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Years ago, in what feels like a completely different life, I was a farmer. I was married to a farmer who worked the land. We had the care of 500 acres, with 3 barns, a silo, and a pasture with a creek.  My garden back then was 5 acres. I grew tomatoes, squashes, watermelon, and pumpkin. We also had a hundred-year-old apple tree that produced a good crop of apples for me each year. I harvested wild berries for jam, asparagus grew wild by our creek, and gosh, we even caught fish from our pond to preserve ourselves. For some crops, we were in harvest throughout the warm months; for example, tomatoes in a big garden yielded many jars of homemade stew tomatoes and ketchup. From the apple trees, we put up pie apples and applesauce. When the corn started umm good on the table and I’d blanch and freeze to add to the deep freeze for corn on the cob all year long.

But there were some crops, the crops in our large fields that were harvested in the fall. We’d wait till the last, just before the snow flew, to get them in. You see, to harvest grains, they needed to go till they were dry (dried out), so they wouldn’t rot in our silo as we waited for just the right time to sell at market. Grains were sold at the grain elevator. We had an old pick-up truck and a big grain wagon; I could hitch up and drive in when my husband would be working in the fields.

One more thing about harvest, and planting for that matter, was that it was for the women, all about keeping the men well-fed as they teamed up to help each other. We didn’t own a Combine, that was our uncles, and we couldn’t possibly clear the plant fields rapidly without help. So the men worked round the clock, ending at 1 or 2 am and back at work between 5 and 7 am.

And for the wives, well, we would cook 7 meals daily and bring to the fields, haul loads home or to market and take care of the kids. Some women would take over milking and animal chores as well to make it all come together.

The big rush, the crops needed to be dry but shouldn’t be wet from rain and snow. All farm life felt like a gamble; there was no set price for the grains or the hogs and cattle; you got what was offered the day you sold. At the time, my young husband wasn’t always so lucky on his timing. We were poor and wore hand-me-down clothes. I hadn’t had a new pair of shoes in 6 years and got a new dress in the Woolworth store for $1.50. Neighbors would share eggs and milk, and produce from their gardens with us. Everything we made financially, which was so little, went back into the business.

Harvest was our life. It indicated how difficult it would be in the coming year. My goal was to put up as much as possible so we could live off our produce for the entire year, and with a deep freeze, one hog and one steer were reserved for butchering. My man would infrequently catch a rabbit as well, which I would prepare. It tasted much like chicken. The butchering was way beyond my capabilities, hugely traumatic, and launched me into a vegetarian life after the divorce for 16 years despite my blood type needing more protein.

I do see all these invites and descriptions of gatherings saying harvest celebration. They have corn stocks and scarecrows, pumpkins, and games/rides. And I ponder this notion. Harvest time wasn’t a time of play; it was a time of coming together, teamwork, and very long exhausting hours. We were focused and intent on accomplishing the vital work that needed to be done to feed the nation. We didn’t celebrate anything till thanksgiving, where large gatherings of friends and family enjoyed delicious culinary delights with laughter and joy ringing throughout the large farmhouse kitchens and dining rooms. Some much food was prepared that we’d eat off the leftovers for a full week. This was harvested in Bigelow, Minnesota.

We do need a reason to celebrate and have fun; I don’t wish to put a damper on the festivals planned. The key things I am reminded of from harvest in my 7 years living as a farmer:

1. Prepare and cultivate You must plant, fertilize and weed if you hope to get a good yield 2nd Corinthians 9: ¹⁰ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
2. Equip and come together All farmers had tractors, and plows but the sharing of things like combines was important for the entire farming community to thrive. Those who had been in the farming the longest often were able to be the ones with the fancy equipment, and it was natural that everyone would bring what they had in an effort to get the neighbor’s crops in. No one was in it for themselves at the moment of harvest (and planting) (Biblical principle to whom much is given much is required) Luke 12:45-48.
3. Talents and Roles Everyone has their gifts to bring, and all are vital to the harvest. Like most farmwives, I was responsible for all the meals served in the house and the fields. I drove the truck with a wagon of grain to market to just get it safely home in a pinch. 1. Corinthians 12:7-1 1 “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person, the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another, the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else, the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.
4. Process and Put Up Where grains needed to dry, fresh produce needed to be canned or frozen. Each food had its own method, and the proper preparation and execution of putting foods up meant food all year, even when there was no money for shopping. Genesis 41:49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
5. Appreciation and Prayer Working the land is a sacred duty. It is a precious honor and a gift. MY former husband would comment how he could almost hear the voice of God speaking to him in the dark night while he completed his 15th or 16th hour of harvest for that day. God is present and palpable to those who work the earth. Unlike organized churches that may be confusing in what it says about God and His love,  the land is God’s abundant glory. His gift to us. Corinthians 3:16Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

What harvest is not: ghouls, goblins, scarecrows, spiders, witches, ghosts or demons, or hordes of candy. It is not amusement park rides, games, or tricks and treats.

If you choose to celebrate the harvest, keep in mind what the real harvest is. It is the life-giving, precious, and palpable experience of God on earth providing nourishment for His beloved children.