Did you hear that? That is the distant bleat of the cornucopia that ushers in the annual drive to pick apples, don plaid, and gather with your family. Harvest festivals and autumnal equinox celebrations predate written history by millennia, so we can’t be blamed for the instinct.
Thesmophoria was a three-day Ancient Greek festival honoring Demeter and Persephone. Fertility, spiritual connection and community gatherings were the common threads throughout the centuries: Chuseok in Korea, Sukkot, Feast of the Tabernacles, France’s Grape Harvests, Germany’s Oktoberfest.
These festivals marked the end of sowing and tending and the commencement of the reaping. Delayed gratification was finally rewarded. That’s always been part of the draw. It also marked a period of less work. Shorter days. Longer nights. Earlier bedtimes. Preparing for the long winter.
When You’d Rather Skip the Hayride
- Get connected with your food and the people who grow it. Farmers are so important, and knowing where you can access farmer’s markets, join local organic coops, or subscribe to produce boxes can satisfy that need. We suggest www.localharvest.org as a jumping off point.
- Save Monarch butterflies. Collect, distribute and replant milkweed pods. Depending on your location, milkweed pods (food supply for the dwindling Monarch population) break open from late August to mid October. The Xerces Society for the preservation of invertebrates lays out a clear plan if saving a species connects you to Gaia. https://www.xerces.org/blog/how-to-collect-seeds-from-milkweed-pod-and-plan
- Join a community clean-up day. Working together with your neighbors and friends to accomplish something feels amazing. Whether it’s raking leaves for elderly neighbors, picking up garbage at a local parklet, or helping remove non native species from nature preserves, rolling up your sleeves to take a metaphorical turn at the scythe ties you to a long and rich tradition.
Prepare for the harvest!
The bees have been hard at work harvesting pollen and making delicious honey for your special soaps. Yard work and apple picking have consequences, but you can smell like an autumn fairy while soothing sore muscles.
For the little squirrel in your life, just trying to hustle a nut, send a soft snuggly sweater. Mother Nature herself couldn’t find a cuter cross-body bag. It’s the perfect place to store your acorns for winter. Love to be in great outdoors, but don’t necessarily want that much nature up your nose? Achoo!
