When is the right time to bring in mistletoe for Christmas?
Mistletoe dries up in a warm room, but it will last for 2 or 3 weeks if it is kept cool. So leave it in the porch and bring it into the house in Christmas week.
twig-mistletoe
Hang the mistletoe in doorways:
- to ward off evil spirits
- to create a bottleneck so everyone is channeled through & has to walk under the mistletoe. Anyone walking under the mistletoe has to be kissed!!
- “Pick a berry off the mistletoe
For every kiss that’s given.
When the berries have all gone
There’s an end to kissing.”
Christmas is the time to bring in the mistletoe!
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The Mistletoe Queen and Holly Prince are crowned each year as part of National Mistletoe Day, during the Tenbury Mistletoe Festival.
mistletoe-berries
Tenbury Wells is the centre for Holly and Mistletoe. Traditionally the Head Girl of Tenbury High School is crowned every year as ‘The Mistletoe Queen’ . Her duties include presiding at the annual Mistletoe Festival in Tenbury Wells.
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We will soon be bringing mistletoe into the house for Christmas, just like the Druids in 100 A.D!
mistletoe-berries
Druids thought that Mistletoe was miraculous:
- curing diseases
- protecting people from witches
- improving fertility
At the end of the year, Priests would cut mistletoe from the trees and give it to people to hang in their houses to ward off evil spirits.
mistletoe-berries
The tradition continues, bringing mistletoe into the house at the end of the year, but now to celebrate Christmas!
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Look out for table top vegetables – the new way to grow veg! Peace Tree Farm in the USA are developing a miniature tomato plant called Sweet-N-Neat.
This tomato has been propagated to be tabletop size and is laden with heavy fruit, so the tomatoes can be plucked off for eating. It keeps on producing so can sit on the table for general grazing!
Sweet-N-Neat grows in traditional Christmas colours with its red fruit and dark green foliage. Lets hope this table top vegetable will be on general release for next year!
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November has gone, but this poem by Elizabeth Coatsworth cheered me up when I came in from the snow, as darkness crept in!
November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.
With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.
The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.
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gardenbythsound has recommended: the Poetics of Gardens and Thomas Jefferson’s Garden and Farm book!
The Poetics of Gardens is a discussion of garden design by three architects. “A score of landscapes and gardens are drawn, described, and analyzed not just as a bouquet of pleasures but as sources, lodes to be mined for materials, shapes and relationships, and ideas for transforming our own backyards.”
The Thomas Jefferson Farm and Garden book is new to me, but looks interesting!
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Growing Stuff: An Alternative Guide to Gardening is an ideal book for the novice gardener or the urban gardener who is short of space. Click on the link below to buy this book:
This illustrated handbook was published in March 2009 and costs £ 14.41.
The book has easy-to-follow instructions on the basics of growing herbs & vegetables. There are lots of hints for the urban gardener who has to make the most of limited space, and plenty of information for the novice about container gardening.
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A good book for the gardening family is ‘Kids in the Garden: Growing plants for food and fun’.
Amazon say:
“Kids in the Garden is an easy and fun guide for children to use on their own or with adults, and encourages children to learn about gardening, healthy eating and caring for the environment. With easy to follow step-by-step instructions, with bright photography and fun illustrations. The book is aimed at children aged five upwards with adult supervision, then for older children up to 11 to complete on their own. The book features more than 50 projects, with full instructions on the materials needed, companion plants, saving resources, harvesting seasons, seeds, the water cycle and indoor gardens. There is also a section on wildlife, showing how to encourage animals into your garden, as well as how to make a mini pond, birdhouses, pest patrol, building a wormery, rescuing bees and ladybirds, and much more. The plants and vegetables featured include potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, peppers, herbs, strawberries, blueberries, sunflowers and many more. The recipes included are simple to make with the fresh produce and include; one pot jam, minty fizz and easy pizza sauce. ”
This book is a great present & deserves a place on every gardening family’s bookshelf.
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