Alchemist Mother Apothecary

Seasons · December to March

Winter

The evergreen season. Pine needles, citrus from far away, dried summer in jars, and long evenings for writing it all down.

Winter is when the summer's work is used. The jars come down from the shelf; the dried flowers go into the teapot; the syrup made in October earns its place. The garden sleeps, but the evergreens don't — pine and spruce can be gathered all winter, and they smell like the forest in the middle of a kitchen.

It is also the season for planning, sketching, and reading old books by lamplight.

In the garden

  • Planning beds and ordering seed
  • Harvesting sage and thyme lightly
  • Sketching last year's garden from memory

In the wild

  • Pine and spruce tips and needles
  • Bare branches: learning trees by their bark and buds

In the kitchen

  • Citrus, in every form
  • Warm spiced drinks
  • Honey cakes and baked apples

In the apothecary

  • Using the elderberry syrup
  • Rich balms for chapped hands
  • Pine-infused oil

The folk calendar

  • 21 DecemberWinter solsticeThe longest night. From here, the light returns.
  • 25 DecemberChristmasThe American Christmas: evergreens indoors, oranges in stockings.
  • 7 JanuaryOrthodox ChristmasThe beginning of Svyatki, the twelve days of carolling (koliadki) and fortune-telling.
  • 19 JanuaryKreshchenieEpiphany. The coldest days — the "Epiphany frosts" — and the blessing of water.
  • 15 FebruarySretenieCandlemas: the day, folk tradition says, that winter meets spring.
  • The week before Lent (moves each year)MaslenitsaButter week: blini every day, and the burning of the straw winter figure.

Recipes

Films

Plants