Rounding the Year: Damsons & the First Harvest Fruits

Today is Lammas, a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest, and the damsons are already ripe in my garden. It's a bit earlier than in previous years. While any early ripening reminds me of worryingly of climate change, I'm still happy to once again be cooking damsons I've picked with my own hands. The trees in my garden self-seeded, but I'm delighted they're there.

Damsons are an ancient type of plum and are too sour to eat raw but are delicious in pies and crumbles, made into jam, or infused in alcohol. They're also rich in vitamin C, so very healthy. Magically they are also useful in spells and potions for health and longevity.

While I was doing some research for this post, I discovered a strange bit of folklore.  Pershore, in Worcestershire, has a plum charmer who plays music to the fruit trees each summer. It's apparently a similar tradition to wassailing the orchards in winter. The Independent has an article about the current charmer.

Share your seasonal photos!

I'm inviting people to share seasonal pictures, art, crafts, words and other creativity. I'll continue this over the months ahead. I'd love to encourage readers to record what's happening in nature in various ways including photographs, journalling, drawing or painting and crafting.

Here are ways to share the things you're doing or what you see out and about as the wheel turns:

• Leave a comment on this post about what you're up to
• Find my prompts to share on my Facebook Page: Lucya Starza Pagan Portals Author
• Share on Instagram or X (formerly Twitter) with the tag #RoundingtheYear
  

Where to find my book

My book Pagan Portals - Rounding the Wheel of the Year offers more ways to acknowledge and celebrate the seasons in ritual, magic, folklore and nature. You can view the book on Amazon and find it at estoeric bookshops or via my publisher Moon Books: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/our-books/pagan-portals-rounding-wheel-year

(Please note: I earn commission from some links.)

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/08/fruit-plums-or-damsons-from-wild-seeded.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/07/rounding-year-hollyhocks-with-minds-of.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/06/rounding-year-elderflower-and.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/01/rounding-year-sharing-seasonal-pictures.html

Strawberries - The Fruits of May in Magic & Folklore

Strawberries are a fruit of May, at least in England, and are technically fruits rather than berries. I particularly enjoy them with cream (in the picture you can see them on a scone too). Apparently Thomas Wolsey, in the court of King Henry VIII, was the first person recorded as having strawberries and cream.

Magically the fruit is associated with love and romance as well as good luck. According to Rachel Patterson in A Kitchen Witch’s World of Magical Food, Strawberries are sacred to the Norse fertility god Freyr, who also represents prosperity, good weather and the harvest. 

Although they aren't traditionally associated with the goddess Aphrodite, they do seem to be something she likes as an offering. They make more of an appearance at Aphrodite rituals than fruits traditionally associated with the goddess of love: pomegranates and quinces. 

From an environmental point of view it's best to eat food that's in season and locally grown, so I'm always happy when English strawberries start to become available. 

For some May magic, take pleasure in selecting and eating your first strawberry of the year. Be mindful in every action. Obviously it's best if you pick it yourself, but if you don't grow strawberries yourself, try to buy them as close to the source as possible. Look at the fruit carefully, appreciate its appearance, texture, colour, scent. Eat it slowly. Close your eyes and pay full attention to the taste. When you have finished, give thanks to the gods and goddesses of love, prosperity, luck and abundance and ask their blessing for the summer ahead.

According to folklore, if you cut a strawberry in half and share it with someone, you are likely to fall in love. Remember that if you try out the recipe suggestion in the photo at the top!

You can find more seasonal lore in my book Pagan Portals - Rounding the Wheel of the Year, published by Moon Books.

You can also view the book on Amazon (Note: I earn commission from advertisers for some links. This helps support my blog at no extra cost to those who read my posts.)

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/05/book-excerpt-wild-larder-from-inner.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/05/eco-paganism-nature-more-important-than.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/06/craft-making-flower-crown-just-from.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/04/festival-of-week-floralia-and-goddess.html

Harvest Time: Thanking the Apple Tree

Here's a post by Jane Mortimer about foraging for apples and testing the success of a Wassail:

Remember when I wassailed the apple tree on the A12 back in the spring? Well, last week we passed it in the car and I noticed big red apples – big enough to see from the opposite carriageway. So the next day I went to the tree with my walking stick, bag and camera, and collected 4.44 kilos of lovely apples, virtually unblemished, and some of them straight from the tree. I said a big Thank You to the tree for giving me its apples.

