Taken from the Kitchen Witch Newsletter September 2022
As we approach September, we have had the hottest August on record here in the UK. The fields were harvested at the beginning of August and now there is just yellow stubble and dry parched earth in the fields. In fact, everywhere you look, it is yellow. A lack of rain for the past couple of months have left the fields and grasses dry and crisp. Trees are wilting slightly too, despite their roots being so far down. We need rain - and lots of it!
In the hedgerows, nature in places is thriving! Sloes are ripe now and blackberries are not far behind! There are early starters out there though - black, shiny and delicious! Haw berries and rosehips are ripe too and wild crab apples are beginning to fall from the tree. Elderberries have been spotted - these make an excellent Rob to ward off those winter sniffles.
Elsewhere, a lot of the summer plants are spent. Nettles are tall, spindly and crisp, cleavers from spring are finished, they sort of form a web of brown across the hedgerow pathways - waiting for some passing feet so they can latch their sticky ripe seeds on to be carried away to other places for fertilisation next spring.
Burdock flowers have made way for their sticky seed pods too and thistles now have their seed heads ready to be carried on the autumn breezes.
The nights are slowly drawing in now and I can feel a slight shift in the energies around me - early mornings have a very slight chill to them and it won't be long until we celebrate the Autumn Equinox.