Wanted for spring:

C-2 • Saturday. 0«c«nib«r 20, 2008
W
Imer arrives tomorrow,
even though
the snow-covered
ground gives the impression
that it's been here for several
weeks. But we know that ttie
"real" beginning of winter
comes at the Winter Solstice:
the longest night of the year,
which happens to be tonight.
After that, the days begin
their gradual stretch, the
nights become progressively
shorter, and before we know
it, spring is here!
There are a lot of tradi -
tions around the winter
solstice, but the oldest one is
the Yule log, dating back well
before the birth of Jesus. Perhaps
some people still light
a Yule log to brighten the
"darkest night of the year,"
but surely not the way it was
done in days gone by.
In tradition, the log was
big. Really big. It was the
responsibility
of the
^rvants and
slaves of the
house to
fetch the log
and to light it.
As long as the
log burned,
they were
AnnMaric
rowland
required to
do no work
at all, and the
master was
obligated
to pay them a fair wage for
whatever work they did do.
So it was in their best interest
to drag home the biggest
6 5
6 ; 8 2 1
s j ^ 9 6
2 -4 3 5
15 7 3
9 1 6 4
3 2 8 9
Gardening
Dirty Knees
Yuletide
log that they could manage.
Often it was a green one> so
that it would bum slowly.
My mother told me a
story of a Christmas party
that her parents attended
(this would have been
around the time of the Great
Depression) where the man
placed one end of a log into
the pot-bellied stove, leaving
the door open because
the log was too long. It was
so long, in fact, that he had
to leave the apartment door
open as well, and prop up
the sticking-out end on a
chair, which he scdbt^
closer to the stove as the
wood burned down. My
grandfather was appalled.
My grandma thou^t it was
hilarious. The log burned all
1 2
To all of staff and their families,
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www.michavwe.com
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night and into the next day,
and the man was happy to
avoid chopping any wood for
that time. Perhaps he knew
the ^dition.
HOW do Yule logs connect
to gardens? Well, another
part of the tradition
was to take the ashes ft^om
the Yule log and spread them
around the bases of ftioit
trees as added assurance of
a good harvest and thus a
prosperous new year.
Indeed, wood ash is a
good addition to the garden.
It is alkaline, which is a
real boon here in the acidic
north, where pines and oaks
dominate the forests. Of
course, too much of anything
throws the balance off,
but sprinkling the ashes from
the fireplace or woodstove
over the garden area helps
nourish the soil right away in
spring when the snow melts.
Wood ash is also good for
fighting moss in the lawn. I
read several studies where
various amounts of ashes
were applied to mossy areas
and the amount of ash applied
directly corresponded
to the reduction of moss.
Gradual application is the
key and soil testing is always
a good idea before amendments
are applied. Using ash
from Charcot briquettes is
not recommended.
Today. Yule logs tend to
be made of cake, filled vsath
something creamy and covered
in chocolate frosting,
Qaylord Harald Timaa
which is supposed to resemble
bark. And instead of
burning a log at the turning
of the season, we light up a
Christmas tree.
I hope that this year your
tree glows brightly, reminding
you that the true meaning
of Christmas is the Babe
in a manger — the Light of
the World.
1 wish you a warm Christmas,
full of love.
—AnnMarie Rowland is a
Gaylord-area freelance writer
and Master Gardener. Her
column appears Saturdays in
the Herald Times. Write her
at warowland^core.com or
do Gaylord Herald Times, PO
Box 598. Gaylord, MI 49734.
Edelweiss Garden Club
packs up 52 gift bags
for Alpine Haus residents
THE EDELWEISS GARDEN dub recently packed garet Albert, Marge Williamson, Jane Wolschon
52 gilt bags for the 52 residents of the Alpine and Jane Mead. There will be a party Monday
Haus. Packers included garden dub members at the Alpine Haus where the bags will be given
(l-r) Maureen Ballenger, Georgia Maxwell, Mar- out to residents.
Tue. Jan. 27, 2009
7:00pm
Gaylord High School
Tickets available at Oaylord High School,
Oaylord School District office
and www.ticketweb.com
Brought to you by
HefaldTimes.com
HARLEM
^ Ir *
TAKE "THT
,\;>j h i
wwwJiTlnnlnhatrottarm.com
_ 1
mujuitt
Toe., Jan. 27, 2009
Tpm at Bt^rd High Sohool
SAVERS
• Oiw coupon food (Or up to S tickols
• Not tidmiwlili On Um.
• May not b* combkiod with any othor coupon.
• Not vaM on Coart SMo/Ma0c Ctrdo MaU.
• Siib|octtaav(«aMIRy
• VWM ap to 24 hour* prtor to UM unw.