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.

November is the month in which we fight the encroaching dark with light on Guy Fawkes Night and at Sao Inn.

November festivals centred around light, sparks and fire.

A drift of wood smoke and the occasional tang of sulphur is the scent of November.

These festivals have a secondary focus on sweet treats, bonfire night park in, cinder toffee and toffee apples, soul cakes at Sowin,

as if our ancestors knew that the fire battles were all very well, but the true way to make it through winter is by comfort eating.

The old Anglo-Saxon name for the month was Blot Monath, Blood Month, as this was the traditional time to slaughter animals and preserve meat,

to save the expense of having to keep animals through winter,

and to make the most of a summer and autumn of fattening up.

This lent itself to hearty feasting,

and November has always been a bountiful month,

despite and because of the increasing cold.

It can also be a beautiful month

...