We can bring the power of ceremony to the orchard on Old Twelfth Night, not to mention have some rowdy fun with good friends. Wassailing apple trees is all about waking the orchard to the coming year and sharing heartfelt appreciation. The traditions we carry on here at Lost Nation Orchard include the apple wassail song and circle dance, a “toast” to the tree and other allies in the orchard ecosystem, communicating our harvest hopes through rediscovered ritual, and lastly a slam bang finish to ward off those “evil spirits” who browse on apple buds. Much of this is shared in The Apple Grower and elsewhere on the web.

The traditional date for this is January 17, which happens to fall on a Saturday this year. That confluence marks what I call a “power wassail” for modern times, as that’s the night of the week when more friends are free to come and party. The background story here is a good one. The year 1752 saw a shift in the Britain Isles from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. The King of England decreed that 11 days were to be removed from September that year. Country folk were outraged, of course. No mortal could move the solstice and the festive days that followed. And so was born Old Christmas, falling a full twelve days later on the “new calendar” on January 6. Cognizant readers will quickly weave into this story the Twelve Days of Christmas, ending with Epiphany (when the wise men arrive at the manger) as celebrated in church on this same date. Twelfth Night itself falls on the evening before …and thus in the minds of stubborn orchardists … marking January 17 as Old Twelfth Night and the proper time to wassail fruit trees.

Yet it gets even better. The farmers around Glastonbury – home of mystical Avalon – didn’t need calendar shenanigans to know the right date. It had long been noted that a certain thorn bush planted by Joseph of Arimathaea would bloom on Christmas Day. That year, in 1752, the flowers burst forth a full twelve days later.

We can bring the power of ceremony to the orchard on Old Twelfth Night, not to mention have some rowdy fun with good friends. Wassailing apple trees is all about waking the orchard to the coming year and sharing heartfelt appreciation. The traditions we carry on here at Lost Nation Orchard include the apple wassail song and circle dance, a “toast” to the tree and other allies in the orchard ecosystem, communicating our harvest hopes through rediscovered ritual, and lastly a slam bang finish to ward off those “evil spirits” who browse on apple buds. Much of this is shared in The Apple Grower and elsewhere on the web.

The traditional date for this is January 17, which happens to fall on a Saturday this year. That confluence marks what I call a “power wassail” for modern times, as that’s the night of the week when more friends are free to come and party. The background story here is a good one. The year 1752 saw a shift in the Britain Isles from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. The King of England decreed that 11 days were to be removed from September that year. Country folk were outraged, of course. No mortal could move the solstice and the festive days that followed. And so was born Old Christmas, falling a full twelve days later on the “new calendar” on January 6. Cognizant readers will quickly weave into this story the Twelve Days of Christmas, ending with Epiphany (when the wise men arrive at the manger) as celebrated in church on this same date. Twelfth Night itself falls on the evening before …and thus in the minds of stubborn orchardists … marking January 17 as Old Twelfth Night and the proper time to wassail fruit trees.

Yet it gets even better. The farmers around Glastonbury – home of mystical Avalon – didn’t need calendar shenanigans to know the right date. It had long been noted that a certain thorn bush planted by Joseph of Arimathaea would bloom on Christmas Day. That year, in 1752, the flowers burst forth a full twelve days later.