Spiritual Ball Jars
Reading Hecate's reminiscences of canning in August made me think of my own mother, who used to keep a magnificent garden and can everything in sight. I too regret that I didn't appreciate it when I was young and this time of year always makes me want to ask my mother to teach me to can peaches.
Lammas is a joyous time of year to celebrate the fruits of the first harvest, to enjoy the waning days of summer while the bees still lazily buzz among clover and flowers; the beach feels like the right place to be and nothing is more satisfying than sitting down to supper to a tomato fresh from the garden (or for the urbanites among us, the farmer's market). As a Wiccan Sabbat, it's also a time to relish abundance and harvest of a more spiritual or metaphorical nature.
So with all these thoughts of canning and laying up food for the winter ahead, I wonder, what would we choose to "lay up" in a spiritual Ball jar?
Image from Restaurant Widow
Posted by Angela-Eloise at 1:00 PM
Comments
I should can some of the fruit we're getting from Boston Organics. It's not so much, but I'm the only one eating it. Wanna a pear? Or a peach?
Posted by: Luna | August 3, 2007 11:49 AM
I miss canning the fall harvest with my mom. Apricots, peaches, cherries, grapes, tomatoes and cucumbers led to cans of jam, salsa, grape juice and bread n butter pickles, as well as cans of the whole foods themselves. Oh and beets. Glorious wonderful beets.
Thanks for the memory. :)
Posted by: kay | August 3, 2007 12:15 PM
Peaches are my favorite!
Posted by: Angela-Eloise | August 3, 2007 12:45 PM
I'm laying inspiration.
Posted by: Fey | August 5, 2007 10:22 PM
Is it just me or wouldn't be cool to have more arts & crafts workshops at larger events geared towards things like canning and preserving, or baking bread from scratch?
Heck you could expand this sort of theme and have all sorts of interesting workshops/classes...
Posted by: Pax / Geoffrey Stewart | August 7, 2007 1:07 PM
My mother also used to can a lot of things, and we not only had a vast garden but went picking things at orchards or farms and just out into the country. Mom made peach jam, my favorite! And she made a variation of it: peach freezer jam. I want to try and make it. I got extra "drop" peaches at the farmer's market this week and want to make ice cream with them tomorrow!
The Sirius Rising festival used to have some great hands-on workshops on bread baking, blacksmithing, etc. It is held at Brushwood Folklore Center. They also have a small event in September called HeartSong where they often press apples (which grow there) for cider. www.brushwood.com
Posted by: peg | August 11, 2007 10:41 PM