Bounty of the Skies
+ The new moon rises first on Saturday, the 12th of August.
The full moon rises on Monday, the 27th.
This is the Grain Moon, so called for the many grains which have ripened by August. It is also called the Corn Moon, for the reaping of the sweet corn this month. The Native Peoples of the region name August’s moon the Sturgeon Moon, for the great freshwater fish of the North which is said to be more readily caught now.
+ Now is the season for our annual encounter with the Perseids! This star shower may be seen from now until near month’s end, though the best days for viewing are just around August 12th. This so happens to be at the rising of the new moon. Without a visible moon to shed light into the night sky, there should be a fine show of many falling stars. How fortunate for the starstruck!
Look a little while after dark, or a bit before dawn, toward the constellation Perseus in the Northeastern sky to see the splendor of the show.
Bounty of the Earth
+ In August, the gathering from gardens of marvelous fresh produce continues, and it is difficult not to be dazzled by the selection of vegetables and fruits.
This is the season to enjoy fresh greens such as lettuces, kale, spinach and chard. Moreover, green and yellow beans, Summer squashes, red and green cabbages, onions carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, potatoes, and root vegetables are field-fresh this month.
+ Amid the many Summer fruits, juicy cantaloupes and melons of various kinds are at market in August.
+ What grains may be harvested by the light of the Grain Moon? Here it is wheat, oats, corn, soybeans, green peas and sunflower as well as rye, barley, buckwheat, spelt, amaranth and others. The harvest continues into next month as well.
+ Among the great many goods harvested in late Summer is one which should not be overlooked, for this is the season for the gathering of honey. How many bee-hours it must take to produce a single teaspoon’s worth of this sweet and golden elixir! And in this age the bees face such great difficulties that every thriving hive which sends forth its bees to pollinate plants, gather nectar and make honey should evoke gratitude from we who are its beneficiaries.
I appreciate all sorts of honey: honey from linden trees, honey from fireweed, honey from flowering lavender and thyme, orange blossom honey, alfalfa and buckwheat and sweet clover honey, honey from the blooms of elderflowers. In Summer, my favorite breakfast is fresh yoghurt stirred with honey or bee pollen, pecans and blueberries. Mmm!
Seasonal Recipe
I love to cook... and yet my affections for the stove wane in Summer’s heat. On steamy days, I would by far rather assemble dishes such as a meal of bread with fresh vegetables, cheeses, olives, and a bit of sausage perhaps. Or chilled soup. Or salads crafted from diverse ingredients that do not leave me too full.
This falls by the wayside, however, when the new corn comes in. For I will gladly fire up my stove for the plump ears of sweet corn, plucked from the fields then hauled to market in bushel after bushel. One does not even need to travel to market: fresh corn may be bought along roadsides from temporary stands or out of the back of pickup trucks parked at road's edge and filled to overflowing with fresh sweet corn in the husk. I find even organic corn in this way.
My husband likes corn-on-the-cob right from the hull, uncooked. I prefer to make corn fritters and pancakes. These are so simple to prepare that I don’t have a recipe. I just slice corn from the cob, add flour, eggs, baking powder and salt; then I fry them in butter. You can eat these with more butter, plain (as I do) or with maple syrup or jam (as my husband does). They may be made with all sorts of fresh vegetables in every season. I can hardly get enough of them.
Holidays at Little Orchard House
+ Yet another thing that I love about our church is the marvelous sense of time manifest in the rhythm of days and seasons, the cycle of fasts and feasts. I thought I would include some of my favorite holidays of August.
+ August 6th is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, commemorating a day when, upon Mount Tabor, Christ was illumined with Uncreated Light before the eyes of His disciples.
+ August 15th commemorates the passing from this world to the next of Mary, the Mother of the Lord.
+ August 29th commemorates the beheading and passing from this world to the next of Saint John the Baptist.
These events mark the end of the liturgical year in the Orthodox Church.
Evening Bells (1892) by Isaak Levitan
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