The council hasn’t mowed the verge for months, so it was hard to get to, luckily for me. On the way there I spotted a huge crop of unmown yarrow and plantain, so I’ll be popping back to gather some for drying. Yarrow’s good for nosebleeds, and plantain contains a natural antibiotic that can be made into tea and applied to damaged skin.

Notes: The photos are copyright Jane Mortimer. Any health-related information on this blog is not medical advice.

Fruit: Plums or Damsons from a Wild-Seeded Tree

A few years ago I noticed a tree sapling growing next to my garden hedge. From the leaves, it looked as though it was a fruit tree, although I wasn't entirely sure and definitely didn't know what it would bear. Anyway, I left it to grow to see what would happen. Well, it got tall and this year, for the first time, its branches are laden with purple fruit. 

I'm not entirely sure if they are plums or damsons, although I suspect the latter. Damsons are actually a subspecies of plum but are a bit smaller and taste sharper. They are best cooked rather than eaten raw for that reason, but are wonderful in crumbles, jam, chutney, and soaked in gin or vodka as a Yuletide drink. Damsons freeze better than plums too. Plums and damsons are among the last of the soft fruits to harvest. They are ripe from late August and into September. The ones on my tree are only just starting to be ready for picking, but I cooked the first bowlful a few days ago and they tasted lovely. 

According to Rachel Patterson in A Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Food, plums are considered an aphrodisiac. Use them in spells for passion, or serve them to your beloved for an immediate response. Mind you, my husband said the most immediate response he got from eating them wasn't quite that, so maybe don't overdo it! Both plums and damsons are certainly good for you in general, however, as they are full of vitamin C. They're also good food for wildlife including birds, insects and other creatures.  

Damsons, like plums, are an ancient fruit. The name apparently comes from Damascus, where they were found by those on the Crusades and brought to England. While the Crusades were seriously horrendous from an ethical point of view, I must admit I do like damsons! 

Please leave a comment if you can identify exactly what the fruit from my wild-seeded tree might be, if you know a good recipe, or if you have picked some lovely autumn fruit yourself!

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2015/06/review-kitchen-witchs-world-of-magical.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/08/apple-season-gathering-windfalls-after.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/08/mandala-august-harvest-of-apples-and.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/08/blackberries-and-brambles.html

Witchcraft on a Shoestring: Banana Skin Silver Polish

I'm continuing my series of posts called Witchcraft on a Shoestring, which I began after someone who came to one of my workshops suggested I do more for witches who are strapped for cash. Today I am writing about how you can use banana skins to polish silver.

You see that pretty little silver-plated dish with the seahorses on it in the picture above, and the two chalices in the picture below? Well, they are looking nice and sparkly because the other day I gave them a good polish with banana skins, as you can see in progress in the photo to the right.

All you need to do is smear the pulp from the inside of a banana skin all over the silver, leave it for a little while. The pulp will dry a bit, but go over the silver again with the banana skin to loosen it and to polish the silver more. Then wipe it off and buff your silver further with a cloth. I will admit it does take a little bit more elbow-grease than using proper silver polish, but if you eat bananas then this method of polishing is effectively a free bonus.

I should probably add that the chalices and dish were also inexpensive items, because they came from charity shops some time ago. However, I've only recently got around to cleaning them!

My first Witchcraft on a Shoestring tip was to make use of libraries. Obviously libraries are mostly closed due to the current pandemic lockdown policies - but many offer online loans of ebooks, so do check out what your local library has in the way of ebooks on magic, witchcraft and related topics by going to its website.

I also blogged about how it is always fine to use ordinary white candles for spells if you don't have anything more fancy. That's also good advice for people in lockdown, who might not have anything except tealights to hand. Another money-saving idea was to use a black ready-meal dish as an inexpensive scrying bowl.

