An ode to Autumn

9 Comments to “An ode to Autumn”

1. Cara Posted: Nov 6th, 2007 at 10:37 am

   1 My favorite modern hymn is about Autumn too. It was in Songs of Praise (blue cover with faces remember?): “Autumn days when the grass is jeweled And the silk inside a chestnut shell Jet planes meeting in the air to be refueled All these things I love so well! So I mustn’t forget, no I mustn’t forget To say a great big thank you! I mustn’t forget.” I liked this because it had things I really did like in it, like chestnuts not so sure about “Jet planes meeting in the air to be refueled” now though.

2. Harriet Posted: Nov 6th, 2007 at 10:49 am

   2 ‘Michaelmas Daisies, Purple in the border Big fat leeks all standing up in order. Whiskered barley talking to the breeze Low hung boughs of laden apple trees Chugging engines ready for the reeping Pounds of chutney labled for the keeping Giant marrows winning every prize, Bubbling jars of elderberry wine. Fruits are bottled, others in the deep-freeze, Silken poppies blushing in the cornfields. DON’T BRING MUDDY BOOTS INTO THE HALL, Golden Onions hanging on a wall. It’s harvest time, Harvest time again. Harvest time, Give thanks for sun and rain. A time to take and a time to give Harvest time, it’s the time to live At harvest time….. Mellow, fruitful harvest time.

3. Helen Posted: Nov 6th, 2007 at 10:59 am

   3 All I could remember was that my favourite song was something to do with cauliflowers fluffy - and then just now making a cup of tea it came to me - broad beans are sleeping in a blankety bed! Cauliflowers fluffy and cabbages green, Strawberries sweeter than any I’ve seen Beetroot purple and onions white, All grow steadily day and night The apples are ripe, the plums are red, Broad beans are sleeping in a blankety bed Blackberries juicy and rhubarb sour, Marrows that are fattening hour by hour. Gooseberries hairy and lettuces fat Radishes round and runner beans flat The apples are ripe, the plums are red, Broad beans are sleeping in a blankety bed Orangey carrots and turnips cream, Reddening tomatoes that used to be green, brown potatoes in little heaps, Down in the darkness where the celery sleeps The apples are ripe, the plums are red, Broad beans are sleeping in a blankety bed Oh wow - I loved that song at primary school. I think harvest festival was for the old ladies - I remember going out into the estate my school was on and giving out canned goodies and one old dear gave someone a Mars Bar for their efforts - enthusiasm for distributing the harvest goods went up a few notches then. I’m going to be singing about broad beans all day now.

4. Maria, Rachel's best friend Posted: Nov 6th, 2007 at 11:30 am

   4 I was dressed as a pea too– I had a green t-shirt, and pea-green tights that were about 10 denier and had darker green flecks on them (proper 80s style), and I wore them to school and put my big toe through them and laddered them straight away and was gutted. They were mums and my first attempt at wearing grown up tights (ruined). I also recall being really pleased that my hair was tied up in a luminous green bobble. I remember Rachel saying I should have been straw because of my hair which is blonde…. Happy days.

5. Kat Posted: Nov 6th, 2007 at 4:02 pm

   5 My favourite is a classic one, rather than modern. It’s by John Keats, To Autumn: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells. It always reminds me of my childhood and going to my grandparents farm at harvest time - any visit wasn’t complete until I had fallen out of at least one apple tree and ate myself sick on wild berries.

6. Harriet Posted: Nov 6th, 2007 at 4:05 pm

   6 Seemingly Autumn is a season for the ladies!!

7. Geoff Posted: Nov 8th, 2007 at 11:16 am

   7 Harvest is not just for old ladies! Harvest Festivals are all about giving thanks to God for all that is provided for us. The displays of fruit, vegetables and other produce that adorn many churches are very often distributed to those in need in the surrounding areas. This may be old ladies in some cases, but will also include low income families and homeless people. Most of us take our supermarket shopping for granted, but it doesn’t hurt once a year to think and be appreciative of all the hard work that goes on in supplying and preparing the food we eat and remembering those people who are not as fortunate as the rest of us.

8. Rachel from the Laundry Posted: Nov 8th, 2007 at 11:45 am

   8 Hey Geoff, well said, We weren’t being serious about the old ladies, we were just trying to make a joke of our urbanite ignorance. I LOVE harvest festival and really miss thinking about the autumn properly and food too. I think it’s double important to think about where your food comes from, just like the song says, thanks to the earth, rain and the sun. At BioRegional (the Laundry’s parent charity) we get a local orgainic veggie box delivered each week and we make lunch for each other every day. It really makes you appreciate what you eat, who grows it and of course it’s all seasonal and no packaging either. I like this website - it reminds you to do good things and not to be so darned selfish - let me know what you think. www.wearewhatwedo.org Rache

9. Anna Posted: Nov 13th, 2007 at 10:12 am

   9 Very Very Funny post Rachel - thanks for brightening up my afternoon. I’ve been singing “Autumn leaves when the grass is jewelled and the silk in side a chestnut shell…..” I remember the Head teacher ‘jazzing’ up the chorus with some rythmic hand clapping which always separated the musicians from the musically retarded!! Anna x p.s I’ve recommended The Laundary to all my Local working chums……I’m going to earn myself a couple of cinema tickets if it kills me!