The Witches Digest

Before you start, you will need:

A plant pot

Enough good soil to fill the pot

Some compost or manure

A watering can

Salad plant seeds, such as – lettuce, spring onion, cherry tomato, peas and cucumbers

A trowel, spade and rake

An adult for assistance

This is a long term project that will need to be looked at often. It’s best to start this in the spring or the summer.

Step One.

Chose an area of the garden in which you will be able to plant – make sure it’s not too near any trees or hedges (the roots of these will eat the nutrients needed to make your salad grow).

Dig over the ground and mix in some compost or manure.

Step Two.

Read the backs of the seed packs and follow the planting guidance given. Decide if you want orderly rows of vegetables, spirals or if you wish to plant in window boxes or pots. Make sure you leave enough space to get to the plants to water, weed and remove slugs from.

Step Three.

Once the seeds are planted, they need to be carefully watered – not too much, or they will drown. Then, each evening during dry weather, they will need to be watered again. Seed will only grow if they are kept moist.

Step Four.

When the plants begin to grow, it is important to do a Slug Patrol and make sure they are kept well away – if slugs get into the patch, they will eat all your hard work!

Step Five.

Your salad patch needs to be kept weed free – use the trowel to carefully remove any that spring up, but be careful not to accidently remove your plants! If you’ve planted pea plants, you could get some twigs or sticks and carefully embed them next to them; this will allow the plants to grow up them.

Step Six.

Once your salad crops look ready to eat, carefully remove them from the ground and wash them. The peas can go raw into the salad too – but they must be removed from their pods.

A Salad Extra.

As well as the cherry tomatoes, you might also like to grow full sized tomatoes.

To start, take a small flowerpot and fill it with fresh compost. Press the soil down until it’s firmly in, then sprinkle tomato seeds on the top. Now, put a little compost over the seeds – shake the soil on gently, like if you were using a pepper pot.

Take some cling film – or a plastic bag, and cover the top. Keep it in place with an elastic band and then put your flowerpot in a warm, light place until the seeds have started to sprout.

When the seedlings are big enough, transfer them into their own pots (one each) and when the weather gets warmer, plant them in a larger pot, or in your salad garden. Again, keep them well watered – and if you want, give them plant food once a week. Once the tomatoes are grown, pick them, water them – and eat!

Remember – always wash the food you’ve grown before eating, and always wash your hands once you’ve finished your gardening!

From the Witches Digest Imbolc 2008

Technorati Tags: Ideas for Children, pagan crafts

Children sit on the floor in a half circle.

One child plays the witch and stands a short distance away with her back to the familiars.

One of the children is pointed to, by the adult who is helping and the child “meows” “grunts” or makes a “ribbit” sound.

The “witch” turns around and tries to guess which child is the familiar and what animal the familiar is.

Continue until everyone has a turn.

You can then discuss the different roles that familiars and animals play.  

Materials:

Dried Leaves and Flowers
Clear Contact Paper
Large Sheet of Construction Paper or Poster Board
Clear Glue
Red, Yellow, Green and Brown Crayons or Pencils

Draw leaves and sun wheels onto the card, and colour.

Place the dried leaves and flowers onto the paper and secure into place with a very small amount of glue.
Cut the contact paper to the same size as the paper used, and stick it over the top of design.  These are very long lasting-especially if you coat the back of the placemat as well.

 From the Witches Digest Mabon 2008

Technorati Tags: harvest crafts, Ideas for Children, pagan, wicca

Frightening dreams that your child experiences are often a sign that something needs
attention. 
They could be caused by food e.g. high sugar levels, cheese eaten shortly before bedtime, artificial colourings etc.,
television programs or by
worries and stresses that your child may not know how to
explain.

Encourage your child to talk about their dreams, or draw a picture.  This gives them control over the scary feelings that the dream has resulted in. 

Acknowledge your child’s
feelings, it can be very comforting to a child to know that
someone is there to listen and understand them.

Nightmare Prevention

There are several methods that you can use to prevent
nightmares and give children a sense of security when they go to bed.

Burn some cedar or sage incense in the child’s room before they go to bed.

Jasper is a traditional
anti-nightmare stone, place one under the mattress or sew it into the pillow lining.

Dream catchers are a Native American cure for nightmares.  Hang one above the bed, bad dreams are said to be trapped in the web while good dreams pass through the web and are
channeled by the feathers to the dreamer.

A cup of Chamomile tea can help your child relax.

Bay Leaves and Peppermint are anti-nightmare herbs, stuff them into a mojo bag and place under the pillow.  Or you could make a dream pillow containing the herbs and a piece of Jasper.

The scent of Hyacinth can ward off nightmares, place a plant in the child’s room or diffuse a fragrance oil in an oil burner or light bulb ring.

Technorati Tags: Ideas for Children, preventing nightmares, spells for children

1 cup sugar
(can reduce to 3/4 cup)

1 cup water (for the simple syrup)

1 cup lemon juice

3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Make a simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is
dissolved completely.

While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher.
Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength.
Refrigerate for 30 to 40 minutes.

If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.
Serve with ice and sliced lemons.

Serves 6

From the Witches Digest Issue 2 - Litha 2008  

Litha is a perfect time to teach children about honoring the earth.  An easy way to do this is to teach them about looking after the home—show them how to recycle, and get them involved with cleaning the house use all natural home-made products.

So throw out those nasty chemical based formulas and bleaches and try these recipes instead.

Polish Wood:
The first ingredient is water, of course. Get yourself a spray bottle and put 3 cups of water in there. Once the water is in your sprayer, you will be adding two additional items:

- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar

Add them to the spray bottle and shake the bottle up a little to make everything mix together. That’s it, that is all the wood polish you will ever need. Be sure to test the spray somewhere on the furniture just to make sure you have the mixture right and you will not damage the wood.

Natural Disinfecting:
- You can add 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil to a gallon of water to wash windows, floors and toilets to scrub away the germs.

- To chase away bugs, but a drop of tea tree oil near where they are coming in and you can bet they won’t be coming in that way anymore.

- Lavender oil or tea tree oil can be applied directly to cuts and scrapes where it will cool the pain and help fight infection.

- Mixing a few drops of tea tree oil with some water in a spray bottle can clean mould in the bathroom, disinfect the floor after the dog has an accident, or can clean up after your child has been sick.

Tea Tree Oil should not be used if you have Cats.

From the Witches Digest Issue 2 - Litha 2008