The Pumpkin Harvest 2010
2010
From the journals I have read, I know that my ancestors prayed over their fields, crops and gardens. Having an abundance of food to put away for the winter often meant the difference between life and death. If their crops failed, if the wind blew the fruit from their trees too soon, if pests ate their beans and peas . . . they couldn’t replace what they lost until the next season. I can go to the store. One of my heroines, Patty Bartlett Sessions, sat on her porch most days in September and October guarding her orchards with a shotgun. Every peach and apple was like gold to her. Not only did our ancestors dry fruit and jerk meat and store potatoes and onions in root cellars, they joined a sophisticated culture of barter where their crops and skills could be traded for something they needed but didn’t have.
Many of our pumpkins are already orange. Even though we planted them later this season, they ripened sooner than we wanted them to. We decided to harvest the orange pumpkins and store them in a cool place at least until October. Whether they make it or not we’ll just have to see. So much of the fun of the harvest for the boys is using Grandpa’s pumpkin knife. Ordinarily a boy wouldn’t be able to find it if he tried. Grandpa hides things. But, Grandpa watched while the boys cut the pumpkins from their vines.
We are not counting on the pumpkins for our winter food. We are going to make jack-o-lanterns out of most of them. Our ancestors prayed over their gardens. They prayed over pumpkins, beans, peas, potatoes, onions and every other food, fruit or crop that had been planted and needed to be harvested before the snows came. They prayed over animals and weather and those who were ill. Understanding the anxiety our ancestors must have felt when the winds came or the snow fell or the insects swarmed helps me to understand why they lived so close to their faith and why it is good for our souls to plant a garden.