I'll be blogging with more Witchcraft on a Shoestring posts in the future, but if you have an questions or suggestions do leave a comment.

Mandala: August Harvest of Apples and Berries

I've been creating a mandala each month with things from my own garden - and this month is an edible mandala as August is so much the time for picking all sorts of fruit including blackberries, apples and elderberries. My aunt always used to make a lovely rosehip jelly at this time of year too, but sadly I never got her recipe.

I did, however, cook and eat the fruit in the picture - except the unripe berries - with some yoghurt for my tea. It was very nice too.

As you can see, for the mandala I cut the apple in half to reveal the star in the middle.

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/07/july-mandala-lavender-mint-meadowsweet.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/06/june-mandala-summer-solstice-sun-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/05/may-mandala-stone-circles-and-wild.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/03/mandala-for-march-goddess-of-life-death.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/04/april-mandala-blossom-and-shadows.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/02/february-mandala-hearts-flowers-seeds.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/01/january-mandala-lips-as-red-as-blood.html

Pagan Eye: Pumo - Good Luck Charm from Italy

Passing through Borough Market - the wonderful food market near London Bridge - the other day, I saw this good luck charm in the window of an Italian cafe called Pulia. I had to stop to have a look and take this photo.

The good luck charm is a ceramic flower bud and is called a pumo. The sign invites people to touch it so that good luck rubs off.

Doing a bit of research, I found out the pumo comes from the Italian region of Puglia, where the ceramic ornament apparently appears everywhere - adorning the outside of buildings as well as in kitchens and windows. Although the pumo in the cafe was in the shape of a flowerbud, I've learnt that others are in the form of acorns or pine cone buds. The plural of pumo is puma.

The charm is thought to date back to pagan times and was a symbol of the goddess of fruitfulness Pomona. In Puglia, puma are traditionally given as wedding gifts or to bestow good luck on a new home. Nowadays, many are sold as souvenirs to tourists.

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.delectabledestinations.com/puglia-pumo-de-fiore-good-luck-charm/
http://www.thatsarte.com/blog/highlights/have-you-ever-heard-of-the-pumi/
http://boroughmarket.org.uk/
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/10/godfdess-of-week.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/02/pagan-eye-kusu-islands-wishing-well-and.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/11/pagan-eye-native-american-horse-totem.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/07/pagan-eye-roman-temple-of-fortuna.html
@Puliauk

Pagan Eye: Pumpkins On Sale For Halloween

I saw this display of pumpkins on sale at Middle Farm, in Sussex, where I stopped off to buy a bottle of mead when I was visiting a friend at the seaside on Saturday. I felt I had to photograph them.

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

Previous Related Posts
http://www.middlefarm.com/
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/08/pagan-eye-blackberries-city-harvest.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/08/pagan-eye-tempting-fruit.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/06/review-deliciously-conscious-cookbook.html

Pagan Eye: Tempting Fruit

With the weather getting cooler and the evenings drawing in, it seems summer is coming to an end, but I feel ready for autumn and love the time when fruit can be found drooping from branches by the wayside. The fruit in this picture isn't available for wild foraging, however. It is growing on the front wall of a house near where I live, hanging over the doorway and windows. If I was a kid I might be tempted to do some scrumping, but as I am law-abiding I just snuck into the garden to take this photo.

Mind you, I am not exactly sure what the fruit is. It looks a bit like Mirabelle plum, but that grows on trees rather than on a wall-climbing plant. The leaves are longer than plum leaves and the fruit looks slightly more elongated too. I'd be very grateful if anyone who recognises it could let me know by leaving a comment below this post. Otherwise I might just have to sneak back into that garden and commit fruit theft to investigate further...

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/07/pagan-eye-blackberries-and-barbed-wire.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/06/pagan-eye-cheeky-vegetable.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/05/pagan-eye-passion-flower-on-garden-wall.html

Pagan Eye: Blackberries and Barbed Wire

I love the correlation of this blackberry bush intertwining its thorny stems with the sharp metal atop this wall. In bygone times, brambles were sometimes planted to deter intruders or keep cattle in their place. Barbed wire took over from more natural means of enforcing boundaries since its invention in the 19th century. It was, of course, famously deployed at the edge of no-man's land in the First World War.

