Full Moon – Page 2 – Wineberry Woods

24Jan 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Wolf Road Donuts

My favorite interpretation of the name Wolf Moon relates it to the Wolf Trail or Road—a traditional Blackfoot name for the Milky Way. In northern climates, the stars in the winter sky are much brighter and clearer than during the rest of the year because there is so much less humidity, meaning there is no haze to obstruct your view. While teh night of a full moon isn't always the best for star gazing (but do some January star gazing for sure!), it does provide a great opportunity to learn about the Wolf Road and make these amazing donuts for a Wolf Moon celebration. I use store bought donuts (that account for everyone's allergies) making this a deceptively easy project. Chocolate Wolves: food safe silicone wolf mold chocolate melting wafers (dark,…

25Nov 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

Rosehip Syrup after a Frost

Frost Moon, Full Moon, Recipes, Winter

Rosehips are one of my favorite things to forage. The woods around me are overrun with invasive multiflora rose and while its hips are quite small, they still make a delicious rosehip syrup. In North America, Rosa multiflora was originally introduced from Asia as a soil conservation measure, a natural hedge to border grazing land, and as a hardy rootstock. It proved much too hardy and quickly escaped cultivation crowding out native species with dense hedges and popping up in wooded areas. Multiflora hips can be harvested without concern, as they are invasive and not a preferred wildlife food. They are also fun and easy for kids to forage- the hips are bright red and easy to spot! Like all roses, the multiflora produces hips that are edible. Rosehips are…

23Nov 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Crystalizing Frost Paint for the Frost Moon

Craft Project, Frost Moon, Full Moon, Learning, Nature Art, Play, Winter

November is the time that the really frosty mornings start for us. The Assiniboine and Creek people call this moon the Frost Moon, the Anishnaabeg and Passamaquoddy call it the Freezing Moon, and the Algonquin tribes call it the Much White Frost on Grass Moon. The Abenaki refer to the Freezing River Maker Moon, and the Arapaho people call it the When the Rivers Start to Freeze Moon. This is a great time to explore outside and look for different types of frost. I always seem to find myself taking pictures of leaves that look like they are dusted with icing sugar. If you have old wondows like us you'll start to see beautiful feathers of frost form on them in the morning. There are even "frost flowers" that is…

25Sep 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Gluten Free Mooncakes for the Harvest Moon

Autumn, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Recipes

A mooncake is an East Asian pastry traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival celebrates the harvest and the moon. Most mooncakes consist of a thick, tender pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling, and may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in their center that symbolizes the full moon. Traditional fillings include lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste and mixed nuts in syrup. Mooncakes have a lovely design imprinted the on top. There are tons of different designs, but some traditional ones include: Chinese characters for "longevity" or "harmony", the moon, the Chinese goddess of the Moon (Chang'e), flowers, vines, and rabbits. I came across a fascinating snippet that Chinese revolutionaries used mooncakes to send coded messages in the olden days-- you had to cut the mooncake into quarters and rearrange it to decipher the words.…

24Sep 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Bunny Mochi

Autumn, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Play, Recipes

These mochi are so adorable and so simple they hardly need a recipe. I was inspired to make rabbit shaped mochi because of the East Asian myth that there is a rabbit in the moon making mochi. Rabbits have ended up playing a somewhat key role in our Harvest Moon celebrations over the year due to their associations with the moon. (Read more here) This is also simple enough to do after work when you don't have the energy for much else. (Speaking from experience...) Ingredients: pre packaged mochi. You can get these in a large variety of flavors. You want round ones. scissors black and pink food safe markers Method: Gently squish the round mochi into more of an oval shape. With the scissors snip two ears from one…

24Sep 2023 by catbird No Comments

Celebrating the Harvest Moon with Kids in Nature

Autumn, Craft Project, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Recipes

Nine fun ideas to celebrate the Harvest Moon with kids!! Save for later! Click on the images for more information.

26Jul 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

Galaxy Smoothie Bowl for the Wolf Moon

Full Moon, Recipes, Winter, Wolf Moon

The January full moon is most commonly known as the Wolf Moon. Various North American tribes have different names for it, but names for this moon largely evoke coldness or lean times. The Algonquin people call it the "Sun has Not Strength to Thaw Moon, the Arapaho refer to the "When Snow Blows like Spirits in the Wind Moon, and the Lakota people use the most concise "Hard Moon." The only direct wolf reference I could find was from the Sioux people who call this moon the "Wolves Run Together Moon. Interestingly, the Farmer's Almanac doesn't cite any sources for the Wolf Moon name, it just refers to wolves howling this time of year. My favorite interpretation of the name relates it to the Wolf Trail or Road—a traditional Blackfoot name for…

23Jul 2023 by catbird No Comments

Full Moon Names & Phenology

Full Moon, Full Moon Names, Learning

If you were to look up names for the thirteen full moons in a year, you would almost certainly discover a fairly standardized list. The source of this list is almost always the Farmers’ Almanac, which popularized its “full moon names” in the 1930s. In turn, the most likely original source for the Almanac’s list is an earlier list entitled “Indian Month Names,” which was published in 1918 by Daniel Carter Beard in his The American Boys’ Book of Signs, Signals, and Symbols, for use by the Boy Scouts of America. Nearly every list of full moon names you find will have a vague description of the origin of the names as “American Indian,” with little or no explanation. (To their credit, the Farmers’ Almanac has recently updated their descriptions…

23Jul 2023 by catbird No Comments

Strawberry Moon Cake

Full Moon, Recipes, Strawberry Moon, Summer

In many places June is the transition into summer. In much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, it’s high strawberry season, and this traditional name is shared among the Dakota, Chippewa, and Ojibwe peoples. Similarly, the Haida call this the Berries Ripen Moon, the Lakota refer to the When Berries Are Good Moon, and the Mohawk have Ripening Time Moon. For many, this is the start of summer abundance. Picking and eating strawberries is the perfect way to celebrate! Strawberry, Rose & Mint Garden Cake I recently learned that garden centers in the UK often have cafes and serve cake and tea and it kind of blew my mind. There seems to be a general association between cake and gardens there that just doesn't exist in the US– but I fully…

23Jul 2023 by catbird No Comments

Pink Moon Petal Hunt

Craft Project, Full Moon, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Pink Moon, Play, Spring

A great way to celebrate the Pink Moon is to go on a "pink" scavenger hunt and see how many bits of pink you can find creeping out after the winter. You may find some pink flowers, but pink is also in other unexpected places like leaves, sticks, and even insects! How many types of pink things can you find? Pink Moon Scavenger Hunt There are no checklists for this hunt, just look for things that are pink! They can be natural things like petals and leaves or anything else that's pink and catches your eye. You can take photos to keep track or physically collect some items. (Take care with natural items, plants are just starting over for the year so it's best to stick with things that have…

Category: Full Moon