Connecting with the Seasons

Should you live in an area that has the typical four seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter, you will understand how we all look forward to a new season.

This is especially true for gardeners who have to plan ahead with plantings.

When I lived in Zimbabwe, we had a wet season when the rains came and a dry season when everything was hot and dry.
Now living in Cape Town, we have all the four seasons and I must say that I enjoy them all - although the Cape winters can be quite violent with wind and rain.

Autumn here in the Cape is a lovely season with sunny days, no wind and a nice not too hot day time temperatures.
This is also a wonderful time for gardeners to do lots of planting in all areas in the garden.
In the past, when people grew their own food, they were healthier as the food that was eaten was what was grown in that particular season - this is how we are supposed to eat our food and not like today, have everything available in the shops because it has been brought in from other countries.

I am convinced that our bodies respond to eating seasonal food and our health improves.
All life goes in cycles and we as the human race are not an exception to this.
The more we live close to nature, the better our life will be - nature knows what foods will flourish in each season and we need to pay attention to this.

I always look at the wonderful avocado pear and when it is in season, there is always plenty available to purchase and at a very cheap price - then when you look again, the price has sky rocketed and there are very few on the shop shelves - this is because their season has finished here and so the retailers bring in avos from elsewhere.

When you grow your own vegetables and fruit, you soon realize what should be eaten at each season.