One of my favorite things to do is to sort through traditional observances from all around the world and find things that resonate for me and my family. My own celebration of the wheel of the year is generally secular, but I enjoy drawing on these ancient practices that have been celebrated for as long as we have records. This turn of the wheel I was struck by a Germanic/Slavic tradition of lighting an actual wheel on fire and rolling through town into a river. I initially discounted this for being ridiculously dangerous, but I kept thinking about it.
I was then reading that people spread the ashes from their solstice fire on their gardens to make them extra healthy and productive. I have been having a pretty terrible garden year, invasive thistles have absolutely choked every single inch of my vegetable garden. (Seriously, every inch.) We have been pulling thistles every weekend for months and they only seem to get stronger. We had already started stacking them in the fire pit to burn because they can’t be composted because they are so noxious. My wheels then started turning (pun intended) and I thought about adding the ash from the thistles back to the garden because it clearly needs some help!
I then arrived on making a “wheel” made from all of these weeds that I have been tirelessly pulling out of the garden that was intended to burn in the fire. My son and I had randomly been talking about artwork that is meant to be lit on fire so it was on the brain already. It allowed me to use all these weeds that are stealing the nutrients from my garden, looked festive and lovely and added fertility back to the soil. I didn’t use any thistle in the actual wheel, because its horrifically spiky, but not to worry I have a huge variety of other weeds at my disposal. I decided to lean in to the idea of supporting the soils and the health of the garden and collected lots of comfrey and dock, both of which have big huge taproots and pull nutrients up from deep in the ground and make them more available for other plants. I used “sticky” plants like bedstraw and vine-y plants like porcelain berry to lash the whole thing together. I have a terrible mint infestation in my garden (former owner planted mint in the ground. Who does that?!?) so I threw that in for scent as well since the whole thing would eventually end up on the fire. It came together very quickly and wasn’t complicated to make. Knowing that it will ultimately be destroyed stops you from being precious about it I think. I wanted to reference the wheel that was the initial inspiration, so I stabbed 8 rigid stick like weeds through the wreath I had built. They looked lovely and added structural support. The best part is that they divide the wheel into 8 sections, one for each turn on the wheel of the year.
The final part of this artwork is of course spreading the ash in the garden. Ash can increase soil fertility and raise soil pH. It contains nutrients that can be beneficial for plant growth including calcium potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and sulfur. I will also take the carbonized bits of wood that are left and make a fertilizer soaked biochar. Biochar is carbonized wood. It’s full of little air pockets, which makes it both a great medium of beneficial fungi and perfect for a soak in some homemade comfrey fertilizer. I love that this terrible garden problem comes full circle and provides nutrients for the space. It was also beautiful and fleeting to watch it go up in flames on our Solstice fire.
The ritual of lighting it on fire was super satisfying and we can’t wait to collect the ashes and biochar to improve the garden!
Making a Weedy Fire Wreath for Solstice
You can make this with any garden weeds that you don’t want to compost. I threw my thistles on the fire, but didn’t use them in the wreath because they are too spiky. I would make sure to include something like dock or comfrey with a deep taproot and tons of nutrients.
Materials:
- weeds, lots pulled straight from the garden
- vine-y weeds to hold everything together (if you don’t have vine-y weeds use string)
- comfrey, dock or other “nutritious” weed
- mint, lemon balm or other sweet smelling weed
- 4 weeds with straight rigid stems (I honestly don’t even know the name of what I used…)
- weedy flowers for decoration
Method:
Start with some on the longer or vine-y weeds and lay out a circle that will fit over your fire.
Start packing clumps of weeds around the circle you have laid out and wrap them into place with vines (or string) pack it all together tightly and work in the comfrey and mint as you keep wrapping. You can build up several layers, the more you build up the stronger it will be. Keep in mind that it will shrink down somewhat as it dries out as well.
After you are happy with the bulk of the wreath, stab the spokes through the wheel. They don’t need to be secured with anything.
Last, add some flowers and embellishments as you see fit. Place your wheel in direct sun for a few days and let it dry out completely. When it’s completely dry, place it gently on the fire and enjoy!
