September Notebook - The Harvest Issue
Apple festivals, moon-bathing and cosy knitwear
Hello!
OK, I’m calling it, Autumn has started.
How that sentence makes you feel will depend entirely on whether you have a Summer soul or an Autumn soul. I firmly believe we are divided into two camps on this one.
I, for one, am Autumnal to my bones. There can never be too many apple crumbles, cosy candles or woodland walks in my world. So I very much welcome the onset of the cosy season.
But I also have lots of empathy if you have a Summer-loving soul and are struggling with the turn of the wheel. If this is you, my hope is that this post will be so stuffed full of good September-y things that after reading it you will be somewhat cheered and bolstered for the month ahead.
And if you’re already in the Autumn-loving camp with me, then here we are again; the wheel has turned, the cosy season has started, welcome home!
Shall we set off? We’ll start with a dive into some of the best things about this month, then move on to some of the nicest things to see, do and eat, followed by a dash of weird and wonderful September folklore.
Things to Love about September:
Apple Season
Apple pie, Apple crumble, apple cake, apple juice… September marks the start of apple season and who’s looking forward to it? You can imagine I will NOT be letting this excellent occasion slip past unnoticed. I’ll be sending out a dedicated Apple Season newsletter next week, stuffed with recipes, folklore and Apple Day activities. Subscribe now to get your copy, and stand by your apple-picking baskets!
Cosy knitwear
Cosy season means it’s now officially knitwear season. If you feel as excited about this as I do, then I sense you have an Autumn soul too. I never have a clue how to dress in Summer, but as soon as Autumn arrives I hit my stride. Jumpers, scarves and boots come out of the wardrobe and I layer, layer, layer. It’s heaven. You can also layer your home with knitted throws and blankets too, which is double the fun.
September flowers
Two of my favourite garden flowers are now in full, beautiful bloom - dahlias and cosmos. Both can go on flowering right up to the first frost of autumn, so hopefully we’ve got a few more weeks of colour left. If you want your garden to keep giving you colour into September, then I highly recommend planting either of these. Dahlias are my all time favourite, as they have that old fashioned, Cottagecore look that I love, but they can be a little bit fussy to look after. Cosmos on the other hand deliver a LOT of flowers for very little effort, so are good for those of us who are busy or distracted (raises hand).
Harvest Festivals
Harvest festivals traditionally take place on the full moon nearest to the Autumn equinox which is at the end of September and I love everything about them. The food, the decorations, the table displays… Harvest festivals just feel cosy, comforting and deeply traditional. The stuff of Cottagecore dreams.
I’ll be sending out a special Harvest Festival newsletter on the Autumn Equinox, so stay tuned for that later this month.
Conkers
I don’t think you ever outgrow the impulse to collect conkers do you? I certainly haven’t. The Woodland Trust have a guide to playing conkers, in case you need a refresher. But if you’re too grown up for all that (boo hiss), you can always use them as natural insect repellents indoors - they keep spiders away according to folklore. Or put them in a dish on your mantlepiece and admire them.
September skies
September skies can be some of the most beautiful of the entire year - have you ever noticed this? There’s a particular kind of deep, clear blue that is unique to this month. Combined with the strong, rich colours of the hedgerow and intense pinks and purples of garden flowers this time of year, September can be a beautiful month to be outside. There’s often a spell of warm weather at this time of year too, a sort of final goodbye to the summer, that makes being outdoors even more lovely.
Feeling suitably September-y yet? I hope so. Right, here’s your list of things to do, see and eat this month:
1. Visit a flower field
Farms across the UK change from ‘pick your own strawberries’ to ‘pick your own dahlias’ at this time of year and I couldn't be happier about it. My son is very cross that the strawberries are finished at our local farm, but I was first in line with my scissors when the dahlia field opened.
It was my son’s first trip to a flower field and it was also his first time wielding a pair of very sharp scissors, so we had a slightly chaotic and haphazard cutting session where he lunged enthusiastically at every single flower bud and I attempted to guide his colour choice as well as keep all his fingers intact. An intense 15 minutes all round. But apparently he loved it and is keen to go back.
I did a quick google search for Pick your own Dahlias and there seem to be quite a few farms that now offer this all over the UK, so I have my fingers crossed that there might be one near you.
2. Moon bathe under the Harvest Moon
The Harvest Moon is the name given to the full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox and this year it falls on the 29th September and it is also a supermoon, so it should be a really bright and magical one. Make sure to keep your eyes open for it. There is so much lovely folklore attached to the Harvest Moon and I love all the mystery and romance of it.
