Greetings everyone and Happy Imbolc!

We’re full of excitement, possibility, and revelry as we embark on the beginning of this new celestial year. It was so fitting to us that the Lunar New Year was such a bright and warm day. Hopefully, this is a symbol of what’s to come in 2025, the year of the Wood Snake.

We hope you enjoy following along as we dive further into the current celestial happenings with emphasis on the 3 cultural contexts we honor, the plants we’re working with, and updates on our offerings.

Imbolc & Lunar New Year

Imbolc - February 1st

Imbolc is the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox and is commonly celebrated in Celtic and European culture as Brigid’s or St Brigid’s Day.

There are many different folk stories and symbols associated with Brigid as she has been carried along with transitions and migrations of European culture, including the integration of the continent’s various Indigenous cultures and also Christian influence. Generally speaking, Brigid is known as the Goddess or Saint of Fire and Water, specifically healing spring water. She symbolizes renewal, transformations, thresholds, healing, and celebrations of the feminine, with an emphasis on milk. The holiday itself symbolizes the return of the light, rebirth, and hope for brighter, warmer days.

Some rituals to honor this holiday and Brigid are: making a St Brigid’s Cross and hanging it outside your door or making Brideogs and hanging them in the center of your home, Brigid’s Eve Feast with emphasis on butter, and hanging a cloth outside your home for Brigid to bless during the night which can be used throughout the year for healing and comfort.

Imbolc was adapted to Candlemas in Christian tradition and celebrated on February 2nd which symbolizes the acceptance of Mary and Jesus in the church 40 days after his birth. Candlemas ceremonies include lighting candles to symbolize hope and the end of winter and feasts of various adapted names.

Imbolc & Lunar New Year

Groundhog’s Day - February 2nd

Groundhog’s Day is an American holiday created in the late 1800s that honors the rituals and traditions of European Americans adapted from Imbolc and Candlemas. Specifically, the German settlers of Pennsylvania who traditionally celebrated this halfway celestial point by observing nature to determine upcoming weather and the end of winter. The German tradition was to see if a Badger came out of their den on February 2nd and if it was sunny they would go back into their den, symbolizing 6 more weeks of winter, and if it was cloudy they would explore outside their den, symbolizing an early spring. Since there are no Badgers in Pennsylvania, the Groundhog became the honorary animal for the American tradition.

This holiday became internationally renowned after the movie starring Bill Murray was released in 1993, which has an interesting message of personal transformation.

Lunar New Year - January 29th in Aquarius

First New Moon of the Year

Global Celebrations / New Year Officially Starts

The year of 2025 is known as the year of the Wood Snake which includes themes of transformation, wisdom, and intuition. The 6th Chinese Zodiac, the Snake is the midway point which also symbolizes balance. Having the element of transformative and earthly Wood, the Wood Snake is a charming, intelligent, and creative sign, but also secretive, cunning, and sometimes ruthless.

The original stewards of this land, the Cherokee people, traditionally follow a lunar year calendar, but they start their lunar year cycle with the new moon in March. This new moon is considered the New Moon of Spring and is honored with the New Moon of Spring Ceremony.

Fun fact! If you haven't set your New Year's intentions yet, now is a great time to do so, especially given the celestial influences.

Apple Tree Planting

With such a late frost for the 2024 season, we finally had the opportunity to plant some native apple trees (Malus pumila 'Arkansas Black') in early/mid-December. We are very excited to start growing our own Arkansas Black apples and hope to also plant native plum trees (Prunus americana) after the last frost.

Do you have any fruit trees growing or have you planted trees during winter before?

Cold Remedies

I don’t know about y’all but we noticed lots of respiratory illnesses going around the last couple of months and we even got one ourselves around New Year’s Day. With this in mind, we thought it would be nice to share the herbal home remedies we made to battle this without using over-the-counter or prescription medications.

A tried and true European and American cold/flu remedy is Elderberry Syrup or Elderberry decoction. We made an elderberry and cinnamon decoction using a simple online recipe, which you can find here. This website refers to this recipe as a tea, but technically when boiling with the herb rather than pouring boiling water over the herb, it is a decoction.

We also made an herbal tea blend using mostly native herbs, and one non-invasive, globally loved herb, to help us break our low-grade fevers and ward off our other symptoms. This blend included 1 part Tulsi/ Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum sanctum), 1 part Elderflowers (Sambucus canadensis), ½ part Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), and ½ part Wild Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa). After blending these herbs, add near-boiling water or allow water to boil and let rest for a few minutes before pouring it over. This helps to reduce bitterness. Allow to steep for at least 10-15 minutes and sweeten with honey to taste.

Although not the ideal pairing of herbs for all colds/flus or all cold/flu symptoms, this is a simple herbal blend that should help with the average cold/flu. Weaving together anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, antimicrobial, decongestant, and adaptogenic properties this floral, spicy blend greatly improved our well-being through the depths of our respiratory ailment.

Lastly, we also worked with another ancient herbal remedy, Fire Cider. A warming tonic considered to boost immunity, circulation, and clear sinuses this vingear-based herbal infusion works to ward off or aid with recovery from colds and flus. We took 1-3 ~2oz portions a day during our cold along with multiple cups of the tea blend described above. Some people use this, as well as Elderberry Syrup, as preventatives throughout the winter with much success!

This remedy is not for the faint of heart as the heat and flavor can be quite intense! The recipe can be customized to meet your needs and should be used with caution by those who have sensitive stomachs prone to high stomach acid. Check out Mountain Rose Herb’s blog for a general guide to making this classic remedy!

If you’d like personalized help with herbal remedies, check out our Holistic Herbal Consultations through the button below.

Gardening Consultations

It’s the perfect time to prepare seeds and garden plans for the season! The month of February is when most of our region can begin to prepare garden soil and start seeds for hardy spring plants, cabbage, kale, broccoli, onions, etc.,

Check out the 2025 Tennessee Home Vegetable Garden Calendar to start planning!

Our family’s garlic is still going strong but the kale seed planting was delayed after our last newsletter and unfortunately did not take off. We do still have some baby kale plants growing which should have a head start for the spring and have improved genetics for seed-saving in the summer. There’s always a positive lesson from the garden, even if it’s just learning to improve for next season! Stay tuned for our next newsletter for photo updates of these plants.

With all of this in mind, this time of year is especially pertinent for our Gardening Consultations which have three potential options: Food and/or Herb Beds, Native Wildflower Gardens, and Native Landscaping. Amanda and Derik team up on this service to help you enjoy more nutrient-dense food and maybe even the yard of your dreams!

Whether you’d like to grow your own produce, herbs, medicinal plants, or flowers, or simply beautify your yard in a way that’s more beneficial to our communal ecosystem, we can take the stress and research out of the process so you can enjoy the benefits without any of the headache. We can even design and install raised beds for you! Learn more about this service through the button below.

Mark your calendars for April 5th!

We’re leading an interactive walk at Rising Fawn Gardens’ Spring Farm Day. We’ll talk about the plants of spring and how to build relationships with them, as well as ecological history and information for the land of RFG and the larger Chattanooga Valley.

Thanks so much for reading and supporting our work! Please send us your thoughts or feedback as we love interacting with our subscribers. Are you celebrating the Lunar New Year, Imbolc, or St Brigid’s Day? Which traditions or rituals are you doing? Have you been working with any plants lately? Are you planning to grow a garden this year?

Best of luck in this new year and all of its bountiful potential!

Imbolc blessings, Amanda & Derik <3