Day 59: 2/28/13- Plant a Daffodil Bulb in a Container for St. David's Day

Day 59: 2/28/13- Plant a Daffodil Bulb in a Container for St. David's Day
New Thing- Plant a Daffodil Bulb in a Container for St. David's Day  
Inspiration: The Feast of St. David, St. David's Church Fair, The 300th Anniversary of St. David's Church  
Time: About 10 minuets     
Bottom Line: Lovely growing symbol

In his last sermon David told his monks to "do the little things, the small things you've seen me doing".

Reflection: Tomorrow is the Feast of St. David, Patron Saint of Wales and St. David's Church in Wayne! Here are a few fun facts about this saint with more found here:

• He was at the heart of the Welsh church in the 6th century
• He came from an aristocratic family in West Wales
• His mother was a saint, Saint Non
• His teacher was also a saint, St Paulinus
• He founded a large monastery in West Wales
• He was one of the early saints who helped to spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes of Western Britain
• He became Archbishop of Wales, but remained in his community at Menevia (now called St Davids)
• He was active in suppressing the Pelagian heresy
• His shrine became a great place of pilgrimage; four visits to the shrine at St David's were considered the equivalent of two to Rome, and one to Jerusalem!

You may remember two years ago when I made potato-leek soup (since the leek is one of his symbols) and went on a vegetarian fast on St. David's day in honor of his strict ascetic life-style. He was so strict with his diet that he became know as "the water saint" because that was all he ever drank. Food-wise was not much better since he only ate bread and herbs with some vegetables. 

You may also recall that it was the first time I had ever celebrated this saint in my life. However, since that time, I have been called to serve at an amazing church bearing his name that was founded by missionaries from the very church/monastery that he founded in Wales. I have also since been on a pilgrimage to Wales (learn more about the Bardsey Island pilgrimage here) which was a truly life changing trip with much of our time devoted to talking about Welsh saints and praying with them---David being chief among them as their patron. So, I am thinking it pleased him to have me learn about his amazing witness. I know it has made a difference in my life. 

Anyway, back to the Feast Day prep. One of the symbols that is associated with David and Wales is the daffodil. Here at St. David's Church, we take these plants very seriously and we are  well on our way to having 3000 of them planted all over the property in time for our 300th anniversary coming up in 2015. At our large annual fair, we have been selling daffodil bulbs in order to raise money to plant more (ever bulb you buy is actually the cost of two, so you get one to take home and plant in your garden and the Church gets one in a very nice fund-raiser). So, we bought some this year and I have been storing them all year to plant at the right time.

 

But it occurred to me that we could actually have some start growing now using a technique that works well for bulbs--"planting" them in vases. In this technique, you simply fill a long and tall container partially full of decorative rocks. Then you place the bulb in and then fill up the container with water to the bulb's level, but not all the way so that the roots will start "searching" for the water and start to grow. I have never tried this before, but have always thought it look beautiful. Hope it works!