Welcome to the 2026 edition of the award-winning Fern podcast as the season turns.

Released on the first of each month, the episodes follow the changing landscape of the seasons,

from the moon and the stars to the tides and 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 seasonal perfume. I love Fern. Today I'm

lucky enough to be wearing an early sample of their Spring 26 fragrance, inspired by an English

wilderness in spring. It calls to mine tangled blossoms and fresh green leaves just unfurling.

More than ever, I'm now looking forward to the turning of the season, and the true beginning

of spring come the equinox.

Fern have let me know that they've kept aside a batch of fragrance for latecomers this season.

Do visit www.furn.co to find out more and join the waiting list.

For March we're by the river where ancient fishes swim

amid the water weeds and not every spring green is as lovely as it appears. Today we

hear tell of strange dreams look out for zodiacal light and listen out for birdsong

at harbinger of Spring.

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. It is March and the river flows deep and ashoreed, swollen from winter and spring rains.

It takes a turn around a Tussookie bend, where a willow leans out over the water,

its branches just beginning to haze with green, its tips grazing the surface.

A heron stands motionless at the water's edge, eyes intent on the shallows.

A human angler blends into the landscape, green oversized umbrella, cold feet, cheese sandwiches,

watching the water with a similarly disciplined stillness.

Spring has begun to mark the muddy river edges with growth. Reeds shoots push up pale stems,

...