NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

Hello and welcome to Sacred Tree Spirit’s inaugural monthly newsletter. You can expect some soulful seasonal recipes, updates on what I’ve been making in my woodturning workshop and forge, upcoming craft events, and other newsy titbits from my neck of the (literal) woods…

Enjoy and thank you for reading! Jon 🙂

Elevate your Flippin’ Game!

A local beech tree limb I salvaged has been given a new life as a kitchen utensil, or rather a beautification (the collective noun) of spatulas! Inspired by Swedish butter knives, these spalted spatulas are finished with walnut oil and are perfect for flipping pancakes, stir-frying or emptying cake mix from a bowl! They’re also available in a selection of other timbers in my shop or online.

Word of the Month: lathe

One of the oldest known machine tools, the ‘lathe’ or ‘læth’ in Old English is a portmanteau of two English words: hlæstan (to twist) and læst (tool), which mean ‘twisty tool’.

An Eventful November

November is set to be a busy month, with STS taking part in not one but two events. First up is Three Pools Permaculture Farm’s ‘Winter Market’ on Saturday 29th November (11am – 4pm), where I’ll be exhibiting alongside other local craft and foodie stallholders (www.threepools.co.uk) I’ll also be sprucing up and restocking my shop for part two of H.Art Herefordshire Art Trail (h-art.org.uk) from Sunday 30th November to Sunday 7th December, between 11am and 5pm. Pop in to say hello and take a tour of my workshops, forge and craft school, with plenty of woodland trails on the doorstep.

Sitting Pretty

As a maker I enjoy the journey of making several iterations of a form and observing the progression. This process allows me to find a point of flow and produce an object that ‘feels’ right. I’ve been prototyping stools and roughing-out seats and legs in preparation for upcoming stool-making workshops. Please send me a message if you’re interested in joining!

A Fruitful Autumn

It’s been a berrylicious season for fruit lovers and foragers. STS’s hawthorn tree has been prolific this year, with plenty to go around for everyone, including squirrels and birds! In the past I’ve made fruit leathers, but this year I decided to try my hand at hawthorn syrup.

Recipe: To fill one jam jar add 400 grams of washed haws to a pan (don’t worry about the odd stalk), then add 400 grams of demerara sugar and a splash of water. Simmer until you have fully softened fruit. Once cooled a bit, push through a fabric mesh to catch the stones (three tablespoons at a time). You will need to scrape the outside of the mesh on the jar to fill the jar up. Discard the goo-covered stones into another container for making a calmative tea.

An Ancient Tonic: An antioxidant-rich berry, haw’s health benefits are far-reaching. They’re great for lowering blood pressure, reducing inflammation and anxiety, boosting heart health and supporting digestion.