you don’t want to leave bare earth exposed to the elements. We always want to be giving back so make sure to cover these spots with a mulch of some sort. Now is the time to cover all of our beds and gardens with a healthy, carbon rich mulch and if possible, this can often be sourced locally, for free, from local tree removal companies.

We also want to start setting up special environments for our plants that may be vulnerable to the incoming low temperatures. We can often grow things from a slightly warmer climate if we can just get them through the Winter. One way to do that is to create a microenvironment for these plants. Using something with a high thermal mass (large stones, wood painted black, etc.) create a U-shaped pile with the opening facing south around the trunk of the tree or bush. Make sure you’re opening is in south so that plenty of sun can get inside and create warmth throughout the day. This should actually keep the temperature up surprisingly well on those cold nights. Remember, the more stones or wood that you use, the more stable and lasting temperature increase you will see.

Finally, tackle some of those cool projects you’ve been putting off. Building a solar dehydrator, bat houses, and smoke houses are all good options, but the sky is limit.

Whatever you do, don’t just sit back and wait for the season to change again. Take advantage of every second.