Midsummer Herb Harvests

after a morning in the garden

Some folks have asked me what rituals I do when I harvest herbs and have requested that I share some photos of those harvests. This is just a post sharing a bit about that.

Just like pretty much every other activity around here, rituals for herb harvesting are often of an offertory nature. In this case offerings are left for land spirits and for one of my household deities. Since the bigger herb harvests begin around the end of June, my seasonal altar will be dedicated to Airmid from Midsummer until around the end of July, when it will then be set up for Lughnasadh. 

During this period regular offerings such as herbal tea, incense, herb bread and butter, salads, and fresh cut flowers are left to Her on the altar. Frequent offerings of honey and tobacco to land spirits are left out in a place in our garden dedicated to them, which is done year round.

A part of the altar is also dedicated to pollinators, with offerings of thanks for all the work they do in the garden.

Just like when I harvest plants from the wild, I will make offerings to the plants I am harvesting, usually that will be a nourishing powder mixture that I make {more about those will be talked about in the future} and I will let the plants know what I intend to use the harvests for. Sometimes when being harvested for a particular purpose, I will harvest them at a certain time of day and at a certain phase of the moon. These harvests are usually accompanied with spoken charms.

The photos below were taken during one of the days that I did a general harvest during the time of the full moon.

Wormwood

Lemon Balm

Perriwinkle, Motherwort, Lady's Mantle, Peppermint, and Sweet Woodruff

Common Comfrey

Throughout the rest of the season I will still harvest herbs right up until the frosts, although the yields tend to be quite less.

For those who are interested, I post more often about our garden on the nefaeria blog.

Sláinte!

Laurel