A tale of birds, sticky berries and a new experience in our garden… Background: Mistle Thrushes, named after their fondness for mistletoe berries, are the main 'vector' of mistletoe in the UK.  They are one of the few birds that recognise the white berries as edible, and put up with their stickiness.  But they are inefficient, gorging on the berries, swallowing them whole and excreting the undigested seeds, still in a sticky slime, at random.  […]

The Galaxy 'Mistletoe Kisses' chocolate bar (see blog for Oct 10th) is proving very popular this season – I seem to find it in every shop I visit, though maybe that's just me.  They've been very clever with some media stories about people's experiences of mistletoe kisses, with similar wording but regionally varying stats being quoted in local papers across the country.  I'll try and get access to the data if I can. And there […]

I've been getting a few queries recently about mistletoe on oak – and where to obtain it in Britain – and this ad, from last Saturday's Times, may be the reason. I'll say more about it below.  But first some background on mistletoe on oak… The short answer to these queries about where to get oak mistletoe in Britain is that 'you don't'.  Mistletoe is incredibly rare on oak here, and doesn't grow well when […]

Two apparently conflicting stories about mistletoe in the media in the last few days – one about a glut of mistletoe, and one about a shortage.  Confused?  Well much of the media is, but actually there’s no conflict at all. The ‘glut’ as reported in recent blogging and in several recent papers (the Observer and the Daily Telegraph 2 weeks ago and the Mail on Sunday today), is all to do with the abundance of […]

A good mistletoe day in Tenbury Wells today – Mistletoe Queen crowning etc etc, Mistletoe Tea being drunk in the streets, Charity Mistletoe Auction, Oklahoma Mistletoe linkages, loads of media interest, all topped off (for a few) by a Druid mistletoe ceremony… A bit busy/too knackered to say much on this just now -some pics (mainly of the Queen crowning etc ceremony, and the Charity mistletoe Auction) below – click to enlarge.  Will add some […]

Too busy to blog much of this week, as literally dealing with loads of mistletoe. That's loads we've been cropping from the trees, and heaving through muddy fields, and filling up cars (those berries get everywhere…), and then dispatching round the country.  It's hard work – as a load of mistletoe can be very heavy….

Well, I had a good National Mistletoe Day yesterday (1st Dec) – spent much of it dealing with mistletoe matters, so it must be December… Today was no different – up at sparrowfart (aka dawn)  to do some local radio interviews on, er, mistletoe, and then off to the second Tenbury Wells Mistletoe Auction of 2008.  No pictures today – in too much of a rush.  Quick chat with a few traders, including Nick from […]

Info for journalists… A new News Release about Tenbury Wells twinning with Oklahoma City for the 2008 Mistletoe Festival season is now available at www.teme-mistletoe.co.uk/festival07/images/MtoeFest08_NR02.pdf