Vicky, I had no idea about the origins of wassailing!! And I am completely mind-blown and deeply touched by this winter ritual. I’ve sung “here we come a’ wassailing” my whole life and I now feel like it all has such a deeper meaning to me.
It reminds me so much of the tradition of mulled wine here in Sweden, but the blessing of the apple trees is not anything we have here.
Still, somehow this is something that I will begin incorporating into my winter traditions. Thank you so much! xo
Love everything about this, I love trees and I love apples...! Especially in the form of apple-based desserts. Thank you for sharing this ancient custom which should absolutely be honoured! Good luck with your apple tree planting xx
I have 5 (!) apple trees and I think they need a little musical attention this weekend. I still have some apples still in storage and some leftover mincemeat that was made using them. So I think I will make apple and mincemeat cake to celebrate our lovely trees.🍎🍏
Victoria, I wonder if mead wine would be part of wassailing. What’s your research/ folklore making Mead (Robin Hood’s drink) and do you grow medlars? A fruit very resistant to insects that I found in a Vermont apple orchard.
It's a good question. I know that the tradition of wassailing began in cider producing regions, but the tradition developed into a more general Midwinter toast over time, so I suppose you could have a Midwinter toast with Mead wine. Why not! And Medlars are really interesting, I've never grown them but have heard more about them recently - they seem to be having a resurgence. Would love to know more!
I've heard the term wassailing but never knew what it meant! We have a small commercial orchard of eating and cider apples, but I don't think I'll be able to persuade my husband to go out and sing to the trees, lol. I might go out and walk the field humming tomorrow. We could do with a good crop this year as we make apple juice for our farm shop - we lost the whole crop last year due to a late frost (we live in the north of Scotland). Thanks for an interesting post 🙂🍎🍏
Oh you have to! Perhaps you could whisper the trees a very quiet song or read them a small poem very quietly 😂 Very jealous of your orchard - fingers crossed for a good crop this year. 🍎
Hi Victoria, thank you for the lovely post. We’ll be wassailing in the garden on Saturday. My husband gave me an apple tree for Christmas and he also received one from a friend so we’ll be waking them up with mulled apple juice, song and cries of ´Wassail!’ before having a bonfire in the garden with marshmallows should it stay dry. Last years Wassail was a v soggy event!
Ah brilliant. It’s such a great tradition isn’t it.
And I think, like all folklore, it’s a tradition that has evolved and changed over time and now a Wassail drink can be many things - at it’s heart it’s just a warm toast to the year ahead and a thank you to nature.
Mulled wine / mulled cider... all work! I guess with mulled wine you could raise a glass to the grape vines 😁
Love the sound of this. That may be my weekend planned. And we have an apple tree!
Excellent! Then you won’t have to venture far! Enjoy 🍎💫
Yum! I want cake and cider!
Love the idea of blessing the fruit trees. Wonderful Vickie x
I’ll be out there singing to my fig tree this weekend 🌞
very pleased to hear it! 😁
Vicky, I had no idea about the origins of wassailing!! And I am completely mind-blown and deeply touched by this winter ritual. I’ve sung “here we come a’ wassailing” my whole life and I now feel like it all has such a deeper meaning to me.
It reminds me so much of the tradition of mulled wine here in Sweden, but the blessing of the apple trees is not anything we have here.
Still, somehow this is something that I will begin incorporating into my winter traditions. Thank you so much! xo
Love this ive been sipping apple cider got a craving for it the other day ♡
This sounds wonderful!
Love everything about this, I love trees and I love apples...! Especially in the form of apple-based desserts. Thank you for sharing this ancient custom which should absolutely be honoured! Good luck with your apple tree planting xx
I always like to bring everything back to cake! 😁
I have 5 (!) apple trees and I think they need a little musical attention this weekend. I still have some apples still in storage and some leftover mincemeat that was made using them. So I think I will make apple and mincemeat cake to celebrate our lovely trees.🍎🍏
5 apple trees! I think you definitely need to treat them to a song this weekend 😁 Enjoy the apple and mincemeat cake, that sounds delicious
Victoria, I wonder if mead wine would be part of wassailing. What’s your research/ folklore making Mead (Robin Hood’s drink) and do you grow medlars? A fruit very resistant to insects that I found in a Vermont apple orchard.
It's a good question. I know that the tradition of wassailing began in cider producing regions, but the tradition developed into a more general Midwinter toast over time, so I suppose you could have a Midwinter toast with Mead wine. Why not! And Medlars are really interesting, I've never grown them but have heard more about them recently - they seem to be having a resurgence. Would love to know more!
I've heard the term wassailing but never knew what it meant! We have a small commercial orchard of eating and cider apples, but I don't think I'll be able to persuade my husband to go out and sing to the trees, lol. I might go out and walk the field humming tomorrow. We could do with a good crop this year as we make apple juice for our farm shop - we lost the whole crop last year due to a late frost (we live in the north of Scotland). Thanks for an interesting post 🙂🍎🍏
Oh you have to! Perhaps you could whisper the trees a very quiet song or read them a small poem very quietly 😂 Very jealous of your orchard - fingers crossed for a good crop this year. 🍎
lol, I’ll do it. Yes, fingers crossed for a good crop - thank you!
Absolutely love your content! You give me so much inspiration for my own blog! Please keep up the lovely, cosy work! x
Thanks so much, that's very kind! Wishing you a lovely weekend 💫
Hi Victoria, thank you for the lovely post. We’ll be wassailing in the garden on Saturday. My husband gave me an apple tree for Christmas and he also received one from a friend so we’ll be waking them up with mulled apple juice, song and cries of ´Wassail!’ before having a bonfire in the garden with marshmallows should it stay dry. Last years Wassail was a v soggy event!
This sounds perfect! And an apple tree is the BEST present. Have a lovely weekend 💫 🍎
Ah brilliant. It’s such a great tradition isn’t it.
And I think, like all folklore, it’s a tradition that has evolved and changed over time and now a Wassail drink can be many things - at it’s heart it’s just a warm toast to the year ahead and a thank you to nature.
Mulled wine / mulled cider... all work! I guess with mulled wine you could raise a glass to the grape vines 😁