Fall: Season of Mellow Fruitfulness

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 11 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #4,991 in How-To, #53,932 overall

Autumn - The Most Beautiful Season of the Year?

Many people feel that fall, or autumn, is the most beautiful season of the year. With the leaves on trees and shrubs changing colour from green into shades of yellow, orange and red, the countryside, parks and gardens look as if they are celebrating "the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness." The effect is especially enhanced late in the day when the sun is lower in the sky and shines through the wonderful colour of autumnal foliage.

We are probably genetically programmed to love the fall. It's the season when harvest is gathered in. Our ancestors would have relied on a good harvest to get them through the winter so the colours of ripening crops must have given them great joy. This is still reflected in Harvest Festivals and Thanksgiving.

Senior Squids Challenge - August 9 to 15 - Fall 

The Colours of Autumn 

Very Popular in Autumn

This picture was taken by Arpingstone in Westonbirt Arboretum, in the southwest of England, UK. The arboretum is open to the public all year round but it is especially popular in autumn when people come to experience and photograph the wonderful colours of the trees.

Picture from Wikipedia and in the Public Domain.

More Fall Colour 

Autumn 

Music: La Petite Fille de la Mer by Vangelis
powered by Youtube

 

Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic

Amazon Price: $12.48 (as of 12/22/2009)Buy Now

Designed for children between the ages of 4 and 8, this 32 page book has one brief acrostic poem for each letter of the alphabet from acorn to zero and follows the fall season from end of summer to chilly conclusion.

The two reviews on Amazon.com give the book five stars and both comment on the lovely illustrations.

Harvest Festivals 

The Tradition of Giving Thanks for the Harvest

The picture on the right reminds me a little of Harvest Festivals in our local parish church in Devon, England, when I was a child. The difference is that Devon is a very rural county and there was far more produce given for the Harvest Festival service. Later, it would be given to those in need.

This seems to be a worldwide tradition and, in mainland Europe, the arrangement of harvest produce can be intricate and beautiful as you can see below.

 

A Harvest Festival 'Carpet', The Church of St John the Baptist, Landkreis Ravensburg, Germany

Copyright © Bene16 - Creative Commons License

More Autumn Festivals 

Thanksgiving 

A Major Fall Tradition

Thanksgiving seems to be the North American equivalent of the Harvest Festival. The difference seems to be that Thanksgiving is more generally celebrated there than Harvest Festivals are in many other countries, particularly the UK where usually only regular churchgoers celebrate. In Britain, regular attendance at church is now fairly unusual for the majority of people.

More about Thanksgiving 

Halloween 

The Day the Border between the Living and Dead Disappears

Halloween is thought to originate in the Celtic pagan festival of Samhain, a celebration of the harvest and the time to slaughter and preserve animals for winter.

Celtic pagans believed that on this day the dead could walk among the living and blight crops and cause sickness. The bonfires and fearsome masks, still traditionally part of the modern Halloween, were used in ancient times to keep these restless spirits at bay.

Halloween and Other Autumn Celebrations 

 

Pumpkin & Vines Cookie Jar Ceramic Brightly Handpainted

Amazon Price: (as of 12/22/2009)Buy Now

Intricately detailed cookie jar in the shape of a pumpkin complete with stalk, green leaves and decorative berries it stands 8" high x 9 3/4" in diameter.

Both reviews on Amazon.com describe it as "beautiful" and give it five stars.

Harvest Now, Eat Later 

Preserving Harvest Produce

I love making jam (preserves) and marmalade. I find it immensely satisfying converting excess fruit that we just couldn't eat fresh into something we can eat for months to come. I feel much the same about making pickles and chutneys too. It's good to do something that is so traditional - a task that people, usually women, have undertaken for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. It gives me a real feeling of continuity.

Just like most people, I have a modern freezer and I make the desserts and cakes with autumn fruit too. Not as traditional as making jam and canning but still very useful and frugal. Why waste food when there is such an easy way to preserve it for later use?

Recipes for Fall Produce 

 

Putting Food By (Plume)

Amazon Price: $11.05 (as of 12/22/2009)Buy Now

The fourth edition of this classic guide to freezing, canning, and preserving food includes new information on freezing for the microwave, making Christmas presents, canning convenience food, and kitchen equipment.

24 people out of 28 gave this book five stars in their Amazon.com review.

Back to School in Autumn 

Schoolgirls and teacher in cookery class, circa 1899

Fall is the time for children to return to school after the long summer vacation. It's also the time that very young children experience their first day at school - usually momentous occasion for parents and child.

Teachers Go Back to School Too 

On My Very First Day of School I Met... 

On My Very First Day of School I Met...

Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 12/22/2009)Buy Now

Amazingly colourful book for children about to start school, it introduces a wide range of crazy creatures that a child meets on the first day like a blue gnu and a purple cow. It's designed to reassure young children that they have nothing to fear when they go to school.

To Autumn by John Keats 

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Recipes for Fall 

Sarah Fritschner's Holidays: Menus and Recipes for the Fall Holiday Season

Amazon Price: (as of 12/22/2009) Buy Now

Fall Flavours: Seasonal Recipes from Canada's Best Chefs

Amazon Price: (as of 12/22/2009) Buy Now

The Taste of the Season: Inspired Recipes for Fall and Winter

Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 12/22/2009) Buy Now

Your Favourite Fall Event 

submit

Stazjia's Social Networks 

Senior Squids 

If you are a Squidoo lensmaster aged 50 or over,
come join us at Senior Squids.

About Me 

Lensmaster Stazjia has been a member since September 26 2006, has rated 1,422 lenses, favorited 860, and has created 129 lenses from scratch. Carol Fisher donates their royalties to Dolphin Communication Project. This member's top-ranked page is "Classic Funny Poems for Kids". See all my lenses

Check out these great lenses...

lens image
Art Nouveau - A Beginner's Guide
During the last quarter of the 19th century, many artists and designers were disenchanted and bored with the fussiness of art, design, style and fashion. The first revolution in style was led by the Aesthetic Movement followed by Art and Crafts. Wit... view lens
lens image
Traditional English Recipes
Traditional English food is often described as 'good plain cooking', particularly by the people who like it. In fact, most of us over about 30 or 40 years old have been brought up on it in the days when home-cooked meals were a regular occurrence. A... view lens
lens image
Angel in Disguise
How strange to become an Angel. My friends and family will laugh when I tell them as I'm sure they'll agree I'm a very unlikely candidate for Angel status - definitely an Angel in disguise. As I'm a volunteer, I can't complain t... view lens
lens image
St Paul's Cathedral, London
St Paul's Cathedral is one of London's most famous buildings. It may come as a surprise to learn that, although there has been a cathedral on the spot for 1700 years, the present building is only just over 300 years old. It has been used for major s... view lens
lens image
Gardening Jargon: What It Really Means
You hear gardeners using jargon like 'vigorous' or 'free seeding' to describe the attributes of plants but do these terms describe desirable or undesirable qualities? Should you be pleased when you read that the plants you just bought are 'strong gr... view lens

by Stazjia

I am English and I've spent the last 11 years writing freelance for UK magazines, a couple of books and online. More on my Lensography.





squidoo giant 100 club (more)

Explore related pages

Create a Lens!