The Corn Dolly are a fun craft activity for any of the harvest celebrations. Now at the end of September the corn stalks are all drying and we have an abundance of material to make them from. Below is a picture of a poster with all the many variations of a corn dolly. I like to make a simple doll that takes but a little bit of effort to make.

Here is an excerpt from the Gaia's Wheel Newsletter of 2007.

The last sheaf of the harvest, dressed in a woman’s dress or woven into an intricate shape and decked with ribbons, is regarded as the embodiment f the spirit of the crop, the spirit of the growing grain itself. The safe keeping of this corn dolly over the winter insures fertility for the following harvest, provided that some portion of it is given to cattle and horses to eat, and some portion of it strewn in the field or mixed with the seeds for the next crop.

The practice of saving the spirit of the harvest is extensive throughout Europe.

In Northumberland, the corn dolly is attached to along pole and carried home to be set up in the barn. In some communities it goes home on the last load. Sometimes it is fairly small. In parts of Germany, the heavier it is, the better.

On the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, the corn dolly’s apron is filled with bread, cheese and a sickle. In other parts of Scotland, the reapers hold races. The man who finishes reaping first designates his last sheaf the corn maiden; the one who finishes last makes his last sheaf into a hag.

In some localities, the corn dolly is made by the first farmer who finishes his harvest and then passed from farm to farm as each farmer finishes his harvest, ending up with the farmer who finishes last. In this case, no one wants the dolly as it is a sign of procrastination.

In Wales, others try to snatch the dolly from the reaper who carries it from the field. If he gets home safe, he gets to keep it on his farm for the rest of the year.

French, Slavonic, and some Germanic regions use the last sheaf to create a Kornwold, believed to hold a wolf-like spirit that resides in the last sheaf and provide the same life force for the next season. This is a fiercer version of the corn dolly and is sometimes use dot scare children.                                             

Historically the word corn was applied to the small hard grain or fruit of a plant. It was used generically to refer to the leading crop of the district. In England, corn was wheat; in Scotland, oats; in the U.S., maize.      

Today, Corn Dollies are seen as emblems of abundance.     

Visit this link for a step-by-step instruction on making a corn dolly.      

Wild Foods For Survival

Looking through the old Gaia's Wheel Newsletters in the Harvest Celebrations I found this article about acorns. I had been looking for corn dollies as I wanted to share about making them, but this is even a better SHARE! There are lots of acorns this year. My goats love them and I tie them out under a tree and let them forage. I know, I have been told that acorns taint their milk, but we haven't noticed that much at all.
So here is the scoop on acorns. I'm going to try this out over the weekend and I'll keep you posted on my success...er...or not. I think I'll make the pancakes first as it's been awhile since I've treated my guys with any. Now, I don't think I'll let them in on what I used in the recipe until I get a report of how great they taste...or not!
    

 Acorns 

   A few white oaks have acorns sweet enough to be eaten raw or roasted. But, most oaks have extremely bitter acorns. The bitterness is due to the tannins. The acorns must be processed in boiling water to remove the tannins.

   Put the acorns in a pot of water and remove any that float. Boil for 15 minutes. Shell the acorns, chop them up, and boil again. (You can boil them in cheesecloth so you don't lose any pieces.) When the water turns brown, pour it off, add more water and boil again. Repeat until water no longer turns brown. Taste one to see if the bitterness is gone. If not, boil them until the bitterness is gone, then dry them in the oven at a very low heat.

   Acorn meal is made by grinding dry, raw acorn kernels, mixing the meal with the boiling water and pressing out the liquid through a jellybag. This process may be repeated several times with very bitter acorns. The meal is then spread thinly on shallow pans and dried in the sun or a very slow oven. It usually becomes partly caked during this process so

it must be reground, using a food chopper or hand grist mill. Acorn grits can be made by grinding up not quite as fine.

   Both acorn meal and grits are very dark-colored with a sweet, nutlike flavor. A lighter colored meal can be made with cold water leaching or rinsing. 

Harvest: Fall - Nuts

Nutrients (Per 100 grams) 

Calories - 48 Niacin - 0.5 mg. Thiamin - 0.02 mg. 

Calcium - 12 mg. Phosphorus - 314 mg. Vitamin A - 6 IU 

Fat - 0.1 grams Protein - 0.2 grams  

Iron - 0.02 mg. Riboflavin - 0.40 mg.  

Roasted Acorns 

3 cups water

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup lemon juice

6 to 8 Tbsp curry powder  1 heaping quart acorns

(processed to remove tannins)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp seasoned salt  

  

Boil 2-1/2 cups water. While this boils, put another 1/2 cup water in a blender with garlic, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup curry powder. Blend until smooth. Add this to the boiling water along with acorns and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain acorns. In a baking dish, add acorns, olive oil, salt, and rest of curry powder. Roast at 300 degrees for 45 to 90 minutes, stirring often, until the acorns are dry and well-roasted, but not hard. 