Whether that razor-sharp steel in the photo is technically barbed wire or not is, I guess, debatable. It serves the same purpose. I pass the place in which I took that picture on my way home from the station, the last leg of my evening return from work. Now that tempting fruit is starting to ripen I've been reaching up to pluck ripe berries from the green shoots that are escaping their confinement - a sweet and refreshing taste of freedom.

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/08/blackberries-and-brambles.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/08/pagan-eye-blackberries-city-harvest.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/08/purple-splodges-lammas-baking-failure.html

Pagan Eye: Blackberries - The City Harvest

As a city kid who grew up in London, my personal childhood experience of the harvest was picking blackberries. They grow all over the place in the urban landscape -  on overgrown roadside verges, embankments at the back of station platforms and patches of waste ground - yet these days few people seem to bother collecting this free food. Mind you, I guess that just leaves more for me, as I am still happy to take a plastic tub out to go blackberrying.

Blackberries are normally ripe around the time of Lammas, at the start of August, but this year all the fruit is late. I took this photo yesterday, when I was delighted to see a few berries are just about ready for picking. It'll be blackberry crumble this weekend - yum!

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

Previous Related Posts
Blackberries and Brambles
Purple Splodges - Lammas Baking Failure
Fallen Apples
Apple Seeds
A Cheeky Vegetable

Review: Nakd - Rather Scrummy Natural Snack Bars

You see that big box of cookies, cocoa bars and sweet treats in the picture above?  Well, that was the delightful gift I was sent to review last week. Yum!

The brand is called Nakd and is a range of natural bars and other goodies that are made from entirely wholesome ingredients with no added sugars or syrups. The bars are wheat, dairy and gluten free, suitable for vegans and those on raw food diets. Not only are they good for you, they are delicious too.

It wasn't the first time I had tried a Nakd bar. Earlier this year I bought a pack of three cocoa delights at Sainsbury's because I wanted some food to take with me to the Mind Body Spirit Festival and the Pagan Federation London Conference.

From past experience I knew that I get so busy rushing from workshop to talk throughout the day at pagan events that I often don't have time even to queue for a sandwich and a cup of tea at the onsite cafe. I usually pop a bottle of water and snack bar or two in my bag before I set off, because they are easy to carry around. But, while I prefer to eat a natural, healthy bar to one filled with sugar and fat, I also want to eat something that tastes nice. Nakd bars are perfect.

When I got the selection box to review, I decided to share the goodies around to get other opinions. My husband, who is diabetic and so can't eat too much sugar, was really impressed. He said he thought they were more like cake bars than hard biscuits or chocolate and had a really nice texture as well as a rich, chocolatey flavour. In fact, I had to stop him scoffing too many before I got to try them.

The selection box also contained bags of Nakd infused raisins. These are fruity raisins with flavours including lime, cola and cherry. They taste more like chewy sweets than fruit, even though they only contain natural ingredients. And they count towards your five portions of fruit and veg a day.

Last week I was doing some temping work in a newspaper office and I shared the flavoured raisins with my co-workers. Newsroom staff are normally a skeptical bunch, but the comments I got ranged from "much better than I expected" to "very nice". I thought they were very nice too.

My free selection box is nearly finished now, but I am likely to buy myself another some time. You can get some packs at some supermarkets, and you can also order from the entire range online at Natural Balance Foods. You can also find details of special offers to save money.

Links and previous related posts
Natural Bars
Mind Body Spirit Festival in London
PF London Conference
http://www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk/

Review: The Mystic Cookbook Secret Alchemy of Food

While I like to think of myself as a kitchen witch, I know I'm no great cook  - as I explained earlier today. However, I've been reading a book to help me improve my skills in the culinary as well as spiritual arts. The Mystic Cookbook: The Secret Alchemy of Food,by Denise and Meadow Linn, is a guide to gaining enlightenment through food.

