it is traditional to ‘wassail’ or sing encouragement to the trees in winter. It’s usually done with a bit of ceremony and rousing verses. I adapted the idea with these songs to the soil as well as the fruit and Tash made a punch for us to complete the wassail:
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Wassail the soil, wassail the mud
send life into wood
and sap to the bud.
Hats off to the soil, hats off to the mud
can’t do without it
in drought or in flood.
We sing to the soil and sing to the mud
to bring us a harvest and all of it good.
Harvest the light, harvest the dark
building an armour of thickening bark,
steady branch, steady root
gather your strength to reach and shoot
blossom apple, blossom pear,
heavy your boughs and fulsome share,
give us a harvest of all we can eat
of golden fruits, juicy and sweet.
Copyright: Janet Harper 2021