If you’re interested in the concept of Lunar Living, take a look at this post to find out more. (And if you’re over a certain age, I bet you’re now humming this song.)
3. Celebrate the Autumn Equinox / Harvest Festival
The 23rd September is the Autumn Equinox - the second time in the year when the day and night are equal length (the Spring Equinox in March being the other one) and a marker point in the Wheel of the Year. Most villages traditionally had a big Harvest Festival celebration around the time of the Equinox and lots of the rituals around this day follow themes of abundance and gratitude to mark the end of the harvest season.
For ideas on how to celebrate it, keep an eye out for my Equinox newsletter at the end of the month.
4. Update your Seasonal Shelf
If you like to bring in a few seasonal things to make a display indoors each month, then this month it’s all about early-autumn treasures. Acorns, conkers, leaves and rosehips are all nice things to collect and display this month. I’ll also be lighting a candle for cosiness and I like to dig out some of my favourite autumn books at this time of year too, ready for cosy reading-season to begin.
5. Eat something - anything - with Blackberries in
Blackberry crumble, blackberry cobbler, spiced blackberry and apple pies… blackberry season isn’t over yet, so this month is the last hurrah for blackberry-flavoured everything. If you missed my blackberry special newsletter, never fear, you can read it here. It’s packed with recipes, folklore and foraging tips. Hop over and take a look.
September Folklore
Finally, here are a few of pieces of September folklore / folk traditions for you to squirrel away this month, ready to impress, surprise or completely baffle someone at the appropriate moment.
1. Collect hazelnuts on 14th September but never on the 21st
The 14th was traditionally the best day of the year to go nutting for hazelnuts and it used to be a public holiday in England, with children given the day off school to go out into the woods to collect them. (I vote we bring this holiday back!) Folklore has it that any hazelnuts gathered on this day will be at their most ripe and delicious. Not a day before and not a day after.
However, you should never go out collecting hazelnuts on the 21st, or on a Sunday, as according to folklore, these are the days the Devil goes out collecting hazelnuts. I’m not sure what happens if the 14th falls on a Sunday mind you, but I’ve just checked and it falls on a Thursday this year, so we should be ok.
That said, there won’t be any hazelnuts left on the tree in my garden by then anyway because the squirrels have already started pinching them and burying them all over the garden ready for winter.
2. Predict the weather on Michaelmas Day
29th September is Michaelmas Day and this day is jam-packed with superstition and folklore. It was historically known across the UK and Ireland as one of the four quarter days in the year, a time when when rents were due and balances paid. These quarter days roughly match up to the pagan celebrations of the solstices and equinoxes, so it’s likely they had pagan roots long before they were given Saint’s names by the church.
As I mentioned in my blackberry season post, blackberries should never be picked after Michaelmas Day, in case the Devil has got to them. But it’s also a big day for weather predicting. So here are a few pieces of weather lore to recount on this day:
“If Michaelmas Day be bright and clear there will be two Winters in the year.” (a long, cold winter)
“If St Michaelmas Day brings many acorns, Christmas will cover the fields in snow”
“If it doesn't rain on St Michaels a dry spring is indicated for the next year”
“A dark Michaelmas means a light Christmas”
Ok, that’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed your September newsletter and I hope you have a wonderful month filled with blackberries, harvest festivals, hazelnut gathering, moon bathing and cosy knitwear.
Now it’s over to you! Tell me about your favourite September rituals in the Comments below. I love how this has become a space for us all to have a nice seasonal chat once a month. I really look forward to reading all your ideas and suggestions.
I’ll see you next month for a spooky October edition of the Monthly Notebook. October is officially witchy season so we’ll be diving into pumpkin recipes, bonfires, autumn-colour walks, and - as always - a sprinkling of weird and wonderful folklore. Look forward to seeing you there. If you haven’t already Subscribed then just click below to make sure that post arrives safely in your inbox.
Vicky xx
I wish it were cold enough for the knits here in Virginia, but it’ll continue with warm/hot weather for another month yet! That being said, we will be seeing cooler mornings, and we absolutely get those skies (I even commented on it to my husband this morning!). Apple season is also a big deal here, with several pick your own orchards, and of course a few ciderworks. I’m definitely considering Apple and blackberry crumble now though 😉
What a wonderful positive piece of writing. Loved it. I didn’t know about not picking hazelnuts on certain days/dates. I’m a true summer fanatic, but I do love enjoying all the seasons. This week coming is full on sunshine, so I’m going to bask in it.