[No. 233] Surviving the Winter, Connecting to Summer—The “Invisible Growth” Taught by Blueberries 🫐❄️

Blueberries provide us with many blessings when summer arrives.

But what happens to the trees during the winter?

Seeing them with their leaves fallen and only branches remaining,
they almost seem to be at a standstill.

Yet they are definitely alive, connecting to the next summer.

Standing in the field, that is what I thought.

📖 Articles themed around the field are collected in a magazine.
Please take a look at these as well if you like👇

👉 Tilling, Living—Records of Renji Enko's Field

What is happening inside the winter trees ❄️🌿

Winter blueberries are very quiet at first glance.
They even look as if they have stopped moving.

However, in reality, preparations for spring are underway inside the trees.

The flower buds formed at the end of autumn prepare to wake from dormancy by experiencing the cold.
This “time spent in low temperatures” is an essential condition for spring blooming.

It cannot be seen from the outside.
Even so, it is surely connecting to the next season.

Standing in the field, I feel such quiet movements of life.

The invisible season builds strength 🌙🌱

In winter, results are hard to see.

Looking at their bare-branched forms,
I sometimes wonder if that season of harvest will really come—
I get that kind of feeling.

Even so, the trees are not just waiting for spring.
While enduring the cold, they are storing up the strength to grow next.

Blueberries that bring us many harvests in the summer.
I touched upon those blessings in a previous article.
📍Posted on August 1, 2025
👉 [No. 59] The Harvest Isn't All at Once—Blueberries and the Choice to Wait 🫐🌿

Ripening is not something that happens suddenly one day.
It taught me that the time spent waiting is also an essential part of the process.

Come to think of it, back when I played soccer, I often heard this phrase.

"Players who run in the winter are strong in the summer."

If you run in the summer, winter becomes easier,
and if you run in the winter, you gain an edge in the summer.

…In the end, you're just running the whole time, aren't you?
I'd like to keep the fact that I thought that to myself.

But now I understand.

The accumulation of invisible seasons becomes strength.

Blueberries are surely the same.

A quiet time leading to summer ☀️🫐

It's not flashy.
There is little change.

But it is precisely because of this quiet time
that it leads to that vibrant harvest.

Growth is not just about the moments that are visible.

The periods when it seems like nothing is moving are also
an important process that shapes the next season.

Will I be able to receive the bounty from this tree
again this summer?

Thinking about such things, I stand in the winter field.

The act of continuing to cultivate 🔁🌾

Whether it's fields, the body, or investments, the results
always come a little later.

That is why it is most important not to be too swayed by the seasons,
but to keep going.

The winter blueberries do not speak.
They are just quietly preparing for what comes next.

Their form is the very embodiment of a way of life that involves "continual cultivation."

Notice🛠️

🌱 This article is based solely on personal experience and impressions.
📍 Appropriate methods vary depending on the region and environment.
⚠️ Please ensure safety when carrying out any activities.
✅ Please take responsibility for your own judgments and actions.

Undercurrent × Cultivation
Fields, bodies, and investments—a way of life that involves continual cultivation.
Renji Enko