It is almost Mabon here in the Southern Hemisphere, The Second Harvest (The First Harvest was halfway between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox, called Lammas), also known as Thanksgiving. Mabon is named after the god of Welsh mythology. The equinox marks an equal balance between day and night, light and dark. The days will now become shorter as we head towards Winter.
Now is the time to prepare for the Winter months by preserving as much food as possible - stewing apples, preserving pears in wine syrup, making cucumber and zucchini pickles, blanching and freezing green beans, bottling tomatoes, freezing pesto, fermenting chillies in white wine…
Now is also the time to gather with loved ones to celebrate the abundance!
The foods of Mabon are: Apple, corn, beans, pomegranate and squash/pumpkins; so build your celebration around these foods. You can decorate your house with them as well; maybe some long stalks of grass or corn; colourful bunting and candles. Use whatever foods you have in excess though - really, that’s the point…sharing what we have in abundance.
This is my menu:
Tomato Soup (recipe here)
Bread – plain & dried fruit with cinnamon
Green Beans with Yogurt Dressing
Zucchini, Rainbow Chard and Pumpkin Frittata
Olives and Pickles (homemade from previous harvests)
Harvest Cake (this one will have apples or pears with zucchini and carrot, I think; but here’s an almond meal cake, a hazelnut meal cake and an upside down quince cake for you to try until I post this cake recipe)
Apple Sauce (so many apples this year!)
Apple & Rhubarb Crumble (recipe here) with whipped cream
Mead (started in the Spring and ready to drink now)
Hard Apple Cider (I started this with wild-capture yeast in fresh apple juice about 6 weeks ago) and Apple Juice
Celebrating the turning of the Seasons deepens your connection with Nature and to your Community.