Category Archives: spring

May 16, 2013 · 5:35 pm

Spring Frost

Merry Meet All,

The May long weekend is coming up. The final frost of the cold season is coming too. If you have planted any tender herbs or flowers in your garden recently, there is still a risk of frost. Gather your cloches and/ or long sheets or tarps and secure them over your plants to protect them.

Here in the Maritimes, it is freezing cold and I could see my breath this morning. The plants that are already growing in gardens now are hardy and can bear the cold. Tend to your tender plants that are outside to ensure they survive the cold.

Good luck gardening!!
Blessed Be,
Lady Spiderwitch )O(

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Filed under flowers and herbs, frost, hardy plants, spring

April 19, 2013 · 11:20 am

Spring Sprouts

Merry Meet All,

Beltaine is coming! Before you know it, you will all be dancing round the Maypole!! I bet you’re all excited. I will have lots of fun stuff here so you will be prepared for Beltaine. Beltaine is the third spring Sabbat in the Wheel of the Year.

I heard of a way to grow carrots. Or, rather, the carrot tops. You need the carrot top (without the leaves), and it should be one inch in size. Cut the carrot top off and place it in a bowl full of water. Push two toothpicks into either side of the carrot and suspend the carrot top just above the water in the bowl. Place the bowl on a sunny windowsill. Soon you will have nice green carrot tops growing. I plan to feed the carrot tops to my pet guinea pig, Magic. He will love that. I plan to grow carrots and peas in containers indoors as well. The slugs eat everything in sight.

My potted garlic is growing well. Graceful, long shoots are growing from the garlic bulb. I spotted tulips, my bugleweed and woodruff, chives, are coming up in my garden. Each passing day, it becomes more spring. This is an exciting time.

Stay posted, as I will be posting more about Beltaine.

Plants in photo: From left to right, garlic, orchid plant, tomato sprout begun from seed, umbrella plant, and carrot

Blessed Be,
Lady Spiderwitch )O(

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Filed under Beltaine, carrot tops, container gardening, earth, gardening, spring

April 2, 2013 · 11:31 am

Rebirthing the Garden

Merry Meet All,

Happy Easter!! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Here, the weather is beautiful, my snowdrops are blossoming, and the air is crisp and fresh. It is like a real spring day. The next turn in the Wheel of the Year is Beltaine, as many of you know, and that happens on May 1st. Today the moon enters Sagittarius and the colour of the day is black.

Ah spring. Spring is muddy, raw, fertile. Spring is the reawakening of the earth, the return of greenery, the rebirth of plants. I prefer summer personally but nothing cheers my heart more than seeing tiny buds emerge from the soil. The buds defy winter.

April is a time when winter is fading and spring is returning. It is the in between time of the seasons. We see patches of snow on the ground and the muddy fresh soil. This is the time when people think about their gardens. Consider performing a ritual to welcome back the faeries and guardians of the garden.

You can perform this ritual indoors or outdoors. It would be better outdoors since this is to request the guardians of your garden to bless your garden.

Say this aloud: (Light a stick of incense and a candle.)
Faery guardians come and play,
Bright blessings to the Fae,
Guard and bless my garden
on this day,
Charm my garden to grow!”

Meditate and visualize faeries dancing around your garden. Bring the candle indoors and allow the incense to burn itself out. Cast off the shackles of winter. Spring is here!!

Blessed Be,
Lady Spiderwitch )O(

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Filed under garden, Merry Ostara, rebirth, spring

March 29, 2013 · 1:38 pm

A Poem for Spring

Merry Meet All,

Last night I attended an Open Heart Forgery poetry reading at Coburg Coffee House in Halifax. The reading was held there instead of its usual location at JustUs Coffeehouse on Spring Garden Road. The hours were different. My usual friends and fellow scribes were there.

I arrived late and sat down. Someone was in the midst of reading her poem. I settled in to enjoy the reading. I met some new people there. Athena, the daughter of the lady who helps run the Poetry Show was there. She is the cutest baby ever and likes to reach for anything within her grasp. I enjoy hearing the poetic efforts of my friends. There is magic in words.

Open Heart Forgery is a monthly journal of poems and lyrics that aims to energize local writers from the grass roots up. I enjoy attending the readings and reading new poems each month. The journal is published monthly and distributed around the city in different venues, such as libraries, on buses, and other places. The link to the website is: http://www.ohForgery.com. . The poetic journals are distributed for free.

By the end of the reading, people left and returned to their more mundane activities. I was surprised to be offered a ride home as well as my friends. We were spared the horrors of Metro Transit for that night at least. We all chatted on the ride home.

April is National Poetry Month. March, being the month that heralds in spring, means I had to write a poem. It is not in the monthly journal. I left my draft of my spring poem at home. But we can all find a way to share poems with each other and share in the magic of words. I am going to leave you with my poem that I composed last night before the reading.

Spring’s Rebellion

A gray ceiling hangs overhead
Frail leaves scrape on concrete
in the cold pale morning.

Tiger lily buds emerge from brown grass
and patches of snow. Hope stirs as
winter’s barren rule comes to an end.

Create poems! Let them grow and spring from the mud like buds and blossom into poems! April is National Poetry Month. You can write the poems in your Book of Shadows and ask that your chosen deity or Spirit guides you and inspires you. I am now making it my goal to compose poems in a journal rather than on scraps of paper so next time I am organized- and then have to share them with readers.

Blessed Be,
Lady Spiderwitch )O(

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Filed under fellow poets, National Poetry Month, Poems, poetry, spring, spring poems, Spring's Rebellion

March 25, 2013 · 1:42 pm

The Essentials of Herbs

Merry Meet All,

It is that time to start thinking about herbs. I’m growing a pot of thyme and sage indoors. I bought them this winter and I plan to grow them indoors all year. The reason is, that these plants don’t always survive in the garden. Thyme and sage need full sun, and certain soil conditions. Besides, the sight of the potted herbs enchants me and makes me smile.

I have been writing for an herb magazine for a year now. Here is the link: http://www.essentialherbal.com/index.php. I love the magazine for the recipes and that I can learn from other herbalists. I have been able to share my knowledge of herbs with the readers and learn from them. Essential Herbal magazine is gaining stellar reviews, which the magazine deserves. No matter the season or time of year, there are always excellent recipes to be found in the pages.

Their website is awesome. You can download a free copy of the magazine, just by clicking on the link on this post, do puzzles, read their blog, read about the current issue, their latest news, and even buy e-books on their site. They have a group on Yahoo and you can read articles about the basics of soap-making. The wizard behind the magazine, Tina Sams, is the tireless editor of the magazine. She is a great person and a talented herbalist and brings her endless enthusiasm and knowledge to the forefront. Essential Herbal is in its second decade of continued publication. I am not surprised.

I encourage you all to click on the link and learn more about this fascinating magazine. Refresh your knowledge of herbal lore in time for spring with Essential Herbal magazine!

The photo above is of my Ostara Altar. Please feel free to post your photos here of your altar or contact me if there are any complications with downloading files. Enjoy spring.

Blessed Be,
Lady Spiderwitch )O(

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Filed under Essential Herbal magazine, herbs, magazine, potted herbs, recipes and lore, spring