Welcome to the Fern podcast, as the season turns.

Released on the first of the month, each episode will be following the changing landscape of the seasons,

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

I'm Leah Lainters, author of The Almanac, a seasonal guide,

and this podcast is created by Fern,

makers of small batch organic perfume,

who blend, barrel age and bottle four fragrances a year,

released at the equinoxes and solstices.

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.

June is true summer, strawberries, roses and rainy picnics, ice cream and sunburnt shoulders.

Meteorological summer begins on the first, astronomical summer on the 21st.

The countryside is full and fresh, and gardens and hedgerows are bursting with

colour. If you want your garden to look wonderful in June, then you can hardly fail,

for everything flowers in June. June, of course, contains the most daylight of any month,

and the longest day and shortest night. But there's the rub. Here we are, just getting into the swing of

things, and suddenly the pinnacle is reached. After Midsummer's day on the 21st, we start the slow

side towards autumn, and June's midsummer celebrations are tinged with that knowledge. Happily, however, the thermal lag in the seas and land means that our warmest months are ahead of us.

We can cast aside niggling thoughts of the dark half of the year, at least for now, and revel in the warmth and light of the moment.

The month may have been named after the Roman goddess of marriage,

Juno, and it is certainly a month that lends itself to optimistic outdoor gatherings and

celebrations. The Anglo-Saxons called it Seramona, which means dry month. Perhaps things were different then, or perhaps the Anglo-Saxons were as hopeful

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