Savoring Summer: Slow Rhythms for the Seasonal Homesteader

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Embrace a slower pace this summer with simple rituals and grounding practices to help you savor the season. Whether you’re feeling frazzled or just ready to unwind, these slow summer tips will help you reconnect and recharge.

Now that it’s officially summer and the kids are out of school, many of us are planning vacations and looking forward to more rest and relaxation. 

That’s not always as easy as it seems. The change in routine can take a few weeks to get used to. If you’re a parent, you may feel more stressed having the kids home all day long or trying to juggle summer camps and play parties!

This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a slow summer; you’ll just need to be a little more intentional and carve out moments of peace throughout the day.

Enjoying a slow summer

Sometimes, the idea of a “slow” summer feels like an oxymoron, especially if you’re a farmer or gardener. 

For nature, summer is all about intense growth and eventual harvest. The plants are expending massive energy to flower and fruit, ensuring they produce seeds for the next season. 

If you lived an agrarian life 200+ years ago, you would spend much of your summer days tending to animals and crops, weeding, harvesting, drying, and preserving. 

These days, the long days mean we often get up early, find ourselves buzzing around the house doing this and that, and staying outside until late at night. Honestly, those late-night summer garden sessions are one of the best moments of the whole season for me. It’s amazing how much energy you get when you just follow the sun!

But if you’re doing so much, how exactly do you slow down?

Slowing down doesn’t always mean slow. 

It can look like relaxing on the porch, reading a good book, or floating in the pool, but it can also look like visiting with friends, organizing the kitchen, decluttering a closet, or building a new deck.

These types of days may seem like opposites, but it’s really about your capacity. 

If you’re absolutely exhausted and have no energy, you’ll need more downtime and rest. But, rest can look like lots of different things!

For some people, that looks like popping to a big city to explore museums and shops with a friend while other people need to be locked into one beach chair for hours. 

Plus, these activities can go together! I like to mix lots of different activities together, knowing that some will energize me while others will help me relax.

It’s all about honoring the natural ebbs and flows of your energy.

Inspiration for a Slow Summer Routine

I’ll admit that I struggle with routines probably more than other people. I’d much rather do whatever feels good to me on any given day that follow some prescribed list of tasks.

However, that’s been shifting lately. I’ve found that if I do something for myself first thing in the morning, the rest of the day falls into place.

My preferred first thing is a morning walk. It takes about 30-45 minutes and supports my body, mind, and spirit. If I invest this small amount of time in myself each morning, everything becomes easier. 

I’ve realized that my morning walk builds my capacity for other things in my day (even unpleasant or annoying things), while also tempering my mood. 

If you can do 1-2 things that regulate your nervous system early on, the rest of the day will feel so much better!

Daytime Routines

Especially if you’re home with the kids, it can be really helpful to have any sort of structure to the day.

Balance play with rest so they know they know what to expect, and to build in a rhythm to their day.

Have a free play time, outside time, crafting time, reading time, etc.

Of course, this depends on the age of your kids and what they like to do, but think about how to institute blocks of time that require them to come up with what to do (building, crafting, etc) and a mix of louder and quieter of options.

What about adding in some weekly routines, like a library day, beach day, or park day? It can be nice to give yourself something to look forward to and to get yourself out of the house. 

Evening

It’s always so tempting to just turn on the TV and watch it until bedtime!

With the long days, summer is the perfect time to try a new routine. Eat dinner outside, if you can. Go for a walk, spend some time in the garden, or play a game together. 

Read at night with the long evening sun until you’re exhausted.

Summer Bucket List Ideas

Need some ideas to keep your summer interesting? Sprinkle these into your days and you’ll have plenty of new memories alongside lots of homemade preserves.

• Have a picnic.
• Stock up on books at the library. 
• Plant flowers.
• Harvest from the garden.
• Grow a garden (and plant it again midsummer).
• Go gleaning.
• Go berry picking.
• Make pickles, jams, and jellies.
• Dry some herbs from the garden.
• Declutter or organize one stressful space in your house.
• Host or attend a BBQ.
• Try a new recipe.
• Visit a museum.
• Explore a national park.
• Sleep out in the backyard.
• Pick up a new (or old) skill.
• Go for a long drive.
• Keep the lights off and enjoy up the ambient sunlight. 
• Have a nothing day. Do nothing, go nowhere, just chill.
• Dip your toes in the water.
• Spend time with a new friend.
• Have a yes day. (Say yes to anything the kids want to do.)
• Go foraging.
• Make s’mores over a campfire.
• Explore local antique malls for “new” treasures.
• Hang laundry outside to dry.
• Press summer flowers.
• Make ice cream or popsicles.
• Watch the sunrise or sunset.
• Enjoy a long hike somewhere beautiful.

Eating with the Season

​Summer is hands-down the best time of year to eat with the season. The farmers markets are overflowing with amazingly fresh produce and our own backyard gardens produce zucchini, tomatoes, and more. 

​This abundance can feel like a lot of work, though, and this is the busiest time of year for home canners.

We have lots of jams, jellies, pickles, sauces, and more to make before that fresh produce goes bad!

I tend to keep my meals simple in the summer with lots of grilled proteins, fresh salads, and light meals. But, the kitchen is busy, busy baking and preserving the harvest. 

When the garden starts going gang busters and you come home with cases of produce from the farmers market, it’s very easy and natural to get overwhelmed. I’ve certainly made jam at 9pm at night or found myself prepping green beans for canning after dinner. 

When your to-do list seems to always grow, never shrink, it’s easy to feel stressed. Here are my survival tips for the chaos of midsummer:

• Choose low-effort preservation projects. Instead of feeling like you need to can everything, try freezing, drying, or infusing your fresh ingredients. You can often can from frozen berries or tomatoes, which can be a huge help!
• Rally the troops. Invite over a friend or family member who wants to learn how to garden or can and have them help you. You can pay them in fresh produce or jars of jam. 🙂
• Shorten the list. Do you have to preserve everything? Maybe you can focus on just the essentials this year instead of trying to do it all.
• Stagger your planting. It might be a little too late now, but I often like to stagger my plantings by 2-3 weeks to give me a consistent trickle of green beans or tomatoes instead of having everything ripen at once.
• Give generously. You don’t have to use all of your homegrown zucchini or herbs. Offer them up to your neighbors or give to a food bank.