luverly of the week: a murder of crows d.i.y garland from jack-in-the-green

A Murder of Crows D.I.Y Garland from Jack-in-the-Green

This is an adorable find from Jack-in-the-Green {hello Hallowe'en decorating!} :D 

Some Inspiring Garden Projects: Trellises

Over the last little while I have been browsing the web for ideas for our new garden. Since our yard is quite smaller than our previous one, I have been focusing quite a bit on trellises {all of our fencing is made from lattice, so that is a good start}. Below are a few projects that I thought were really neat. :)

arbor bench

leaning tomato structure


brentwood trellis


old world garden trellis


espalier trellis


twig pot trellis


squash trellis


garden obelisk


twine tomato trellis


v trellis


rustic tomato trellis

Sláinte!

Laurel

{C is for...} Creating an Ancestor Garden

{This is my second installment for the Pagan Blog Project}

{photo by Mike Reid}

I've been thinking about ways we can utilize our new patch of dirt, and one of the ideas I had was creating allocating a part of yard for an ancestor garden. Of course I am not the first person to think of this and there are plenty of wonderful resources out there, some of which I will share in this post.

For whatever reason, I have never created one before, and I figure it would be a good spot for me to do outdoor ancestral workings and devotionals when I can't make it to the cemetery.

Obviously a good place to start is figuring out where to put the garden. Personally I think it is nice to give over some prime real estate for devotional gardens, whether it be for land spirits, ancestors, or gods {and of course keeping a piece for wildlife too!}.

{photo by Bruce McKay}

As far as what to plant, one could choose plants associated with those who have passed or plants that your ancestors were fond of. The spot we are using already has a little cedar bush, which was my Grandfather's favourite plant. We plan to add bleeding hearts and wild roses for my Grandmother and tiger lillies and sweetfern for my Great Grandmother. We have also chosen poppies, monkshood, and mullein so far.

Adding cherished or associated items, a memorial plaque, and perhaps an offering bowl and candles are also nice touches.

{photo by Thomas Beauchamp-Arnold}

Here are some other places online that might spark inspiration:

The Chart Chick
The Green Mountain Gardener
Just a Cloud Away
Diana Digs Dirt

If you have any ideas to add or if you have created one yourself, please feel free to share! :)

Sláinte!

Laurel

Woodland Critter Tree

We were hoping to find another potted evergreen tree for this Yuletide that we could eventually replant. All the ones in our area have been sold, so we just decorated the Norfolk Island pine that we purchased last year.

Over the last year we kept "Norbert" as we would any other indoor plant and has done quite well. One thing we noticed with this type of tree is that you have to be pretty careful while decorating it as their branches seem quite delicate. So no crazy heavy ornaments or lights.

Besides pretties such as wee pine cones and acorns, old xmas card cut outs are light enough for the branches. Free, quick & repurposed...what's not to love? ;)









Sláinte!

Laurel

A Crack in the Pavement

I found these cute short docs over at the National Film Board {of Canada} webby and thought that some of our readers might enjoy them as well. :)

A Crack in the Pavement is a two-part video set that shows children, teachers and parents how they can work together to 'green' their school grounds and make positive changes in their communities.

A Crack in the Pavement: Growing Dreams This short documentary shows initiatives kids take to transform bare pavement into dream schoolyards. Some grow trees for shade, and vegetables for a food bank. Others build a greenhouse or a rooftop garden, while others yet construct a courtyard pond as an outdoor classroom and refuge for wildlife.

A Crack in the Pavement: Digging In This short documentary follows students from Toronto's Jesse Ketchum School as they take steps towards the greening of their schoolyard. Along the way they get how-to advice and inspiration from kids across the country; from Pauline Public School, where students raised $10,000, to Broadacres School, where a family of wild ducks found a home in their pond.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Half Way 'Til Spring

I was hoping to do a post on the lore behind Imbolc, but I guess that will have to wait til next year. Instead I have been really busy the last little while painting, cleaning the house, and do all sorts of other things in preparation for and in celebration of Imbolc.

While across the pond the first stirrings of Spring must be happening by now, we are only half way through the deep freeze of our Northern Ontario Winter.But according to a few groundhogs, including Shubenacadie Sam and Wiarton Willie, it might just come early this year. If you ask me, it can't come soon enough!

I painted my kitchen, which was a pain in the arse, but the new colour is luverly, methinks.

