October 3 · Last Quarter Moon

Take Stock · Notice · Learn

By October, the garden has mostly told us how the year went. Some things grew beautifully, some absolutely did not, and there are probably a few things you planted with great enthusiasm in May that you barely used at all. Before we rush into cleaning everything up and planning next year, this is a good time to take stock. What actually served you this year?

Garden
Walk through the garden before you start pulling things out. What grew well? What struggled? What did you wish you'd planted more of? Take a few notes now while you still remember. Leave healthy stems, seed heads and leaf litter where you can for winter habitat, and remove diseased plant material rather than composting it.

Hearth
Look around at what made your home work well this summer and what didn't. Maybe the entryway became a dumping ground, the pantry system fell apart, or one little corner became everyone's favorite place to sit. You don't need to reorganize the entire house. Pay attention to how you're actually using it before the colder months bring everyone indoors more often.

Kitchen
Take inventory of what you grew, preserved and bought this year. Which jars are already disappearing from the pantry? Which things are you probably going to be staring at next June? This is useful information. Preserving food because we actually eat it is very different from preserving food because we feel like people who live seasonally are supposed to.

Apothecary
Do the same thing with your herbs. What did you reach for again and again? What is still sitting untouched? Which plants would you like to grow more of next year, and which ones don't need nearly as much garden space as you gave them? Check your dried herbs while you're there and compost anything that didn't store well.

Self
We can take stock of ourselves without turning it into a list of things we need to improve. What worked this year? What made life easier? What did you enjoy enough that you want more of it? And what have you been doing mostly because you thought you were supposed to?

Invitation
Before you clean up, organize, replace or plan anything, write down three things from this past season that you want to remember next year.