Acorn Glaze 

2 cups sugar

1 cup water  1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Pinch of salt  

Put in a small saucepan and boil until you see the very first hint of browning. Set the small saucepan in a kettle of boiling water to keep the contents liquid and dip in whole acorn kernels, which have been pre-boiled as described above, using a pair of tweezers; then place them on wax paper to harden. This improves the appearance as well as the taste of the acorns and they can be served as a confection or with a meal, as a good hearty food. 

Acorn Bread 

Sift together dry ingredients:

1 cup Acorn Meal

1 cup white flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt  Beat together:

1 cup milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons salad oil  

Add this to the dry ingredients and stir just enough to moisten everything. Pour into a greased pan and bake in a 400'(f) oven for 30 minutes.

Or...Acorn Muffins:

You can fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full of the same batter and bake only 20 minutes. 

Acorn Pancakes  

2 cups acorn meal

2 tsp baking powder

3 tsp shortening  1 tsp salt

1 beaten egg  

Mix all ingredients. Cook like regular pancakes. They are delicious, tasting much like rich brown bread 

It's better to regret something you have done, than regret something you HAVEN'T done.

Harvest Time an Ancient Custom and Celebration

In celebration of Gaia's Autumn Equinox I have been a canning fool. The tomato harvest has been amazing this year. Already I have about 110 pints of salsa made. Here is a bit of history. Mabon as it is known in the Pagan Community, is the second of the three Harvest festivals.

This excerpt is from the Gaia's Wheel Newsletter of 2007.


   The first festival is Lammas, the second is Autumn Equinox and the last is Samhain or Sawain.  In older text, this time of the year is called Autumn Equinox and the word Mabon is a recent addition to The Wheel of the Year.  Mabon is used mostly by American Wiccans while in Britain and Europe it is still most commonly referred to as Autumn Equinox.

   Another name for this holiday is Harvest Home or The Feast of Ingathering.  Harvest Home is a festival that has been celebrated since before Anglo-Saxon times much as we celebrate Thanksgiving. This is the time of the year where families gather, celebrate, and give thanks for the crops. Many villages in the British Isles have records of festivals and localized customs that were practiced during the festivals of Harvest Home. Often times a special beer or ale was brewed to use in village celebrations.

    In some villages, a corn maiden, made from the last corn (a term also used for barley) was made with the last swath cut from the field.  The corn maiden was taken to a family who took care of her and honored her throughout the winter so she could be replanted in the spring. Some villages had a corn man who was honored in much the same way. Many historians believe that this was a custom left over from days when a real human life was offered to make the crops grow.  Sensational movies such as the Wickerman and many books have used this type of theme in modern times.

  Songs traditionally sung at this time, such as John Barleycorn, talk about the sacrifice of a man to make the crops grow.  However, after careful listening one learns of how to make ale or beer instead of hearing of murder and sacrifice.

   Mabon is a time also of balance since the night and days (in theory) are equal in length.  For many, this is a time to begin working on plans that were started earlier in the year.  Our fore-mothers and fathers also understood that this is a natural time to socialize, celebrate and work together and accomplish these types of endeavors.  Culturally, this is the time when we head back to school, finish up the garden and set aside food for winter, and start to look forward to the holidays.  Projects for winter are started.  Animals prepare for winter, and this is time of year when they are hunted.

  I personally like the term Harvest Home and the images it conjures up of bonfires, cider and spending the evening in celebration with friends. Harvest Home also acknowledges those who have passed and in which ties us to the past as we talk and remember friends and family. This keeps alive stories for the next generations to come. Many cultures practice a custom of setting aside a plate of food, often called a spirit plate, for the ancestors (or fairies) so that they may celebrate with everyone. In many cultures this plate was taken and placed  in a cemetery on the oldest ancestral grave to be shared by all those who had died. 

 This compilation by Wyldrose.

Gaia the "Dirtbox"

Gaia is our "dirtbox"...you know like a "sandbox". Well that's how I like to think of it.

She provides it ALL in such simple ways. A place to play, work, grow, learn and share and....
I feel so grounded and connected when I am in the dirt of our Great Mother. I am a gardener and my raised beds are like a grown-up version of the sandbox I played in as a child.

Remember playing in your sandbox when you were a child? For me, it was as if I became "one" with the sand and the box and nothing else mattered. I know I was content for hours there. It's that same feeling I get when in Gaia's "dirtbox".

I think that we should be more mindful while we play or work in our "dirtbox".  Lets become revitalized, rejuvenated with Her energy. And like in our sandbox where we played as children, lets create. Lets build something together.

From this "dirtbox", this place where we live...our home... is the perfect place to tap into and access all the gifts Gaia has to offer...for all that we need.

Ok, so what is this all about? Everything and anything.
Lets pretend that each and every grain of dirt in our "dirtbox" is something hugely important. Something so special and important that we will want to add it to our collection of "wise ways".