Seasonal Interviews - Celebrating the Autumn Equinox with Hannah from Whispering Land
I was introduced to Hannah a couple of years ago, after following her instagram feed Whispering Land . The photographs and stories she shares of her homestead life in Austria are not only beautiful and capture the seasons perfectly, but they are a great source of inspiration for those of us who long to live more self sufficiently and sustainably.
When preparing for the Autumn Equinox in my Seasonal Interviews series, for me there was no one else who captures the warmth and magic of the season more fittingly than Hannah. So I was extremely excited when she replied that she would gladly answer some questions about how she celebrates Autumn.
Prepare yourself a warm drink, snuggle up in a comfortable chair and enjoy some seasonal inspiration for this magical time of year.
Hannah standing in her garden (Main photo)
Inside Hannah’s kitchen.
Blackberries from the garden and a copy of Brambley Hedge’s Autumn Story.
Damsens are picked from the garden are then brought to the kitchen to be baked into cakes and fermented.
Please tell us a little bit about your background and your gorgeous homestead.
I am a mama of two children living in a rural village nearby the town where I grew up. After finishing school I left home to live with my then-boyfriend/now husband in Vienna for almost 7 years. As soon as we found out that I am pregnant with our first child we started to look for land on the country side and found a nice piece of land with lots of old fruit trees such as walnut, apple, pear and damson. We built a little eco cottage and as soon as our boy started crawling, we moved in. Since then we worked real hard to establish a little permaculture homestead where we keep a happy flock of chickens, sheep and bees, grow most of our own food and try to live as sustainable as possible.
Hannah’s garden growing flowers, fruit and vegetables for the family.
Butternut squash growing in the garden.
A basket full of walnuts and pears picked from Hannah’s garden.
Do you find growing your own food helps you to also live in a seasonal way?
It definitely does! When you grow your own food you have to spend a lot of time outside and you automatically sense every delicate change in your environment and immediately start to adjust the way you live in response. As a self-confessed pagan I also celebrate the old celtic traditions, which are in fact agricultural festivals that helped to mark the ever turning cycle of nature. While seasonal living might seem like a chore to some, for me following the rhythm of nature feels like returning to an ancient and traditional cycle. It makes me feel calm, grounded and alive.
What does the change of season into Autumn mean to you?
As soon as the first autumn hues are visible in my garden, in the surrounding fields and woodland, I slowly become more internal, more thoughtful, trying to integrate all the things I cultivated over the summer months. It also means a lot of foraging, preserving and fermenting. All in all you can say, autumn is the time of the year where I prepare for the darker winter months ahead. Bringing in the bounty of the garden and also preserve the memories of summer.
Biscuits baked and decorated with flowers from the garden.
Knitting is one of the activities Hannah enjoys during the colder, darker months.
Balls of wool ready for knitting.
How do you like to spend your time during the Autumn months?
When I am not busy in the garden I love to read a good book or work on a knitting project. During spring and summer those indoor activities get kind of neglected so I am enjoying them again once my garden stops demanding all of my spare time.
This autumn I am gonna learn a new skill and hope to spend some time improving it at home. Together with a dear friend I booked a willow weaving workshop and we are both really excited about it!
And if I am not reading or knitting or willow weaving there always is a huge pile of fleece from our sheep waiting to be spun into wool on my spinning wheel :)
What is your favourite part about this time of year?
After the adventurous summer months I really relish being at home again, finding comfort in these slow mornings, when the wind is howling and I am wrapped in my favourite jumper while drinking tea. The accepted slowness, where everybody starts to light candles again and enjoys home – I really love that about autumn. And of course harvesting all of my labour's bounty – tomatoes, squash, some more courgettes, carrots, beets and my beloved pumpkins.
Elderberries, cinnamon, ginger and cloves being prepared for a tonic.
A cake decorated with flowers from the garden.
Dried flowers and blackberries.
Which seasonal plants are you picking at the moment?
Right at the moment I am digging up several roots for medicinal teas and tonics. We have a huge horseradish plant in our garden which I’m gonna dig up and I will also forage for some dandelion roots to roast for a lovely chai brew. Burdock and sheep sorrel roots are also on my list to unearth and dry for teas.
What will you be preparing in your kitchen this autumn?
Each autumn I make a lovely elderberry elixir with lots of spices such as cinnamon, ginger and cloves. However, as elderberry season is almost over in our part of the world, I now start making fire cider - an immune-boosting health tonic with fresh horseradish, ginger, garlic, onions, cayenne pepper, raw apple cider vinegar and honey from our hives. Both homemade remedies always help to keep us well and healthy throughout the winter months.
This year I also would like to try a new to me recipe with horseradish and nasturtium leaves steeped in alcohol for a couple of weeks. This tincture also helps to prevent colds and is supposed to be like a natural antibiotic taken when having a bladder infection.
Seasonal cookies made and enjoyed with her family.
Hannah wanted to end with a few lines from one of her favourite poems that encapsulates the feel of the season.
The leaves fall, fall as from afar,
like distant gardens withered in the heavens;
They fall with slow and lingering descent.
And in the nights the heavy Earth, too, falls.
From out the stars into the solitude.
Autumn by Rainer Maria Rilke
Find out more about Hannah and her homestead on her instagram feed Whispering Land