Spring Rituals - A Visit to 12th Century England

Each year when the trees are in blossom and we get more sunny days than rainy ones, I get a very strong urge to get down on my knees and put my hands into the earth. The yearly spring gardening bug has bitten. This is when I dig out my gardening journal and note the dates when I saw the first crocus', the first snowdrops and when the first of the trees swell into bud.

My garden journal details almost 20 years of weather, the emergence of spring, the time of the first frost and winter dreams of what my garden would hold in the new year. When we lived in Vancouver we had a lovely yard with good drainage and I always had a great organic vegetable & flower garden. Here in New Westminster, our soil is good but it does not drain well and therefore gardening is usually a rather damp and wet affair, certainly not as pleasant as in our previous location. Since many of my planting and growing experiences here have not been as satisfactory most of our flower beds are now planted with perennials and only need tidying up every spring and fall. Getting my hands in the soil and planting has been relegated to a small herb garden on the side of our yard. The joy of this small plot reaches its peak when basil and cilantro are in season; there is nothing like having garden fresh herbs in a salad or pasta dish.


Another ritual that goes along with my urge to get my hands in the dirt is reading gardening books and the twenty Brother Cadfael Mystery books written by Ellis Peters. Brother Cadfael is a Welsh Benedictine monk who is a talented herbalist; I affectionately refer to him as a medieval CSI detective who also serves in roles such as coroner, diplomat and physician. His knowledge of herbs is extraordinary, something he learned in his prior life as a knight while on a crusade in the Holy Lands. My yard boasts plants from his herbarium and apothecary like the very poisonous and lethal Monk's Hood along with more mundane herbs like Borage, Mint, Poppies and Lavender. Just this past winter I found out there is a David Austen rose called Brother Cadfael and the next step is to go down to my local garden shop and get it ordered. Between the new rose and the book on Medieval Gardens I picked up at our local library I should have no problem in creating a new plan to turn my little bit of earth into more of a physic garden similar to the one Cadfael grows.


The past few days I have watched and enjoyed the PBS Cadfael series starring Derek Jacobi who does a fabulous job of portraying this insightful benedictine monk. Tonight however, my springtime ritual will start when I make myself a cup of tea, perhaps chamomile or mint, and sit down to devour the first book in the series, A Morbid Taste for Bones. If you need to get in touch with me at least you'll know where I am, visiting the town of Shrewsbury in the 12th century!

©2010 Salynne Wilde