Harvest really is a special time of the year... like no other. I often ride on the combine harvester with my husband and every year he tells me with the same enthusiasm as the year before... "just think, this is our daily bread, our year's work, how we feed our family and feed others." When the mountains of grain are piled up to the ceiling in the storage barns, it is awe-inspiring to catch a glimpse of this small part that his family plays in the big picture.
This year an "Erntefest" (harvest celebration) was held, which is basically just a time of celebrating the work that was done with a nice meal. Everyone who partook in harvest gathered to enjoy "the fruits of their labor". My mother in law made a special "Erntekrone" (harvest crown) with the four common crops that they had on the farm this year... wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
It is this preserving and holding onto traditions that I appreciate and love so much about this country. Do you have any special fall traditions?
oh how lovely! I didn't realize you were so connected with the farming community here. How interesting! We love forest walks/hikes through the trees and their colored leaves. I feel like fall is happening so early this year - but if there's any color left in October, we'll enjoy some day hikes in Bayern over the fall break.
ReplyDeleteJust delightful! I can't think of many fall traditions, except that the baking seems to start up again in our house, and as the days grow shorter & cooler, so do the inside art projects with the kiddo.
ReplyDeleteJuliette, we actually live just outside of Hamburg, but my husband's family purchased a farm in East Germany after the reunification. My husband grew up on a farm, and helps each year with harvest, so we are kind of halfway connected. I do miss the vibrant colored leaves of West Virginia though... they just don't seem to have the same effect in flat Northern Germany.
ReplyDeleteDana, baking and art projects... sounds like great future memories.
your mil is adorable. Liebe gruesse unbekannteweise, by the way. :) I love the harvest crown.
ReplyDeleteI like tying together peppers, peperoncino to be exact, making a chain. They are beautiful.
Wo in Ostdeutschland habt ihr das Hof? Das ist echt geil :=)
A very precious moment in the year... I don't really think it's a tradition, but one of my grand mother kept an ear of wheat every year in her kitchen...
ReplyDeletethat looks wonderful , I love fall
ReplyDeleteone day I have to look at that village
i adore the photo of the grains... so clean and full of light; a beautiful post.
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