This blog is a continuation of Christmas Matters, which collected together a few bits and bobs about seasonal customs, food, drink, music and what we were up to for Advent and Christmas last year. It can seem like a bit of a wasteland - or at least a time to seriously tighten your belt - by the time you get to January. But there are always plenty of things to look forward to and that's what we'll try to describe in this blog throughout the year.
We'll be looking at customs (predominantly from England) connected to the time of year, food that's in season, drinks appropriate to the time of year and activities you can do with your kids to mark the passing of the year.
Today was Plough Monday, the traditional date for the start of the agricultural year. Many older English customs were suppressed at the time of the Reformation, including the parish priest blessing the communal plough which was for anyone too poor to own their own and the lighting of candles to bless the whole cycle of planting and harvest. It's a reminder to us of the most important part of eating more locally and seasonally, which is to support the beleaguered UK farming sector. Cambridge where we live has a small but very good farmers market every week - this website helps you to find somewhere near you where you can buy directly from the producer. Channel 4 are re-showing Molly Dineen's award-winning documentary about the UK's rural economy, 'The Lie of the Land', tomorrow night. It's well worth staying up for, or setting the video.
Sadly we didn't find out if there was any Morris Dancing in Cambridge today and were stuck at home for one reason and another anyway. But we did enjoy some beautiful January King cabbage with our Irish Stew this evening, bought of course from the market yesterday morning.
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