It is no mere recipe book - although it does contain a number of delicious recipes from all over the world. Neither is it the kind of book that makes one feel guilty for enjoying things like cakes, chocolate, wine - or even junk food. It doesn't preach that one should be vegetarian, or eat a raw diet. Instead, this is a book about learning to truly appreciate food - cooking it, eating it and sharing it with others. And it is full of gorgeous photographs to illustrate the text in a way that makes you really want to try things out.

The description supplied by publisher Hay House says: "Provocative and insightful, this eclectic, inspiring and beautiful book will open your eyes to the remarkable link between nourishment and spiritual awakening. Filled with ancient wisdom, practical advice, intriguing personal anecdotes, vibrant ceremonies and dishes lavishly illustrated with colour photographs, The Mystic Cookbook brings to life a wealth of recipes and myriad experiences from as far-reaching places as Mexico, Asia, Italy, Thailand, France, Africa and Britain as well as from mystical, legendary and mythic realms."

The Mystic Cookbook begins by showing how to become more aware of what we eat, and also about how our attitudes to certain foods can be influenced by psychological associations. Denise and Meadow offer gentle advice to help us appreciate all aspects of food - where it comes from, how it is grown, the people who transport it and the environment in which it is sold, prepared and served. They point out that happy farmers and happy cooks can infuse their produce with happiness, which those eating it can detect.

Colours and textures are as important as scent and taste, and can enhance our moods as well as nourishing our bodies. There are exercises to learn to detect the spiritual essence in ingredients - and to become more intuitive in our cooking to blend raw elements into a harmonious, satisfying and delicious meal. Chapters describe how to turn our kitchens and dining rooms into sacred spaces that not only attract the right energies but are also places conducive to great cooking and contented eating.

The recipes included go from such things as seasonal dishes to those specifically designed to expand our spiritual consciousness. There are legendary and mystical meals to open the chakras, trigger past-life memories or connect with our ancestors, magical meals to activate abundance in our lives and sacred food to share with the angels, fairies, gods and goddesses.

It isn't until right at the end of the book that Denise and Meadow talk about whole foods, organic produce, vegetarian, vegan and raw diets and concerns over genetically modified food. It is right that these things are mentioned - but I'm glad they are not the book's main focus.

Instead, The Mystic Cookbook is a book to make you feel good about food, and to realise that it can also be an important part of spiritual and magical practice.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.hayhouse.co.uk/
The Mystic Cookbook: The Secret Alchemy of Food
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/01/goddess-of-week-hestia.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/02/review-pagan-portals-kitchen-witchcraft.html

Review: Palinka - A Traditional Hungarian Fruit Spirit

Reading the title "Palinka - A Traditional Hungarian Fruit Spirit" on A Bad Witch's Blog, you could be wondering whether I'm referring to some Eastern European fairy of the orchards rather than an alcoholic drink. Unless, that is, you read my post back before Yule about a medieval fruit brandy called Palinka that was traditionally drunk in Hungary as a folk cure to ward off winter colds.

Well, the nice people who make Palinka, after reading my earlier blog post, offered to send me a bottle to try out. It arrived on yesterday afternoon, as snow was falling thickly around my house. Couldn't have been more perfectly timed!

Palinka comes in a variety of different styles and using different fruit. The entry about it on Wikipedia states: "Invented in the Middle Ages... Under the 2008 "Hungarian Pálinka Law", only fruit spirits distilled from a mash of ripe fruits produced in Hungary, mashed, distilled, matured and bottled locally can be called pálinka."

The bottle I received was apricot and the description on the Wine and Palinka company website says, in such a delightfully idiosyncratic style that you can hear the Hungarian accent as you read it: "The Hungarian apricot is very sensitive fruit. It is like if you grow apricots you never know wheter you have good or bad year. This is why it is so precious fruit and sometimes it is very expensive because of weak crop. As the jams are the best from it also it is said about the palinka as well."

The spirit is clear in colour and the flavour is subtle with a slightly brandy-like taste. I could definitely taste the apricots in my palinka. It was certainly the thing to warm me up on a cold winter's evening and, after a couple of glasses, I could imagine that those Eastern European fairies of the orchards might have put a little magic into the bottle. Whether it will ward off winter colds, I will have to wait and see.

