As Christmas approaches, this event is often missed by many people. Today is the Summer Solstice. According to the Museum of Victoria, and in our part of the world…..;
On the day of Summer Solstice, the Earth’s south pole is tilted towards the Sun. The Sun rises south of east, sets south of west and reaches 75 1/2° above the horizon at noon. This is, usually, the longest day of the year.
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| Artist: Frey Micklethwait. Source: Museum Victoria |
It occurs just once a year in late December. Here in the south eastern part of Australia the day reaches its maximum of 14h 47m 21s. The actual solstice itself occurs at 1630 which is about the same time this post was published. This mean the inverse in the Northern Hemisphere who are celebrating their Winter Solstice and their shortest day of the year!
What does the Summer Solstice mean to me? Well it means that summer has really started in earnest, and it is about the latest time in the season that I can plant any vegetables. Any later and they usually do not make it to maturity unless we have a really warm autumn. It means less rainfall (usually) and that I have to start to use my water reserves in the rain water tanks to keep everything alive around the garden.
It also means that the evenings have more light due to the long days and daylight savings. Time that I can spend in the garden, pottering around and enjoying our bounty and time to talk to the chickens. We have been harvesting self seeded beetroot leaves and rainbow chard for salads, and are just about to get stuck into the garlic and onions that are now dry and ready to use. We have also been enjoying peaches for about two weeks now and the nectarines and apricots should be ready in the next week or two, if we can keep the birds off of them. Our first tomato for the season should not be very far away!
I feel the most grounded at this time of year as well. We have a simple lunch on Christmas Day, so there is not much to prepare for. I have lots of home made beverages ready to enjoy by the pool whilst I am on holidays over the next two weeks, and we are just going to wind down until we get itchy bums and need to start a new project. All external commitments are on hold until February 2012.
I get time to make cheese, read (in fact I just read 7 books in 21 days), relax, and enjoy time with my family.
Happy days!
What does the solstice mean to you?
Well here the day will be getting longer but also we will be having a little bit of a winter hopefully.
enjoy your break gav.were house sitting as you know and enjoying it. merry xmas to all
Happy Christmas, Gavin and Family.
I will still sneak a read over the next few days but might not be able to comment.
Thank you for blogging throughout the year. Yours is one of my must read of the day.
Best wishes for the new year.
Sarah UK
here of course, it was the shortest day, sun came up at almost nine and went at about 3! it means sodding the expense and keeping the lights on – happy christmas gav!
It’s the shortest day of the year for us, but a beautiful sunny, crisp one – the sunrise this morning was amazing. After this the days are getting longer, more light – yay! The family feast is a big deal for Christmas here – it’s cold enough to want to eat all that rich food I guess. Kids are off school till 5 Jan, so we’re looking forward to lots of long dog walks (so is the dog), and hugger muggering by the fire reading aloud from the chosen book for the holiday – School of Fear (it’s funny, not scary).
Merry Christmas Gavin, we’ve picked the first of our tomatoes!
Enjoy your Christmas Day Gavin. I love knowing when the Soltices are because the seasons are so important to our lives. For many years I didn’t give the seasons too much thought, and that is sad. It shows a lack of connection with nature! Thanks for sharing your blog with us.
Hi Gavin..solstice both summer and winter means fire to me. It’s always fun to gather around a fire with good friends to mark the occasion. Cooking over fire is even better and then sitting back and chatting to said friends around the fire is really where it’s at. Can you tell I like a campfire? We celebrated the solstice last night at a local park. Our garlic was also harvested – the first where it actually fell virtually on the solstice!
Happy summer solstice to you and Kim and a merry Christmas as well. Enjoy your holidays. 🙂