![]() The energy of the sun is beginning to wane and days are drawing in as we shift towards Autumn and the darker days of Winter. I admit to having mixed feelings at this time of year and myths and stories associated with Lammas help me shed light on them. They are all rich in metaphors that explain the cyclic nature of sowing, growing, harvesting and then death and are worth reading. The myth of Demeter and Persephone is another. The tale of John Barleycorn who suffers greatly and eventually surrenders his life so that others can live, sustained by the grain that has come from him is one. There are many legends and stories that illustrate the festival of Lammas and its deep meaning of death and rebirth: at harvest time, the grain dies so we can feed from it and provides us at the same time with the seeds of harvests to come. Magical and full of wonder too, for each sheaf of grain - or tomato - contains within itself the seeds of future harvests. Just like that first loaf of bread made with the new grain of the season was traditionally honoured and shared at Lammas, picking and eating our first ripe tomato is very special indeed, a real celebration of all our labours since the seeds were sown in early Spring. We have an abundance of mint, oregano, rosemary and thyme and they are hanging in little bunches on the Sheila Maid before I chop them up and store them in little containers in the fireplace in the dining room, bundles of cornflowers, feverfew, grasses, lavender and marjoram flowers are hanging upside down to dry and I plan to arrange them into a rustic wild wreath in the Autumn. I also picked some unripe walnuts mid-July (we were determined to beat the squirrels to them this year!!) and have some "vin de noix" doing its magic in large jars in the kitchen.Īs well as homegrown produce, I have picked some herbs and flowers to dry. This year, I have also had a go at making fruit vinegars: raspberry, redcurrant and rosemary as well as blackcurrant. I have added to the pantry shelves jams, jellies and bottles of cordials made from our homegrown soft fruit. ![]() Our veg patches and polytunnels are abundant right now and it's a busy time for us harvesting and processing the foods we have grown over the last few months, feasting on our fresh produce gathered daily and also preserving some for the months ahead. We don't grow grain here but this time of year when we gather baskets of homegrown veg and fruit is a celebration all the same, the culmination of what our self-sufficient (ish) life here is all about. Growth of early Summer is visibly slowing down and the power of the sun goes into ripening grain and fruits. We are now at peak Summer when the harvest season begins in earnest. The word 'Lammas' comes from 'loaf mass' and indicates how important and meaningful the first grain and the first baked loaf of the harvesting cycle are. On the Wheel of the Year, this point is Lammas, a celebration of the first harvest, the Grain Harvest. The long days of Summer are drawing in and we are making our way towards Autumn. As we move into August, we pass the half way point in the calendar between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |