Nature Notes:
Welcome to the Sacred Earth website!
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by! My name is Kat Morgenstern, and I am delighted that you have found your way here!
I have created the Sacred Earth website as a forum for nature lovers of all stripes. Come and join me on a journey down the garden path, and off into the virtual woods, where we will explore, learn and discover all about the intertwining roots of nature and culture.
Good Riddance 2020 – Welcome 2021
Happy New Year, Everyone!
What a strange and difficult year it has been! The Corona-virus pandemic has dominated the news almost from the very beginning of the year, and right up to the end. We are still in the midst of a devastating spike, with both, the danger of an even more virulent version of the virus now in widespread circulation, and several vaccines ready to be administered.
The virus has affected everybody, but in very different ways, depending on age-group, occupation, pre-existing conditions, and where you happen to live. Not only those who actually got sick with it have suffered. The emotional trauma of losing family members and loved ones, of losing a job and one’s livelihood, of finding yourself alone due to social distancing rules, or, crammed together into too small a space with the kids, and no-where to go…it has all taken its toll. We will pay the psychological price for the events of this year for some time to come.
But it hasn’t been all bad for everybody. Many people have rediscovered the importance of nature and the meaning of the ‘little things’ in life. We have leapfrogged into the digital age as schools and businesses have moved many of their operations online. What would have been unthinkable a year earlier has now become a commonplace reality. Many have discovered new interests and learned new skills with the help of online tutorials and MOOCs.
Meanwhile, wildlife has had a chance to recover, a bit, in places that are normally overrun with tourists.
The big question is, how will we rebuild? My hope, and wish for the new year is that we will learn from this experience and re-build a better, greener, more sustainable, and more equitable future for us all.
In this spirit, I wish you, my lovely reader, hope, health, and happiness for 2021!
Blessed Be
Kat
P.S. If you are interested in what the stars have in store for us in the New Year, check out my post at Astro-Insights for the year ahead.
Current issue
Gardening Jobs in November
What gardening jobs are there to do in November?
By the beginning of November, the gardening season is coming to a close. The leaves are coming off the trees, flowers have long gone, and everything seems to be going into hibernation.
But that does not mean that there is nothing left to do in the garden!
Planting
Late fall is the time to plant bulbs for spring flowers. You will be delighted when the first dots of colour appear in the spring, and the bees will love you for a welcome source of nectar early in the year. It is also time to plant perennials, shrubs and naked-root fruit trees.
Sowing
As for veggies, it’s now or never for planting garlic, shallots, and onion sets, before it gets too cold.
You can also still sow some hardy crops, but make sure to select winter-hardy varieties!
Of course, your climate zone determines what you can grow. So, check your growing zone, and use your own judgement – you know your micro-climate best!
In growing zone 7/8, likely candidates are salad greens, Asian mustards, and maybe even radishes.
Broad beans and peas, as well as hardy spring onions, are also good contenders.
The most impatient gardeners even start sowing certain long season crops like chillies at this time. But, that is only recommended if you have the space on a warm windowsill or in a frost-free greenhouse.
If you are not growing anything during the winter, treat your empty beds to a crop of green manure. These can be cut and dug under in the spring, to replenish the nutrients in the soil.
Harvest
If you have followed a well-spaced growing plan, you will still have fresh vegetables to harvest. Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, celeriac and carrots are still in season. Leek and kale will soon be ready.
Don’t forget to cover the Brassicas to protect them from hungry mice and birds!
Tidying up
Traditionally, gardeners get their scissors out and start snipping off the dead foliage and wilted bloom once summer is over. But, if you value the wildlife in your garden, don’t do it! This apparently dead foliage is where the caterpillars attach themselves and spin themselves into a chrysalis to over-winter and transform into butterflies.
And, some of those dead stalks still have a cache of seeds that the birds will appreciate.
But, do rake up the leaves and compost them, or use them as mulch on your beds. They provide excellent nutrients to nourish your plants next year.
Cutting back
Cut the dead canes of autumn fruiting raspberries and dead or old branches of black currents and similar berry bushes.
Grafting
If you have trees that need grafting, now is the time to take hardwood cuttings so you can graft the trees early in the coming season. The cuttings must be over-wintered in a cool, dark place (fridge or cold basement) to keep the buds dormant until you are ready to use them.
Wildlife
It is now getting more difficult for the animals to find enough food to get them through the winter – especially for the birds. Fill your feeders with seeds and nuts or, make some fat-based seed cake.
