Wassailing

In 2016 a small group of local volunteers raised funds to develop a community orchard, many of us bought a few trees each and our neighbour made a fruit cage. Today we met at the orchard to ward all off bad spirits by banging pans and lids, drinking warm apple juice and nibbling a tiny apple dumpling dipped in a warming sauce. All very good!

Below I found an explanation about Wassail Day and corrupted it to suit our orchard.

The orchard-visiting wassail refers to the ancient custom of visiting orchards and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year. Traditionally, the wassail is celebrated on Twelfth Night (January 5 or 6). Some people still wassail on "Old Twelve Night", January 17, as it would have been before the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752.