Welcome to the Fern podcast as the season turns.

Released on the first of the month, each episode follows the changing landscape of the seasons,

from the moon and the stars to the tides in the trees.

I'm Leah Lander, author of The Almanac, a seasonal guide. And this podcast is a

collaboration between myself and Fern, makers of small batch organic perfume, who blend,

barrel age and bottle four fragrances a year, released at the equinoxes and solstices. I love wearing fern.

In my quest to live in tune with the seasons,

applying the season's perfume is a lovely little ritual

that reminds me to use all my senses.

We hope that this brief guide to the month ahead

will awaken you to the rhythms of the year

and help you to settle deeper into the seasons.

The Sunrise

On August 1st, sunrise is at 5.11 a.m. in Inverness and 5.50 a.m. in Padstow. That is 39 minutes later than last month at Padstow and 48 minutes later in Inverness.

Last month, the change in day length was by just a few minutes, but now it is speeding up,

particularly in the far north, which has much further to go, moving from being the lightest part

of the country around midsummer to the darkest at midwinter.

The 1st of August is Lamas, or Lofmas, the celebration of the first harvest or the taking of the first sheaves of wheat.

We are officially into harvest time now.

And Lamas has a very important dawn ritual attached to it, particularly in parts of Scotland.

The best known of Lamas traditions involve wheat, bread and the spirit of the corn,

sometimes known as John Barley Corn.

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