And, don’t forget, birds and hedgehogs that are not yet hibernating also still require fresh, clean water.
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Plant Profile:
Tree Profile: Yew (taxus baccata)
Yew – Taxus baccata
Few western European trees are as enigmatic as the Yew. Dark, brooding and sometimes eery, each Yew tree very much has its own personality.
Botany:
The Yew (Taxus baccata) is an evergreen, needle bearing conifer- but a strange one. Instead of wooden cones, it shelters its seed in a bright red, soft and slimy fruit cortex that takes the shape of a cup (Baccata = cup). The seeds, hidden within the ‘cup, along with all other parts of the tree except for the arils, are highly poisonous.
Yews are dioecious; female and male flowers appear on different trees, but only the female flower-bearing tree produces the fruits. They reach sexual maturity between 15-30 years of age, pretty young, considering their potential lifespan! It is difficult to measure the exact age of a Yew tree because most of them become hollow as they age, which means we can’t count tree rings. But in Britain and Europe, there are several, estimated to be between 2000 and 4000 years old!
As trees go, their height is not that impressive. Yews only grow to about 10-20 m tall, but they can develop an admirable circumference of more than 6 m. Unlike most conifers, they do not produce any resin.
Yews have a dark appearance, and they love shady spots. But they tolerate the sun if they were exposed to it from the start.
Roi.dagobert, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Mythology:
As an evergreen with a seemingly infinite lifespan and a somewhat dark, mysterious Gestalt, it is not surprising that Yews have been linked to the realm of the Dead. In Britain, the oldest Yews are found in cemeteries, often in association with a sacred spring. Britain’s oldest one is the Yew of Fortingall, in Perth, Scotland, believed to be some 3000 years old. However, its age is difficult to verify since it is hollow, and young shoots that grow from the centre, fuse with older ones, thus constantly rejuvenating itself.
In the runic alphabet, the Yew is associated with Eiwhaz Rune, which signifies the shortest day of the year, the eve of the winter solstice. It symbolizes the dying Sun but also its rebirth, since Yews possess this magic power of rejuvenation. Yews cast the dark, silent cape of eternity over the departed and take care of their souls in the afterworld until the time of their rebirth has come.
Thus, Yews are symbolic of life and death, seen as complementary forces rather than polar opposites, and joined at the threshold at the beginning and the end of our lives.
Folklore: Sleeping under a Yew tree was thought to induce prophetic dreams and offer a glimpse beyond the veil.
Properties and uses
A couple of thousand years ago, Yews were common throughout Europe and Britain. But they are slow-growing trees that were decimated for the sake of war. Yews were the primary source-wood for longbows – which, before the invention of gunpowder, were the most common weapon of war. Even today, Yew bows are used for making longbows for archery. In medieval times, Yews were planted in and around castle grounds to ensure a steady supply.
The wood, which is both strong and elastic, is superbly suited for this purpose. Archaeological evidence has shown that it has been used to make weapons since prehistoric times. Palaeolithic spears and arrowheads made of Yew have been found in a marl pit in southern England. The arrowheads had been dipped in an arrow poison made of Yew, Hellebore and Hemlock to make them extra lethal. Yews alkaloids first stimulate, then slow the heart rate, causing the victim to fall into a coma and die within an hour and a half. The oldest such spear, some 150 000 years old, was still stuck between the ribs of a mammoth carcass.
By the 16th century, Yews were almost extinct. But, they were saved by the invention of gunpowder which was invented right around that time, allowing Yew populations to recover.
Medicinal uses:
In recent times, Yews were in the news for saving lives. A compound found in the Pacific Yew, Taxus brevifolia, was discovered to have cytostatic properties, capable of inhibiting cancerous growth. But both, the Pacific Yew and its habitat are threatened. A single tree only yields 3 kg of bark, containing only 1g of Taxol, the sought-after active compound. Taxol proved highly effective in chemotherapy for treating breast- and ovarian cancer, and thus was in high demand. Given the slow growth and endangered status of the trees, the situation was precarious. Scientists were struggling to find a way to synthesize Taxol from other sources. But eventually, the breakthrough came in the 1990s. Scientists had managed to create Taxol molecules from Taxus baccata, the European Yew, which is a far more common species.
Thus, the Yew has held true to its ancient promise as a harbinger of both death and life.
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