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Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.

~Hermann Hesse

There is a settling of the land and the gardens with the arrival of August. What will be is already in progress; what won’t just isn’t meant for this season. From April onwards its been a steady monthly build-up and August delivers a series of peaks and plateaus. Harvest time is in full swing, and yet it is punctuated with pauses. Brief interludes to retreat, observe, reflect, and record. What are the lessons I’ve gathered, what was challenging, what I’m inspired to try doing differently next season?

The hardneck purple striped garlic varieties have all been pulled and stretch across every table surface in the barn to cure. There’s so much I adore about garlic growing, and the sight of a bountiful harvest only adds to the fulfillment. An abundance of potatoes sits in crates in the basement waiting patiently to be weighed and slipped into heavy kraft paper bags for the winter. Next up will be the onions. With some warm dry days, a bed or two may be ready next week so that my 5-year-old intern, granddaughter Rowan, can pull and haul them with me to the barn.

And what about the beans? I'm so glad you asked. The bush dragon tongue, tucked into the potatoes out front as companions were in hindsite no surprise a favorite of mama deer. While pulling potatoes, I was pleased to atleast salvage enough beans for a few meals. The Scalzo Romano fresh beans in the back garden created a gorgeous wall of foliage and blossoms but here at the 1st of August I’ve yet to see a pod. We may enjoy a late season of fresh beans, which won’t be a disappointment.

The two Romanian dry beans are prolific as expected. The three beds of chestnut-flavored Moldovanesti of Transylvania are growing in the same peculiar manner as last year, bunching up in two-foot-tall clumps filled with beans and then shooting up runners from there. I’ll take it however it chooses to grow in exchange for the melt-in-your-mouth soup beans are one of a kind. The Bush Borlotti style, also from Romania, is sizing up to be a solid repeat. This first experimental planting is heavy with pods. Also making a strong showing are the Ukrainian Poletschaka, Italian Gialet, and Basque Black Bean, Tolozo. Doubling our dry bean production this year, I am curious to see how long they take us through the winter. Each year we gain some good information to guide the next season plantings.

We are all coming off of a very dense and intense series of astrological transits that had and continue to have a profound effect on the collective, whether you believe in astrology or not. The planets don’t mind one way or another, but accepting their lessons and invitations to grow can indeed support your agency in life.

On Thursday, the Sun entered Gate 33, inviting us to pause for contemplation before striking out again along our path. At a time when emotions are running high, the Universe gently whispers, not so fast. I love that particularly as it aligns with the growing season and the Celtic harvest festival, Lughnasadh . Everything is approaching, at or just past its peak, and yet in that flow there are more stretches than before to pull up a chair and breathe. I think that is what is being asked of us right now: to take a deep breath and reevaluate our next step. the oracle for Hexagram 33 clearly states,

Retreat is not surrender. This is a strategic withdrawal into safety and seclusion while you plan your next move.

Reflecting on this period of time, I thought of my many, and I mean many, bee friends in our gardens. They are at work pretty much all day long, but then there comes a point where they simply press pause. Lying across a blossom head, they nap. It's unlikely they are planning their next move, but they are taking a well-deserved break before heading back into their busy life.

Maybe you can find your own example in the natural world outside your home, an entity to remind you that it’s good and wise to retreat from time to time, particularly these next days ahead. Let me know if you find something that works for you.

Energies I will be noting in the week ahead:

Today, 1 August marks Lughnasadh the celebration of the first harvest. Not all that is to come but a sampling of the bounty to follow. What in your life is bearing its first fruit ? A good day to pause, reflect and be grateful for what you have brought to fruitation thus far.

5 August, the Sun begins its transit through Gate 7 ushering in the invitation to step into wise and supportive leadership roles fostering unity over control, and the right use of power, shared rather than power over.

6 August, The Sun trines Saturn in Taurus should bring in some very welcome grounding energy supporting productivity and getting things done. I have a project in mind that could use this gift, do you?

Until next week,

Follow the Sun July 24-August 4

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