After each balmy summer comes autumn. The air chills, the days grow shorter. We gather our gloves, scarfs and winter coats. We brace ourselves against the approaching wind, cold and rain. In our fields, the sun says a final goodbye. Its work is done. Now the harvest must begin.
The word ‘harvest’ comes from the old English haerfest meaning autumn, the days between late August and November when, traditionally, we would have plucked, gathered and stowed our crops for winter.
Lives depended on the success of these crops, and entire communities, men, women and children, would work tirelessly to make sure the haerfest was finished before the first frost. During haerfest, wheat would be milled to flour, vegetables and fruits would be transformed into chutneys and jams, and fish and meats would be pickled and smoked – preserving the best of the year’s bounty for the long winter ahead. A successful haerfest would be celebrated with a gathering of overflowing plates and people. All would welcome this festival and relish this day of thanksgiving: sharing blessings for the crop and for knowing, for the first time since the seeds were sown in spring, there would be enough food, and that lives would be lived, and saved.
In the North-East, as our bountiful countryside is harvested in October, farmers would donate their excess and misshapen crops to us to distribute to those in need. And so our annual Harvest campaign started with volunteers in the kitchen chopping and preparing vegetables fresh from the fields to be stored for winter hardship. The tradition of the campaign continues to this day with communities across the city and shire working together to collect and share food with people in hunger and crisis.
To find out more about how our campaign runs today visit: weareac.org/events/harvest
