‘A garden is never so good as it will be next year”.
Thomas Cooper.
21st Winter Solstice the shortest day and longest night, is one of the oldest celebrated customs and traditions, held in reverence around the world. New Grange in Ireland is older than Stonehenge and is now classified as an Ancient Temple, built by farmers in the Neolithic (Stone Age) it is believed to celebrate the coming new year. Around the winter solstice, the sun will stream through a window above the entrance called a ‘roof box’ to light up the back of the tomb, to reflect and give thanks for the year behind them, and to look to the new year with hope for a bountiful harvest and good hunting days.
24th Christmas Eve.
25th Christmas Day.
26th Boxing Day, St Stephens.
31st New Year’s Eve.
Things to do this month.
It is still a good time (if the ground is not frozen) to plant, move, cut back, or divide shrubs. You can plant bare-root trees and shrubs too. Sowing seeds in December is best done indoors in the warm. Sweet peas can be started off as can snapdragons.
Mulch the flowerbeds with a thick layer of mushroom compost or a well-rotten farmyard manure enriching the flowerbed with nutrients over winter. Providing a habitat for worms and spiders will help with this process. As will leaving the leaves as we are being encouraged to do to help the winter wildlife. A robin was in my garden this morning, pecking through the leaves for bugs. The leaves will also naturally enrich your ground.
Plant some garlic and rhubarb. A thornless blackberry such as Oregon or Loch Ness AGM. Train it around an arbour or along a wall to create a decorative feature. Remember to plant rhubarb and blackberry after the new moon on the 12th and the garlic after the full moon on the 27th of December.
Bonfires are common this time of year to clear out the old foliage, but could you pile it up to let it die back naturally to provide a warm place for hibernators? With bonfires and composters, in the winter months, there could be reptiles, invertebrates, or a hedgehog overwintering. If possible, leave the compost turning or burning until spring when any hibernators will have woken up and moved out.
Put water out daily in freezing weather for the birds. I have got into the habit of bringing the water bowls in at dusk and putting them out again in the morning. When the ground is frozen.
This has been a difficult year, in many ways for many people. As we come to the end of the year, it is a time we can reflect on the past year’s achievements and disasters.
If there are things that have happened, you would like to let go of before we start the new year. Use the solstice energy, the shortest day as from then slowly light increases each day. It is a suitable time to do a little releasing ceremony with your bonfire.
Write down all you wish to release, and then burn it, see the smoke going up into the universe as a release and opening you to the new coming year. Then go inside and light candle and give thanks. Write down three things you would like to receive or do in 2024.
Peace on Earth and Good Will to all Men. I know many of you are already aware of this as it has been talked about on many social media sites and mainstream tv. Meditation for World Peace. You can do this at any time during your regular meditation practice. You can also search for World Peace Meditations on YouTube to join in with a group of people. The more who take part, more of a positive outcome we can experience.
I wish you all a Peaceful and Loving Christmas. I hope all your wishes for great crops and lovely blooms come to fruition in 2024.
I am having a year off so see you all in 2025.
Thank you to all my subscribers. I am thankful and grateful for your kind words and support.
Wishing you a Peaceful 🕊 and Loving 🤗 Christmas. 🎄
© Louisa 🌱