Farmers in the arable districts were anxious about the labour force as harvest approached, and complaining of shortages. About a million regular farmworkers were employed in England and Wales in the mid-19th century, but numbers swelled during harvest, especially in the eastern arable counties. To augment their regular workers, farmers turned to anybody willing to present an able body. The village wives were recruited, and there were all sorts of casual and migrant workers – tramps, gypsies and especially the Irishmen. People used to come out from the towns to help as well, but by the 1860s, the demands of industry were reducing that supply of workers. The hop harvest in Kent was the last survival of that practice, petering out in the 20th century. These varieties are also easy to grow as they don’t require much ongoing maintenance, so are perfect for beginners, too.” 1 Cress – sowing to harvest: 5-7 days Normally falling towards the end of September, or early October, the harvest festival is the closest thing we have to a day of thanksgiving. Although today we can plan a fixed day for this celebration, in the past the harvest festival differed, based on when all the crops had been brought in. The whole community, including children, needed to help right up until the end, as lives depended on the success of the harvest. Chris Bonnett from Gardening Express said: “If you dream of harvesting your own home-grown produce but are too impatient to wait for months on end, there are certain crops you could be harvesting in a matters of days. They would sacrifice this corn along with a hare – normally one hiding in the crop - although later there was no sacrifice and model hares were made out of straw instead. This then led to the making of corn dolls, which were hung up in farmhouses, and which were supposed to represent the goddess of the grain. Offering thanks for the fishing seasons

Harvest (2022, CD) - Discogs Neil Young – Harvest (2022, CD) - Discogs

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The word ‘harvest’ comes from the Old English word hærfest meaning ‘autumn’, aptly the season for gathering the food of the land. This was a vital time of year, when success was a genuine matter of life or death. A prosperous harvest ensured that a community would be fed throughout the potentially barren winter months. It’s therefore no surprise that it was also a time steeped in superstition and, if successful, much celebration. Many of these traditions even pre-date Christianity. Technology advances have changed the harvest traditions/Credit: Getty

Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition Deluxe LP Box Set Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition Deluxe LP Box Set

In the UK the harvest festival, also known as the harvest home, is traditionally celebrated on the Sunday nearest the harvest moon. This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox, which is often between 21-23 September. The awesome sight of the glowing orange harvest moon/Getty Harvest celebrations pre-date Christianity, but it has always been seen as a very spiritual time to give thanks for the year’s crop. Symbolic corn dolls, made out of the last sheath of the harvest, were placed on banquet tables when parishes had their huge feasts. The doll was then kept until the spring to ensure the continuation of a good crop next year. This custom began with Saxon farmers, who believed the last sheath contained the spirit of the corn. Harvest 5 animals from the same herd with a single shot to the heart using a bow in Medved-Taiga National Park There were some ancient traditions behind the celebration, the form of which varied across the country. Often there was a grand procession for the last wagon-load of corn brought from the field; the Illustrated London News, a leading weekly magazine, had a picture of one at Swallowfield near Reading in 1860. The band played, a banner was held aloft and the wagon was decorated with the plaited straw corn dollies.But it’s the add-ons that make the box set, right? On the 50th Anniversary Edition of Harvest, those extras are worth the investment. First up are three outtakes from the Harvest sessions: “Bad Fog,” with an acoustic intro that evokes “Needle”; “Dance Dance Dance,” a punchy, upbeat number; and “Journey Through the Past,” a sweet song of longing with great slide work that’s already grabbed a place among my favorite Neil Young songs. Also included is a BBC live concert from 1971 (roughly a year before Harvest was released) featuring Young (with just his guitar and harmonicas) road-testing several of the new songs to an eager, attentive audience. A harvest tea or supper, shared by squire, farmer and labourer alike, was followed by dancing and merry-making. It was this final part of the day that caused consternation among the respectable classes – “unrestrained riot and excess” was how the celebration of 1867 was described in the Essex parish of Foxearth. As a result, the festival was “taken in hand by the clergyman”, and centred on a thanksgiving in the parish church.