Going for a walk in your Tiny Forest and taking soil measurements after rain can really help shake off the winter blues! Observing nature can help us make sense of the changes throughout the year. After all, we are nature, too! Some of the lucky wildlife can stay in “bed” and hibernate throughout winter. The UK’s beloved hedgehogs go into hibernation around this time of the year, but it is no longer so easy for them to find shelter. Your Tiny Forest provides everything that a hedgehog needs: food, shelter materials and safety! Remember you are nature, too, so take the time to think what you need to feel warm and cosy this winter. 

Since the 1950s, the UK has lost about 29 out of 30 million hedgehogs due to urbanisation and land fragmentation. The one million left continue to struggle, especially in urban places where there are limited places for hedgehogs to safely rest through the cold months. During hibernation, hedgehogs curl up in piles of leaves, or under a log, so make sure that you leave the fallen leaves and dead trees in your Tiny Forest. If you want to give them a little extra support, bring a small wooden box, such as a wine crate filled with leaves and newspaper, or build your own hedgehog home. Hedgehogs will be happy in a Tiny Forest not only because of the shelter it provides, but also because they will be able to quickly find food to munch on, including delicious insects and berries all throughout the year.  

November brings us World Kindness Day on the 13th day each year. This is a great chance to visit your Tiny Forest, alone or with your community, and reflect on what kindness means in your life, asking yourself how we express it, and how we experience it. In this busy time of the year where the sunlight is limited and our minds and bodies are feeling more tired, we are often required to keep up the activeness of the summer. But just as the trees in the Tiny Forest are going into their dormant season, we, too, need some time to rest and regenerate before we can rejuvenate when spring arrives. We encourage you to be kind to yourself and to allow yourself to rest just like nature does this time of the year. 

Learn or refresh your Tiny Forest Flood Management skills by watching our training webinar, then head to your Tiny Forest to measure the soil and its absorbency in the wetter season. See if you can compare to your findings from July when the weather was much drier!