Sunday 10th September - Harvest Moon

 The full moon this month is the Harvest Moon, traditionally the nearest full moon to the Autumn Equinox. This year it will be on Friday 29th September at 5.57 am. There's a very good chance I'll be awake then, as I have been waking just before 6 most mornings.

This is the month of Harvest Festivals - some churches (but not ours)had theirs today. I have been enjoying the little food I have managed to harvest this year. At the moment it is tomatoes and pak choi. I am tending to make a mixed green vegetable medley with the pak choi, shallots and any other vegetables to hand. It is always a good idea to cook the stalks first, and then add the shredded leaves at the last minute.

Being in the garden just makes me happy; today I transplanted cauliflower seedlings (we shall be keeping the slug hunting going!) and sowed spinach (which I haven't been successful at so far this year) and more pak choi. I was going to sow some tatsoi as well, until I read the packet more carefully and saw it said 'pak choi' in brackets after the name!

I read this quotation from a John Masefield poem earlier today;

'Best trust the happy moments - what they gave

Makes a man less fearful of the certain grave

And gives his work compassion and new eyes -

The days that make us happy make us wise.'

(It's from a very long poem called 'Biography')

I don't know if I will get round to reading the whole poem, but those lines are lovely.

I think I'll be marking Harvest Festival Sunday (whenever that will be in our church) with donations to the Trussell Trust and the Salvation Army, to help with their work alleviating food poverty. More practical for me than taking in jars and packets and cans.