Good day, I am sure you are craving a post this holiday because I haven’t been posting as much. Who knew all of this was so much work? I suppose all of the people who told me it was a lot of work. There were a lot of them and right now it’s a labor of love.
This year has been exciting for us and we are happy for the evolution of our family from five to nine. So in honor of the blessings we have been given this year and in all that we gained just by being together we decided to begin a new tradition.
So, this year we tied our wishes and hopes and gratitude to the trees. We are excited about our fruit trees and our berry bushes. We can’t wait to see how this impacts the area not just what we see but also the wildlife it attracts to our humble plot of land.
I know what you’re thinking: where do they get these crazy ideas from?
Wishing Trees are a cool tradition that date back in multiple cultures and civilizations. They have been known as many things but the easiest thing to remember is that you tie something to a tree. This could be fabric, beads, string, yarn or ribbons. Really anything goes but since our trees are young: we stuck to fabric.
We wanted to incorporate something unique that other people in our area weren’t doing into our homestead. I saw the tradition last year and I thought: how neat. I didn’t see it locally- I saw it scrolling through Facebook.
Once we figured out an idea of what we wanted: I just had to incorporate my own spin so I did a little bit of research on the topic and found out that this (like many other things) can be found in all kinds of cultures and in many different forms.
Rich Traditions like this one come from Native Americans, Japanese, Celtic, Scottish and so many others. Each culture has their own spin on the Wishing tree, but let’s be honest I want a bunch of wishing trees. I want a wishing orchard. Some are by fairy wells while others are traditions of tying corn leaves or other parts to trees for a good harvest.
You should know: I am not Scottish or Native American. I would call myself more of a mutt and that is why I want to make it my own so badly.
I think that it turned out well. Remember last year this was all pasture. Now we have over 30 trees. I feel like next year we’ll need more fabric, but I am pleased with the turn out.
Do you do something different? I genuinely want to know.
Toad's Permaculture 