About The Summer Solstice
June 21 - July 5
First Pentad, June 21 - 25
Second Pentad, June 26 - 30
Third Pentad, July 1 - 5
The summer solstice brings us the longest day of the year and all the brightness it anticipates. Yes, summer’s full glory is here! Bees buzz in the garden, fireflies glow in the long twilight, and everywhere feels cheerful in the dazzling sunshine. As the year has achieved full ripeness, so too have many fruits in the orchard! This is a juicy and delicious season – farmer markets are full of abundant, joyful colors of summer crops bearing fruit. Yet even as we revel in our summery delight, we remember that the astronomical summer solstice begins the lengthening of nights again; autumn is already on its way. For now, though, summer is here. This season is undoubtedly best enjoyed outside, basking in the moment.
The Summer Solstice
Podcast Episode
In this mouth-watering episode, Kit and Alexis celebrate the longest day of the year by dining al fresco! Our co-hosts prepare for picnics and barbecues, consider the outdoor activities of berry picking and fishing, and savor cooling foods. In Hiro's Corner, an examination of what we enjoy about shorter nights.
Click here for poems & songs featured in this episode.
Words of the Season
In the Sky
Strawberry Moon
Cicadas
Honey Bees
In the Ground
Blackberries
Blueberries
Juneberries
Mulberries
Cherries
Apricots
In Our Lives
The Summer Solstice
Midsummer Celebrations
Barbeques and Picnics
Berry Season & Berry Picking
Plum Wine
Berry Pie
Fishing
Honey
Somen nagashi
Short Nights
Recommended
Reading
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith is a book that could be read throughout spring and into summer. It deserves a spot as recommended for the summer solstice in particular because of its mystical and poignant description of this special evening during the year.
Summer by Edith Warton. A lesser-known work by this Gilded Age American author, this work chronicles the summertime passion of a strong, independent woman in New England. As summer first blushes in June and ripens into August, so too does the romance of our heroine.
Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris is delicious and sweet, just like the season