Harvest suppers
Pause for Prayer
The distinctive smell of warm cardboard and crumpled newspaper filled the car as we rumbled over gravel roads. Arriving home from the school we had to finish up our homework as quickly as possible so that we would be ready to take dinner out to the fields. The land that my dad and uncle farmed was spread out over distances of 40 kilometres. They did not have time to stop the combines and grain trucks to come back to the farm for a meal. So my mum and auntie took turns preparing the meals and transporting them out to Dad and Uncle along with all the hired men.
Delivering a hot meal to feed hungry workers was no small feat. The biggest challenge was to keep the meal hot after it had travelled for half an hour in the boot of a car. My mum was a dab hand at cooking cabbage casseroles in a roasting tin with tatties and all the trimmings. The newspaper was the secret to holding heat as it is a very poor conductor.
At the beginning of the day all the farm hands were given the rendezvous point. Mum drove into an approach and out came lawn chairs. Children sat on blankets spread out on the ground. Scratchy stubble made it an uncomfortable sit. The men were served first and eventually we ended up balancing plates heaped with delicious food steaming in autumnal air. By six o’clock in the evening it was rather chilly and the hot food warmed us from the inside out.
We would return home and go to our beds whilst my dad and the others worked on until the dew fell. If it remained dry they would carry on throughout the night.
There was a collective elation when the last of the harvest was brought in. It was a joy to go to church on Thanksgiving Sunday and seeing a sack of grain spilling over onto the communion table and a toy combine positioned nearby. The table was laden with fruit and vegetables a sign of God’s provision.
Prayer: We give thanks to God who created all that is; for farmers who cultivate the ground and reap the harvest; for those who process our food and make our clothing; and for those who work in factories and serve in shops. Enable us to work and pray to eradicate poverty that all may enjoy your good creation. Amen. |
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