I also cleaned the house from to to bottom. I made a "spiritual cleaning tea" with a mix of plant pretties that have excellent magical cleaning and protective properties. Below is the recipe:

Sweet woodruff, rowan berries, birch bark {fallen!}, juniper berries, cedar, lemon balm, peppermint, sweetfern, thyme, dandelion root, witch hazel, st john's wort, and sage. Boil water and pour over ingredients in a glass jar. Let it steep for a few hours. Drain liquid through cheese cloth {and I put the plant stuff in the compost after}. Mix tea in with cider vinegar and keep in a clean jar. It can be refrigerated for about 3 months no problem. To use mix with 3 parts water in a spray bottle.

On the eve of Imbolc I got our altar set up and ready for our ritual the next day. Before going to bed I left some colcannon and whiskey outside as an offering and a piece of ribbon in for Brigid to bless.

I got up in the hours before dawn {best cure for too much whiskey the night before: strong coffee and a cold shower!} to get everything else ready for the day. I baked bairín breac to be used as offerings with a little left over for us to nom. I also scored some local homemade Amish butter for the same purpose, and of course the obligatory whiskey and honey too.

I have been promising a couple of our blog readers for some altar peektures for a while now, and looky, I am finally living up to that promise. ;)

{Deities' altar}

{Brigid's altar, which is temporary} {Ancestral altar}

I did the house blessing ritual that I usually do on the cross quarter days and I also made a new rowan and red thread charm. This one is just a very simple one of bunched leaves and berries and I hung it over the house door way.

Oh, I suppose I should mention that this bunch was found on the ground by a tree that is in one of the places I frequent for wildcrafting. It is traditionally bad form {and bad luck!} to cut a rowan outside of the "two days of Bealtaine", which I am in agreement with Seren of Tairis who thinks that this is between the new date of Bealtaine {May 1st} and the old {probably May 5th}. As she points out as well, there seems to be no lore against picking the berries outside of this time.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Some Timely Projects

If you aren't busy enough already {!!!} here are some projects that might be of interest to you!

Seed packets

Whether you are saving seeds from your garden, from some wild plants, or a nice squash that you got from a friend, these packets are a nice way to store your seeds.

from Vale Design
from Life in Focus
from Gardens Illustrated

Jar labels

Gussy up your canning!

from Tipnut
from PickYourOwn.org
from Domestifluff

Toasties for indoor plants

You Grow Girl has some neat little projects to help keep your indoor plants nice and warm over the Winter with a Toasty Pot Coaster and a Windowsill Cozy. I can't crochet or knit, so I am using old knitted scarves for the windowsill plants.

Toasties for people

We have to stay warm too!

from Crafty Gardener {scarves}
from pattern-knit {toe socks!}
from Quirky Knit Girl {pretty hat}
from sweet sassafras {another pretty hat}

Feel free to share your projects too! :D

Sláinte!

Laurel

Giving the Pumpkins a Hand in Love...

I spent some of my Lughnasadh hand pollinating our pumpkins. I think that many folks prefer to let the bees do their jobs, and although we have had plenty to help us out, I still like to do a few myself.


For the folks who would like to give it a try and don't know how, I thought that I would share how to.

First, you need to know the difference between a male flower and a female flower.

Male flower.

Female flower

Female flower with baby pumpkin on it.

Male blossoms generally start to bloom about a week before the females do, and there is often many males for every female. A few days after you see the gentlemen blooming, look for a lady who is going to be ready.

I find that if you spend quite a bit of time in the garden, it is fairly easy to tell when the lady will be ready the day before. The morning after that is a good time to do the hand pollination {try to do it on a day that is not rainy or windy}.

When you know for sure your lady flower is ready, pick a male flower that is open and his pollen can be seen on your finger when swiped. Once you have chosen one, carefully remove the flower from the plant.

Then remove the petals to expose the stamen.

Then gently rub all parts of the lady flower's stigma with the stamen.


After a couple of days the female flower will fall off, and if all goes well the fruit will grow. :)

Sláinte!

Laurel

A Woodland Floor in a Jar

I actually had a few moments last night of relaxation time, so I decided to finally make a little moss terrarium.

I used an apothecary jar that I had lying around, some nice potting soil, and then some moss and other doo-dads. I didn't follow any instructions, but if interested you can check out one of these nifty sites for some project and care instructions:

by Mary Jane

Terrarium Man

Craftzine

Sláinte!

Laurel