Nature Connection: Harvest Days

Late August is a time of harvest for many. Vegetable gardens are full, fruit trees are heavy with fruit, and the end of berry season is drawing near. For some of us, collecting and processing any extra food we have grown or gathered is a yearly tradition. We tuck away jars of jams and pickles, freeze beans and tomato sauce, dry herbs we’ve grown for cooking and for teas.

Every year is different, of course. There are wet years and dry years, hot ones and cool ones. Each has its own rewards and challenges. Not only does the weather impact our harvests, but the various pests that love to chow down on our carefully grown and cultivated fruits and vegetables can also have an effect on what we can harvest ourselves.

Nature gives us all this bounty in late summer so we can prepare for winter. Here in New England none of our favorite crops can grow in winter. We can grow some cold weather crops, but many other foods won’t grow again until the weather warms up.

We humans are far from the only species out there hunting and gathering right now. All sorts of animals and birds are gorging on nuts and acorns, seeds and berries, and of course some of our very own fruits and veggies. We’re all getting ready for the leaner months ahead.

I went for a walk in an expansive field the other day. It was before the rain, and it was looking pretty brittle and dry everywhere I turned. It was in a part of the Cape that had hosted the periodic cicadas earlier in the summer, and the oak trees surrounding the field showed signs of that busy time. It’s hard to see all those bunches of brown leaves, but don’t worry, the oaks and cicadas have been doing this dance for more years than we can imagine, and the trees will be fine next year. Many folks are noticing the browning of leaves along the Mid-Cape Highway, especially in the Bourne and Sandwich area, and that is also the result of the cicada extravaganza. They, too, will be fine, though they look pretty sad right now.

Anyway, there were lots of grasses going to seed and many flower seedheads, and some sparrows and finches were having a feast. I stopped to look at some of the grass seed heads and was reminded that many of the grains we eat come from different kinds of grasses. Imagine all that food growing all around us for free. We walk right by so many foods, but the insects, birds, and other animals know to take their fill while they can. 

There’s a lot of variety in the available seeds. There are the various grasses and sedges, but also lots of thistles. I counted three different species on my walk. There were Queen Anne’s lace seed “baskets” still forming, and the milkweed pods are still green and not quite ripe, but the mullein and chicory had gone by. 

A few butterflies lingered at the flowers that were still blooming, and there were enough bees buzzing that I could hear them even at a distance. Grasshoppers were doing their thing, and a very loud cricket seemed as if he was looking for company. A shiny black racer whizzed across the path, surprising both of us.

As I walked, I noticed the results of the dry summer everywhere. Grasses were already turning color. There was little green to be seen. The small trees seem to have suffered the most, their branches sagging, their leaves wrinkled and brittle, darkened by the hot sun. Some will come back next year, but not all. It’s a lot of stress for a young tree.

You may have noticed that some areas have very few berries, especially on some holly trees and beach plum bushes. Others seem to be doing just fine. Much of this is cyclical, not necessarily from the drought.

Acorns that I saw were already falling and very small. Most were smaller than the tiny nail on my little finger, a big difference from the usually robust acorns we see each fall. Again, this varies by location.

All summer I have found myself thinking about food, both the abundance and scarcity of it. Harvests are not the same year to year. Some years are great while others are sparse. Weather figures in but also our care of our natural environment. Every grass, tree, flower, insect, fish, tadpole and worm is food for something, someone. The food chain is vast and interconnected. 

Our farming industries and huge grocery stores have succeeded in feeding people in reliable ways, but we are losing our connections to where food really comes from.

Go walk outside and think about food as you walk. What eats what you’re seeing? Walk in the woods, around a field, a marsh, a pond. Walk down the beach and notice the plants, the insects, the mollusks and the birds. Much of what happens at the beach isn’t visible to us, but there is a whole world of organisms beneath the surface of the sand.And then of course, there is the matter of food for the soul, which is in abundance outdoors in every season.