You can find out more about Palinka and order bottles via this website: http://wineandpalinka.co.uk/

You can also book a Palinka tasting event for a group of friends. With this you sample a selection of six different wines and four different Palinkas. Read more about tasting events here or contact wineandpalinka@wineandpalinka.co.uk / +447447944976 for more information.

Do bear in mind the usual health and safety warnings about drinking responsibly.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/12/medicinal-medieval-fruit-spirit-makes.html
http://wineandpalinka.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A1linka

Medicinal Medieval Fruit Spirit Makes a Comeback

Having been suffering with a horrid cold over the past few days, and enjoying the occasional hot toddy as a remedy, I thought I'd mention a press release I spotted about medieval fruit spirit that was once taken to stave off all sorts of ailments.

The spirit is a Hungarian drink called Palinka and this is what the press release said:

Back in the middle ages when sugarcane and beet-sugar were still unknown in Europe, fruit was considered a great basis to make strong alcohol. Our Hungarian ancestors used these fruit spirits to treat a range of ailments including stomach problems, cold, flu and to boost their immune systems. One shot of Palinka a day was considered a healthy boost and a great way to celebrate. In modern times nothing has changed but the quality has got better and better. 

A traditional drink of Hungary this unique spirit is made one hundred per cent from fruit. It is traditionally apple, apricot, cherry, grape, pear or plum in flavour. The Hungarian climate makes an excellent environment to raise the finest quality fruits, which is substantially the heart of every bottle of Palinka. Palinkas in Hungary are produced very carefully by hand, resulting in a great tasting drink unsurpassed in quality. So raise your glasses this festive season with a shot of legendary Palinka.

I did ask the PR company who sent me the press release if they could also send me a sample of the drink. It hasn't arrived yet, but I'll keep checking the post.

You can find out more about Palinka and order bottles via this website: http://wineandpalinka.co.uk/

You can also book a Palinka tasting event for a group of friends. With this you sample a selection of six different wines and four different Palinkas. Read more about tasting events here or contact wineandpalinka@wineandpalinka.co.uk / +447447944976 for more information.

Pagan Eye: Fallen Apples

We had a few days of high winds and all the apples fell from my tree onto the ground.

Yes, I know I should have got out the ladder and picked them before the storms, but once again I've shown that I'm a bad gardener as well as a bad witch.

At least I picked up the best of the windfalls and offered them on Freecycle to anyone who wanted to make them into pies or chutney or cider - and I took this photo to post on the blog.

I liked the contrast of the ripe red apple and the shrivelled rotting fruit next to it. It seems appropriate for the time of year as we approach the Autumn Equinox, and the season of the harvest turns to the season of decay.

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

Links and previous related posts:

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/09/pagan-eye-autumn-berries.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/04/pagan-eye-apple-blossom.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/05/pagan-eye-red-rose.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/05/apple-blossom.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/08/gods-and-goddesses-from-apples-to-atlas.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/02/magical-uses-for-apple-wood.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/07/apple-seeds.html

Purple splodges - Lammas baking failure

My recent attempt at creating a magical recipe for Lammas was not a success.

Lammas, the pagan festival for the start of the harvest celebrated on August 1, this year occurs at around the time of the new moon. So, I thought it would be a wonderful idea to bake some blackberry biscuits - round like the shape of the moon, but dark purple like the moonless midnight sky and made with the blackberries that have just ripened in my garden.

I couldn't find a specific recipe for blackberry biscuits, but I did find an American recipe for raspberry cookies, which I tried to adapt, converting cups to ounces for measurement and substituting squished blackberries for pureed raspberries.

Only something went wrong - and what should have been crisp, round biscuits merged into a sort of big, flat, blackberry pancake! I think I've worked out my mistake - I dolloped too much mixture on the baking sheet for each biccie, didn't space them out enough and then didn't leave them in the oven for quite enough time.

Oh well, they tasted nice even if they were more purple splodges than biscuits.

