What you may ask is wassailing? It is the wishing of good health upon either someone’s home or upon an orchard. By singing, drinking cider and making lots of noise evil spirits are scared away and the trees are awakened to ensure a good harvest of fruit.
The king of the wassail
At the Piper’s Orchard wassail a king was elected to lead the procession through the trees and bits of toast were passed out to put in the trees.
Toasting the tree.
Much delicious cider was drunk and the Sound and Fury Morris dancers capered to the music of accordion, drum and fiddle.
Belled Morris dancers.
Doing a scarf dance.
Traditional songs and chants were sung as well such as: “Here’s to thee, old apple tree, That blooms well, bears well. Hats full, caps full, Three bushel bags full, An’ all under one tree. Hurrah! Hurrah!”.
A Green Man visiting the orchard.
Lastly a bit of cider was poured near each tree in homage and encouragement.
Piper’s Orchard was planted on the Piper Family Homestead sometime after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. It is part of Carkeek Park and is now maintained by Seattle Parks staff and a dedicated group of orchard stewards. Check out this map to see all the different heirloom varieties growing there. It’s a great way to learn how to take care of trees, meet new friends and give back to your community. They are looking for new volunteers; if interested contact them at pipersorchard@gmail.com.
Last year was an amazingly bountiful fruit year; let’s all raise a cup to another year of plenty!
I'd love to hear from you!