harvesting comfrey...& my Lughnasadh

February 2nd brought the festival of Lammas for me here in Woodford... marking the middle of summer and the coming of autumn..and is apparently, the first of the harvest festivals and associated with the ripening of the grain.. I don't have grain to ripen but at the moment my comfrey is out of control... Comfrey is one of my favourite herbs. I have it planted everywhere.. along the chook pen.. under my fruit trees and it is coming up all over the garden BUT i am not particularly worried about it, as I can use it to make a comfrey tea for my garden. It is thriving! I remember years ago when I first discovered the herb and it's common name of knitbone and i informed my dad that I could make a poultice for him if he ever broke a bone in his body... to which he promptly replied ' no thanks love.. I will go to a Doctor if need be' ... I think he thought I was some kind of witch.. I am sure he thought I had a cauldron out the back. I had visions of me being a herbal healer... obviously a throwback to a past life.
so instead of grain, I can harvest my comfrey.. The chooks love the leaves to peck at and it helps to make their eggshells hard. Planted under trees and shrubs, the deep roots bring nutrients up from deep down and help feed the tree.

Lammas really came and went for me this year..... I didn't do much for it at all... I picked a few stems of comfrey and placed them in an old bottle near my kitchen sink... something very soothing about it.. better than long stemmed hot house roses any old day!
Lammas, Lugnasadh.. I am never sure and really .. does it matter? My ancestors had a need to celebrate this season and a reason.... they didn't celebrate it because they had to... they had a belief and a connection to Earth in a different way to how I am today in 2008.... and I am sure if it rained or snowed.. they didn't get their nickers in a knot if they missed it...I can't hear them saying ' oh lord, Lugnasadh tomorrow... what are we going to harvest? have you made the corn dollie yet?'...... I am sure they just went about their day regardless... and their needs and ways were different to my needs & ways - and I must find my own way of marking the seasons & sabbats... so I wandered around my garden looking for ripening fruit and vegetables... thinking all the time of what this day and season means for me down here.... a whole colander full of tomatoes was gathered and then I went into my potato patch and scrabbled for some potatoes, moving the mulch away and feeling for potatoes that were big enough to eat... we call it bandicooting... I put them into an old tin bucket and carried them inside, feeling very proud of my little harvest.... some candles were lit... for really no reason at all, except to bring magick into my life.... and i felt content.... my lammas... no corn dollie, no sacrifice.... just an all is well with my world. Dining outside under the stars.. candles twinkling.... fresh organic food. what more could anyone want or need?