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Bringing in the sheaves...
Aug. 27th, 2008 11:05 amSpent yesterday dressed in medieval clothes, harvesting in the last remaining village which farms using the medieval "strip farming" technique.
I've been involved in the "Luttrell Psalter" filming, and they filmed the harvest scene this time last year. If you remember this time last year, you will probably remember a dismal summer, mildewed crops and constant downpours, levened by occasional periods of extreme moistness. It was very, VERY difficult to get enough crop off the fields to make it look like a bountiful harvest for the film. When you see the film, it is obvious that everyone was very damp, and that the crop had rampaging mildew. The finished stook was very reminiscent of the scene in "The Wicker Man" where Edward Woodward is comparing the harvest pictures - little Rowan is stood amidst a sad excuse for a harvest.
This year, despite the best efforts of the media to tell us otherwise, it's actually been a fairly good crop year - periods of warmth, periods of rain and no huge storms. Well, that's what the farmer told us, anyway. The wheat was lovely and ripe, all golden and waving in the wind. A bit like a Sting song, actually... So, a group of us hardy performer types went out into a wheat strip, and reaped the harvest with hand sickles (as shown in the Psalter) and then learned how to tie a sheaf and stack a stook. It looked FAB! I also got to bring home some of the sheaves that Tim and I reaped and tied, so I will be threshing and grinding in the not-too-distant future. What fun!
Next year, I shall be planting some wheat on my allotment :-) I won't get enough to do much that is meaningful, but it will mean a lot to me to eat a breadloaf that has a little homegrown wheat in it...
[Edit: A link to some info about Laxton, the village where we were...]
I've been involved in the "Luttrell Psalter" filming, and they filmed the harvest scene this time last year. If you remember this time last year, you will probably remember a dismal summer, mildewed crops and constant downpours, levened by occasional periods of extreme moistness. It was very, VERY difficult to get enough crop off the fields to make it look like a bountiful harvest for the film. When you see the film, it is obvious that everyone was very damp, and that the crop had rampaging mildew. The finished stook was very reminiscent of the scene in "The Wicker Man" where Edward Woodward is comparing the harvest pictures - little Rowan is stood amidst a sad excuse for a harvest.
This year, despite the best efforts of the media to tell us otherwise, it's actually been a fairly good crop year - periods of warmth, periods of rain and no huge storms. Well, that's what the farmer told us, anyway. The wheat was lovely and ripe, all golden and waving in the wind. A bit like a Sting song, actually... So, a group of us hardy performer types went out into a wheat strip, and reaped the harvest with hand sickles (as shown in the Psalter) and then learned how to tie a sheaf and stack a stook. It looked FAB! I also got to bring home some of the sheaves that Tim and I reaped and tied, so I will be threshing and grinding in the not-too-distant future. What fun!
Next year, I shall be planting some wheat on my allotment :-) I won't get enough to do much that is meaningful, but it will mean a lot to me to eat a breadloaf that has a little homegrown wheat in it...
[Edit: A link to some info about Laxton, the village where we were...]
