First Fruits 2026

I never heard the term Lammas growing up—we called it “first fruits” and celebrated during the Feast of the Transfiguration, which is actually tomorrow (August 6th). Anyway…I made bread!

I’m not sure why I’ve never baked a twisted herb bread for first harvest. It's ideal for folk magic: the dough is divided into three balls, each worked with one specific fresh herb, before being rolled into a rope. The ropes are then braided, weaving together the properties of each herb. For this bread, I used sage, rosemary, and thyme from our garden, which are a fitting trifecta for renewal, purification, and protection.

I also added parsley to my altar bouquets, which has been a favorite this year.

I stopped in White Whale Books for the first time a couple of weeks ago and found an awesome book called A Literary Field Guide to Northern Appalachia. It’s a hybrid literary and natural history anthology that pairs the habitat, range, and ecology of over 70 species with art and poetry. And it not only includes trees and flowers, but mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, bugs, mushrooms…

It’s exactly my kind of thing and has already sparked a ton of inspiration for what's next.