Alas, Winter is coming! Persephone returns to the underworld, leaving her mother Demeter to mourn and inflicting winter upon us all. If, like me, you’re a sun worshipper, the onset of autumn might seem gloomy, but fear not! The frivolity of Halloween and other autumnal traditions (plus an abundance of orchard fruit) await. Let’s look into some of the myth and folklore of fruit and other plants you’ll commonly find in orchards.
Pomegranates and Persephone’s tale
Proserpine (Persephone) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti via Unsplash.
Pomegranates are among the oldest cultivated fruits, symbolising fertility, death, and rebirth – themes central to the myth of Persephone. Hades, god of the underworld, used the seeds eaten by Persephone to bind her to his realm for a portion of each year, ushering in winter as her mother Demeter, goddess of the harvest, grieves for her absent daughter.
Despite their Middle Eastern origins, pomegranate trees can grow in the south of the UK, like the mature fruiting tree residing in Chelsea Physic Garden – London’s oldest botanical garden. With climate change shifting temperature and rainfall patterns, more and more ‘exotic’ plants can find their place in the British orchard landscape in the coming years.
Pomona
Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Moving closer to home, let’s talk apples. Did you know the invasion of the Romans may have played a role in the tradition of ‘bobbing’ for apples? The Romans, known for assimilating local customs, likely merged their celebration of Pomona – the goddess of fruit and trees – into existing Celtic festivals that involved apple-bobbing. Fittingly, Pomona’s symbol was the apple, tying this fruit to the fun and games we associate with spooky season.
Apples have long been at the heart of British orchards, and their many varieties contribute to the rich heritage of orcharding across the UK. The act of harvesting, pressing, and preserving apples is tied into many customs, including cider-making and the annual festivities of Apple Day, celebrated nationwide around 21 October.
This celebration encourages local communities to appreciate the distinctiveness of their traditional fruit varieties, with plenty of apple pie tasting, juicing, and storytelling. With Braeburns being some of the latest fruiting apples of the year, the harvest season can extend all the way to late autumn.
Nuts and neeps at Samhain
Carved turnip. Photo by Themeisle via Flickr.
Many Halloween traditions we know today trace back to Samhain, the ancient Gaelic festival symbolising the end of harvest, and incorporating spiritual rituals. Naturally, food played a key role – seasonal fruits and vegetables were served at feasts and used in fortune-telling games.
Offerings were left out for supernatural entities, and young couples would throw nuts onto fires to foretell their future: a quiet smoulder meant smooth sailing, but a crackle and pop spelled trouble! (But if they broke up, they at least had some delicious roasted nuts).
Pumpkin carving began as a way to ward off evil spirits; however, the Celts originally used turnips. The shift to pumpkins happened when Irish and Scottish immigrants to North America found them easier to carve.
Souls, sloes and warding thorns
Sloe fruit on a blackthorn by Hubert Berberich via Wikimedia Commons.
Blackthorn, a British native often found in hedgerows bordering orchards, has long been associated with witches and dark magic. Blackthorn wood was used in curses, or as a protective charm. Sloe fruit is traditionally used to make sloe gin – once thought to ward off evil spirits. If you do it early enough, you can even show off your homemade gin and newfound knowledge at the Halloween party.
Wassailing is coming
Wassail photo by Anna Gazeley.
Looking beyond Halloween, the tradition of wassailing in early January offers another chance to celebrate orchard heritage. Wassailing involves singing to the trees to encourage a good harvest for the coming year. Costumes, cider, and revelry bring communities together for this macabre, yet joyful, custom.
So, while Persephone may have returned to the underworld, there’s plenty to enjoy this autumn. Whether you’re picking apples or bobbing for them, let’s embrace the traditions and magic of orchards!
In the meantime, I’m off for a hot date with some toasted hazelnuts….
by Harry Earle-Mundil, Head of Fundraising
Further Reading
Read more about the tradition of wassailing in our previous blog from Witchhazel, our Project Manager in Swansea: The Gower Wassail.
Find an Apple Day near you using the map created by People’s Trust for Endangered Species.