Hot August has blasted the springtime color, but the Autumn chores beckon apace. Thomas Tusser advises in his “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry” that the farmer or housewife should “Pare Saffron between the two S. Maries daies, or set or go shift it, that...
September begins the farmer’s year. The harvests are largely in, and the bills paid, so the provident farmer can look to the future of his farm. Thomas Tusser, with an eye to good eating as well as good tillage, in his “Five Hundred Points of...
July is the busy month that looks to the harvest about to roll in. Thomas Tusser recommends in his “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry” that the farmer should “Get grist to the mill, to have plenty in store, lest miller lacke water, as many...
By June most of the crops are in, and time comes for repairing and building around the farmstead. Thomas Tusser recommends in his “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry” that the farmer build sheds and other less permanent structures. “So likewise a hovell will serve...
Plenty of tasks in the busy spring, including some that ensure plenty and sweetness in the later part of the year. Thomas Tusser cautions in his “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry” that the farmer should “Take heede to thy bees that are ready to...
Spring is upon us, and the first promise of plenty shows in the flush of new spring grass. The cows have calved and are “freshening”, which means plenty of milk and cream for butter and cheese. Thomas Tusser devoted a whole poem in his “Five...
In the Middle ages through the 18th century this time of year was often called “the starving spring.” The spring was the time of hopes, because you had eaten most of the winter stores, and all you could do was eke out the time to...
The farming sage Thomas Tusser recommended in his "Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry" that in February, "Where banks be amended and newly up cast, sow mustard seed, after a shower be past." That was a wise recommendation indeed, for mustard was one of the...
Winter is here in its depths. Yule merriment may have left us all with tender stomachs, or colds, or both. If you were lucky enough to have a cow in milk at this inclement season (or imprudent enough; January is definitely NOT when you want...
“Christmas is a-coming and the geese are getting fat…” I explained last month one of the things you could do with a goose – now let’s move on to the fancier trimmings. Yule feasts, especially in the royal households, have been a time to pile...