Previous related posts:
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/07/doing-your-own-thing-for-lammas.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/07/lammas-legends.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/07/lammas-wickerman.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/07/god-of-week-lugh.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/07/death-of-john-barleycorn.html

News: Mistletoe under threat

Mistletoe, a plant that was traditionally revered by druids and which provides food for many birds in winter, could vanish within 20 years, according to the National Trust.

Conservationists say the decline of apple orchards, where mistletoe grows, could cause the plant to vanish. The National Trust is campaigning for orchard owners and gardeners to protect their old fruit trees and to consider cultivating the plant.

You can read the news story on The Guardian website at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/07/mistletoe-vanish-20-years-national-trust

Details of the campaign, including details of events such as fruit tree pruning workshops, can be found here: http://www.orchardnetwork.org.uk/

The photo shows mistletoe on sale at Middle Farm apple and cider orchards
Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/12/who-killed-cock-robin.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/02/archaeologists-find-site-of-golden.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/12/mistletoe-facts-and-folklore.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/02/magical-uses-for-apple-wood.html

National Apple Day

I have a lovely apple tree in my garden. I even had it pruned earlier in the year because I was told it would produce larger apples as a result. It did.

Sadly, most of them fell to the ground while I was away in Sussex enjoying an autumn equinox holiday.

Although I have picked up a lot of windfalls, and used as many as I could, many went to waste.

However, the apple season is still not quite over and National Apple Day is still to come, on October 21.

National Apple day began in 1990, when an organisation called Common Ground set out to create a new calendar custom to celebrate the UK's most versatile fruit and the beautiful orchards they come from.

Common Ground held the first Apple Day on October 21 in 1990 in the old Apple Market in Covent Garden, London, bringing fruit back there for the first time in 17 years. The event has since gone from strength to strength and has been countrywide through nurseries, fruit farms, restaurants, the National Trust and RHS gardens, museums, art centres, community groups and schools who celebrate the day in their own place, in their own way.

Apple Day provides an opportunity for people to celebrate and enjoy apples, orchards and all the customs, rituals, songs, drinks, recipes and wildlife associated with them. It also reminds us of our reliance on the land and the importance of a healthy relationship with nature.

Sue Clifford of Common Ground said: “Apple Day is not a marketing device, its creation has been impelled by altruism and idealism for living better with nature – the apple and the orchard are symbols of hope. They demonstrate how we can have our trees, bees, bats, butterflies, birds and badgers whilst growing good fruit to eat and drink.”

Although National Apple Day is a new annual festival, it comes at the around the same time of year as the ancient pagan festival of Pomonia, in honor of the Roman orchard goddess Pomona. Pomonia took place each year on November 1, to mark the end of the apple harvest. It was celebrated with fun and games that might have included apple bobbing - now a traditional Halloween pastime.

Apple Day events are taking place throughout October. To find out more details about activities taking place near where you live, visit the National Apple Day website at http://www.england-in-particular.info/cg/appleday/a-events.html

Common Ground also publishes Apple Games and Customsby Geraldine Bracey, which includes a wealth of folklore about apples plus a variety of traditional games played with apples during the harvest season, over Halloween and throughout the year.

Links
http://www.england-in-particular.info/cg/appleday/a-events.html
http://www.commonground.org.uk/appleday/index.html
Apple Games and Customs
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/01/dancing-in-orchards.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/07/apple-seeds.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/08/apple-harvest.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/10/godfdess-of-week.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/12/recipe-mulled-cider.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/08/gods-and-goddesses-from-apples-to-atlas.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/01/twelth.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/04/apple-tree-mystery.html

Pagan Eye: Autumn Berries

For this Pagan Eye post, here is a picture of some ripe berries I saw while on an autumnal country walk. This autumn, the trees and bushes seem to be far more laden than usual with fruit, berries and nuts - which according to folklore could mean we will have a harsh winter ahead of us.

On each Pagan Eye post, I show a photo that I find interesting, with a few words about it. I'm not quite sure what I'll be including - it could be a seasonal image, a pagan site, an event, or just a pretty picture.

If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself and you must confirm that you are submitting it for A Bad Witch's Blog.

Previous Pagan Eye post:
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/08/pagan-eye-beautiful-moon-iii_24.html