Season’s greetings, Rural Sprout readers,  Can you believe it? We’re already here. It’s time for our annual winter break. Longtime readers will likely remember that Rural Sprout goes a little quiet this time of year, much like our gardens.  We always take the final two weeks of the year off as a chance to rest and recoup after a
long season of bringing you everything gardening all the time.   But don’t worry; we’ll be back in the new year. I have a feeling by the time the holiday dust settles, we will find ourselves casually looking out the window at our sleeping gardens and feeling that familiar urge to pick up one of the dozens of seed catalogs that have found their way to our mailboxes.   Until then, I’d like to leave you with a few thoughts about this time of year.  For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the days are short, and the nights are long. Many people dread this time of year, going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark.  But my wish for you this season is that you find peace and comfort in the
darkness.   Even if it’s only for one night.  We are quite blessed to live in a time when we can come home in the dark and then immediately flood our homes with light.  I’m a huge fan of the new smart lightbulbs. I love that I can have daylight in my kitchen at 9:00 pm while I’m finishing up a project at the table. I can set my
living room light to turn on in the evening and turn off when I go to bed without ever touching it. If I forget to turn a light off in another room? No problem, I just tell Alexa to turn it off for me.   This is one modern convenience I can get behind.  But in these dark days of winter, I’ve found I’m less likely to turn those lights on. Or, at the very least, I’ll turn one dim light on in the room. Instead, I’ve been enjoying the glow of candlelight and the warm candy-like lights on my Christmas tree and around my
windows.  I let the darkness slip in as the day ends, and it fills my home.  As the longest night of the year is days away, I’ve made it a point to take comfort in the dark. Like many children, I was afraid of the dark growing up. As an adult, I’ve found a friendliness and peace in the darkness of my home.   Rather than something to fear, it is a soothing, restful presence.  My friend, can I challenge you to spend one evening before the end of the year in quiet darkness? Let’s shake off the modern world for an evening. Light a few candles (even if they run on button batteries), start a fire in the fireplace, and only turn on one or two lights. Put on some soft music and
pour yourself something nice to drink.  Skip the bright glow of the TV this evening. Put your phone and your tablet away.  Let your eyes grow accustomed to the soft lighting and feel the stress of this season start to fade. Read a book, chat with a loved one face to face, play a board game by candlelight or sit silently and contemplate how on earth the year slipped by so fast.   Before you know it, the holidays will be done, and each evening, the light will last a little longer. But before then, I hope you’ll join me for an evening in the velvety night of deep winter.  Peace, my friends, to you and yours.Â
 I’ll see you in the New Year.  Â
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The most important thing you can do to get your Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) to bloom each year…
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I'm always nervous when I have to repot a cactus. I despair. Then I prepare. Then I collect…
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Did you miss a newsletter or want to go back and read a few for inspiration - Click this link. Don't forget to check out our Facebook page for daily updates.  That's all for this week, Rural Sprout Readers.
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