A Kitchen Garden's 1st Harvest
August 1st marks the beginning of the harvest season in the Northern Hemisphere. Earth lovers observe this day and call it Lammas. The word Lammas is a combination of the words loaf and mass, celebrating wheat's first harvest and the baking of bread. The ancient Irish Celts called this day Lughnasadh (pronounced loo-na-sa). Lugh is the Celtic sun god who is honored during the harvest season's advent for his strength in ripening fruits, vegetables and all of life.
Being a city girl my farming consists of planting seeds in other's thoughts and along my kitchen window sill where my herb garden grows. This past May I picked up a few small pots of culinary herbs at my super market, Trader Joe's. I kept it simple and stuck to buying herbs that I frequently use in summer dishes such as mint, basil and parsley. I even included an aloe plant for whenever I need to break a branch off and use the gel as a topical ointment for healing summer's burns, bites, cuts and scrapes.
Since May my herbs and aloe plant outgrew their original containers. As a result I decided to restyle my kitchen garden by re potting my plants in matching clay pots. To fill up the empty spaces in between the pots I added antique green glass vases which creates a stain glass window image as the day's light illuminates them. I adorned the vases with sunflowers because I've always associated August with them and finally Eastern deities, Happy Buddha, Shiva and Ganesha were hand picked and scattered about by my toddler. Once I swept the last of the potting soil off the floor I realized we made our first harvest altar.
This Wednesday the 1st, which is also a full moon, celebrate the year's first harvest by relaxing and reflecting on all that has grown in and out of your life in the year so far. Acknowledge friendships that you have grown and open yourself up to abundance, knowing it flows freely around you, and all of us.
You may just notice how the first stirrings of fall's theme of gratitude are awakening within your consciousness.
