Marking the Day in Your Garden

Waiting for dawn at Stonehenge on the Winter Solstice (photo: Wikimedia: Mike Peel, www.mikepeel.net)

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice. Here we will have a mere 8 hours & 59 minutes of daylight, our shortest of the year, with the sun raising at 7:38 am and setting at 4:37 pm (source). This is almost 6 and half hours less sunlight than we see on the Summer Solstice.

Our ancient ancestors marked these days well for their very survival was dependent upon knowing times to plant, harvest, animal migrations, livestock birthing, or other seasonal observances and the solar clock was steady and unchanging in marking the year for them. Structures such as the 5,000 year old Newgrange in Ireland and the Temple of Amun in Karnak, Egypt mark the winter solstice. Other sites are scattered about the entire world from many different peoples and eras that mark the solstices, equinoxes, stars, lunar cycles and more.

You can welcome the sun into your garden and landscape as well with very simple materials and techniques creating your own solar wheel calendar.

Marking the Solstice in Your Garden

1. Pick a spot with an unobstructed view to the eastern horizon. A 360 view is even better as you can see and mark sunsets if you wish, but you at least want to see the rising sun.
2. Get a stake with a length of rope loosely attached. Length is your choice as it will be half the diameter of the finished wheel calendar.
3. Push the stake into the spot that will be the center.
4. Materials used are up to you - purchased pavers, found river stones, decorative stakes, or anything else that suits your tastes and garden. There is no right or wrong answer.
5. And the exact design is also up to you. You can use smaller stones to mark the circle's circumference by placing a stone at the end of the rope every couple of feet (or as needed) around the circle's edge. I personally only marked the solstices and equinoxes and did not create a full circle.
6. Use the same process to mark the solstice - the rope should point directly from the center reference point to the spot where the sun break's the horizon at dawn. Put a special marker there. You can repeat throughout the year for other key days so save your stake and rope.
7. I like to use a large flat stepping stone for the center point. Something I can stand or sit on to see the sun rise over my marker on my marked days. Move the stone as needed to mark or remark days.

If you expand out the idea, whole garden areas could be created and aligned in this manner. This is a great activity to share with young people.

Wooden Sashinko, Japanese Embroidery Patterns in the Tea House

One of the great treasures of Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park is the Japanese Teahouse in its Japanese Garden. Mary Clark Thompson, one of the original owners of Sonnenberg, hired Kikujiro Wadamori in 1906 to build her Japanese Garden. Wadamori, originally from Izumo in southern Japan but now living and working in the United States, and a crew of seven men built the garden and teahouse. The garden was designed to be a miniature landscape reminiscent of the topography of Japan complete with mountains and valleys. It should be noted that this garden is one of the earliest privately owned Japanese gardens in the United States and the teahouse is one of the few in America that is in a publically accessible location.

The craftsmanship of the workmen that created the teahouse is on display both the inside and outside of this 100+ year old structure. Here are pictures of how the outside of the teahouse looks today:


The Japanese Teahouse seen from outside

Farther view of the Japanese Teahouse
 

The interior, while seldom viewed by visitors, is equally beautiful albeit in a quiet simplicity of form and style. One of the details to catch the eye while inside the teahouse are carved wooden panels/screens used in the wall and sliding panels separating the two halves of the teahouse. These can be seen in the picture below. There are two sets of panels, each featuring a different geometric pattern.

Interior view of the Japanese Teahouse - wooden
screen panels are visible

Practitioners of the traditional Japanese craft of sashiko will surely recognize the patterns in the wooden screens. Sashiko is a Japanese embroidery style that was used to repair and reinforce as well as beautify clothing. It became a rural domestic craft during the Edo Era (1615 - 1868) and has continued on to present day. The stitching often features repeating geometric designs and its most recognizable form consists of white embroidery on an indigo fabric. A picture of a modern sashiko stich sampler can be seen below.

A modern sashiko stitch sampler
(click on this image or any in the article for a larger view)

 Asanoha (Hemp Leaf)

The pattern in the panel above the doorway is known as the asanoha or hemp leaf. A detail from this panel can be seen below:



Japanese Teahouse - interior panel detail



The asanoha is a star-like pattern that is undoubtedly the most famous of sashiko patterns. This pattern's origins lay in China where the pattern was associated with Buddhism and represented radiating light or the inner light of the soul. This pattern has often been used on children's clothes and bedding in hopes they would grow up strong like the hemp plant - hemp was used by many common people for fabric prior to the widespread availability of cotton in Japan. The pattern has also symbolized a wish for good health.


Shippō tsunagi (Linked Seven Treasures)

The wooden screens running through the middle of the sliding panels feature a variation on the Shippō tsunagi or Linked Seven Treasures pattern. A detail of that panel can be seen below.



Japanese Teahouse - interior panel detail



This pattern is also called shippō or Seven Treasures and it was in use in the Heian era 1,000 years before it appeared in sashiko designs. This design also references Buddhism for the seven treasures appear in Buddhist sutras. Those seven treasures are: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, agate, pearl, coral, and crystal.

 Like to learn more about sashiko? One of the best references commonly available outside of Japan is The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook by Susan Briscoe. It contains history, patterns, and directions on how to begin doing this craft.

Victorian Holiday Crafts: Winter Sachet

While sachets have an ancient history, they are one of those things I that I connect with Victorian traditions. I suppose it is because the Victorians were quite the devotees of scent and our modern perfumery really lies with them. They loved many floral and herbal scents and I think they would like this one.

Here is a recipe for a spicy "winter sachet" that you can make up from commonly available herbs and spices. Sew small drawstring cloth bags or pillow-like sachets and fill with the mixture to complete and give as holiday gifts.

Winter Sachet

• 1/2 lb. dried rosemary
• 1/2 lb. dried mint leaves
• 4 oz. dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons ground cloves.

Mix well. Allow some time for the mixture to age and the scents to blend for best results.

This mixture is reputed to deter moths and while I cannot comment on its effectiveness, it is without a doubt a much more enjoyable scent than mothballs!  

Photo "140310 spices especias" by Luisfi - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons