Late Summer, Pick Your Own Produce and the Autumn Equinox

For me late August is a chance to pause before the busyness of the autumn and an opportunity to enjoy the last of the summer weather, sunrise and sunset dog walks, summer recipes and time pottering in the garden.

I also love trips to my local (PYO) 'Pick Your Own' farm for fruit and flowers. As a child we used to head out to farms in Worcestershire and Shropshire and come home with boxes of strawberries, raspberries, loganberries and gooseberries which would be turned into pies and crumbles and stored in the freezer for autumn deserts. I'm sure I ate as much as I picked as I remember hands sticky and stained with berry juice.

Over the last few years our local Pick Your Own farm has been Peterley Manor Farm which offers Christmas trees in the winter, sunflowers in late August and a pumpkin patch in the autumn along side the variety of fruit through the summer. My hands still get stained with juice but I now try to resist eating what I've picked until its been weighed! Just as my mother and grandmothers did, I prepare pies and crumbles for the freezer and the autumn months.

This year the Autumn Equinox occurs on Sunday 22nd September. In the Northern Hemisphere it marks the end of summer and the beginning of astronomical autumn and the Pagan festival of Mabon. We can also define autumn through phenology and meteorology. Phenology uses ecological and biological signs such as leaves changing colour and birds migrating to indicate the changing seasons, while meteorology uses three equal months per season and autumn begins on the 1st September.

The Harvest Moon, the full moon nearest the equinox, occurs on the 17th September 2024 and historically, the illumination of the full moon gave farmers extra hours to bring the harvest in. Once the harvest was brought home, a harvest supper was prepared to share with family and neighbours to celebrate and give thanks. Harvest suppers and festivals continue up and down the UK today and are held throughout September and October and this is perhaps the closest celebration we have to Thanksgiving.