Apocasolstice

Dear Readers, I know that you are all waiting until the threat of the Mayan Apocalypse has passed before you shower me with Xmas comments, home-made gifts and cards…

Fortunately, one person took the precaution of sending my gifts beforehand, just in case…

Eleanor Woodcock (even named after a bird), aged 11, is a keen watcher of wildlife and birds. She has a wonderful blog (Birding in the Garden) - I suggest you go and look at it.

Eleanor has written bags of brilliant bird poems on her blog; she knew that I was interested in trees and wrote some terrific tree poetry for me.

Eleanor also sent me a lovely jar of her Epic Plum, Blackberry & Spiced Apple Jam, which we will be testing shortly.

In the meantime, enjoy the Winter Solstice, light a Yule fire tonight and keep it burning till Christmas, enjoy Eleanor’s charming poems and drawings and pray that tomorrow does actually arrive, so that you can finally deliver my presents…

If I don’t have time to post again or cannot struggle out from under the mound of cards and gifts, have a lovely, super Cool Yule!

the Urbane Forager

XXX

Misty Eyed Mistletoe

As December rears its frost encrusted head, we realise that just because we have had a windy spring and wet summer, it doesn’t follow that the winter will be mild. I didn’t feel at all cozy this morning as I cycled to work with sub-zero fingers and frozen tears streaking my cheeks.

I Could Easily Climb That!

On a brighter note, the children are anticipating Christmas; lights and inflatable Santas have started crawling over houses. I like to entertain myself by asking people, Have you got all your presents sorted out yet? I have a friend who always leaves present buying until Xmas eve, he swears that it is the quietest time for shopping and he can be seen stalking the streets of Southampton late into the evening, loaded down with bags, wearing a large red coat.

Big Balls of Mistletoe

As the season of goodwill draws near, Mistletoe starts to appear in greengrocers; normally accompanied by media reports that there is a national shortage of this parasitic passion arouser. Mistletoe can cost a fortune (£3.50) for a tiny sprig but it is also available for free on a deciduous tree near you. I always begin spotting the romantic freeloader around this time, and we are going to gather some again for the children to sell at the school Winter Fayre, it went down a storm last year.

A Mistletoe Seed Growing Legs

Last year I decided to attempt to grow my own but you do need the patience of a saint to achieve this. You initially need to smear a sticky mistletoe berry onto a deciduous tree, the berry contains the seed. After a long wait (provided the seed is not gobbled up by a Mistle Thrush), it sends out a couple of small tentacle like roots, which latch into the tree and tap into its nutrient supply.

Tapping Into a Young Oak

Once the seed becomes established it continues to leach the tree’s sappy goodness and gradually grows into the familiar plant. While on the subject of parasitic, freeloading passion arousers, Justin Bieber’s hair apparently went through several similar developmental stages; a fact that he allegedly attempted to celebrate with his ingeniously titled stocking filler, Mistletoe.

Stand Here With Me For a Moment x

Christmas Garlands and Wreaths

Let The Love Into Your Home

Last year we had a lot of fun making evergreen wreaths to hang on front doors. This year we are also manning the Made in Portswood stall, for the school Christmas Fair and I thought that a few decorations might supplement the home-made chutney and jams well.

Coppiced Hazel

Making wreaths is quite easy, you can make it up as you go along, according to what is available and it does not all need to be done at once – in fact I found it handy to be able to put it all down and then pick it up again when convenient.

Twisted Into Hazel Hoops

First you ideally need some nice straight lengths of coppiced hazel. Other wood will do though, as long as it doesn't snap when you bend it gently round into a rough hoop. We also found something in our garden which worked well enough when we ran out of hazel.

The Crown of Vines

Next we wrapped the circles around with some vine type material to give it some bulk and help tie it together, I have no idea what this stuff was but I made my daughter a nice little crown for her efforts and she was delighted. We then wove in some Ivy that we had pulled off the fence in our garden, you need to be a bit gentle or it can snap. If it does, just poke it in again and start afresh.

Getting There

Later we collected some Old Man’s Beard which worked well too, any other flexible hedgerow climber should work well.

Holly

We had also collected some pine fronds, some nice holly with berries (of course) and some perfect little pine cones. Then we decided to add a little glamour, to contrast with the rustic look we were creating and painted the pine cones silver. These could be used separately as tree decorations too.

Perfect Pine Cones

I then spied mistletoe in a local churchyard and it was fairly easily reached. The Reverend gave us his blessing to collect some of the plant to add to our efforts. We thought we could also sell mistletoe sprigs on the stall.

Add A Touch of Glamour

We also picked some Teasels, which look great painted and hung upside-down on cotton from the Xmas tree or wreath.

Pretty Painted Teasles

If you want to add more greenery, simply pick some suitable evergreens and bind them in; winding wool or string around the twigs helps to keep everything more compact and tidy. If you don’t like the smell of pine you can add some Rosemary or other herbs to your garlands.

The Garlands Gradually Take Shape

The final stage of our festive decorative making involved attaching pretty ornamental ribbons for hanging and to set everything off nicely. You can also wind tinsel into the undergrowth if you fancy.

Showtime!

The school Xmas fair was a great success, you'll be pleased to hear; the garlands and bunches of mistletoe went down a storm.

Christmistletoe

A Large Bunch of Mistletoe in a Local Churchyard

Kissing loved ones and even complete strangers under the mistletoe has always been a fun tradition in the UK. The plant is very popular in Christmas imagery, which varies from the innocent to the thoroughly cheeky.

Bring The Love Back Into Your Life

Mistletoe’s sassy reputation is the remnant of an ancient (possibly even prehistoric) fertility tradition bolstered by the reinvention of druidic ideas; it is also significant in Nordic and Greek legends.

Getafix Cooks Up A Potent Potion

European varieties have many properties that interest herbalists, homeopaths and other eccentrics. Rudof Steiner thought it might cure cancer and Getafix, the druid from Asterix the Gaul, relied on mistletoe to prepare his magic potion that gave the troops superhuman-strength. However, American variants can be poisonous, so don’t leave any within reach of very small children.

Mistletoe Berries...

The mysterious Mistletoe plant is parasitic and grows on many different deciduous trees; pine and fruit trees are common but it can be found on many others. The pretty white berries nestling between the branches are full of sticky white juice; which helps to stick the seed onto a new host and probably also serves to augment saucy associations. These seeds are commonly spread by birds, such as the Mistle Thrush – you can see the connection! Like all flora, mistletoe forms part of the natural habitat, so if you do pick any, it’s always important to leave plenty for the wildlife.

My Improvised Mistletoe Harvesting Tool - A Woodwork Saw Gaffer Taped onto a Loft Ladder Pole
It Worked Surprisingly Well...

I was told this morning that you can purchase small sprigs of mistletoe in Waitrose supermarket for the princly sum of £1.50.

I also found small bags of silver painted pine cones in M&S for £5.50!

Don't all rush at once...



Sorted for the School Xmas Fair...