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The Light Comes Back

By the second week of February, the difference is unmistakable. Sunrise has shifted early enough that mornings no longer feel like an act of faith. The solar panels are producing noticeably more — we’ve gone from four usable hours to nearly six, and on clear days the batteries are full by early afternoon.

It’s remarkable how much mood follows light. January’s quiet introspection has given way to a restless energy, a readiness to start things.

Seeds and Soil

The indoor seed trays went in on the 8th. Tomatoes, peppers, and aubergines first — they need the longest head start. Lettuce, chard, and herbs will follow in a couple of weeks. The window ledges are lined with small pots now, each one labelled with a wooden marker.

Outside, the ground is still too cold to work properly, but I’ve been spreading compost on the raised beds, letting the worms and weather do the mixing. There’s a satisfaction in preparing soil — it feels like an investment in a future you can taste.

The Repair Café

The village repair café had its first session on the 5th. Twelve people showed up, which for a community this size feels like a success. We fixed:

  • Two bicycles (new brake pads, adjusted derailleurs)
  • A toaster with a broken lever mechanism
  • A pair of boots that needed resoling
  • A laptop with a failing hard drive (swapped for an SSD)

The best part wasn’t the repairs themselves — it was the conversations. People stayed for coffee afterwards, swapping stories about things they’d fixed, things they wished they could fix, tools they needed. Someone offered to teach basic sewing next month.

This is how community infrastructure gets built: one repaired toaster at a time.

Reading

This month I’ve been reading:

  • Wendell Berry’s “The Unsettling of America” — written in the 1970s but reads as if it were written yesterday. His argument that how we treat the land reflects how we treat each other remains devastatingly accurate.
  • Technical manuals for small solar installations — less poetic, but useful. Planning a small expansion to the system before summer.

Cooking with What’s Left

The stored vegetables are holding, though variety is thinning. We’re into the last of the carrots and the beetroot is looking tired. But the preserved goods — jars of tomatoes, pickled peppers, dried beans — are carrying the kitchen through.

New discovery this month: flatbread made on the woodstove, stuffed with leftover bean stew and a sharp cheese from the local farm. Simple, cheap, deeply satisfying.

What’s Next

March should bring the first outdoor sowings — broad beans, peas, radishes. The repair café will run again. And I’m starting to think about a longer piece on energy sufficiency versus energy abundance, which has been rattling around in my head since January.

The year is picking up pace. It feels earned.