Fun ways to celebrate harvest in your kitchen

Reorganise your kitchen this autumn with kitchen cabinets from DIY Homefit

Many readers will have fond memories of harvest festivals from their childhoods, celebrated either in school or church. But what is harvest all about? Do harvest festivals still happen? And how can you celebrate harvest with the family in a fun way?

What is harvest?

Harvest is a time of celebrating food that is grown on the land, and giving thanks that there is enough food to last the community throughout the winter and into spring.

The tradition of celebrating harvest was started in the UK in 1843 by Reverend Robert Hawker. He ran a special harvest thanksgiving service at his church at Morwenstow in Cornwall, and the idea gradually spread to other churches too.

The timing of harvest differs from country to country. For example, in the USA it forms part of Thanksgiving at the end of November, when people come together to celebrate all the blessings in their lives. 

In the UK harvest was originally celebrated in August, but is now celebrated on the Sunday nearest to the autumn equinox and harvest moon. This is usually around the end of September. In 2021, harvest will be celebrated in the UK on Sunday 3rd October. 

Do harvest festivals still happen?

Many schools and churches still have harvest festivals, either on or around Sunday 3rd October. As well as giving thanks for food, harvest festivals usually collect food to distribute to those who are particularly in need of it. Many parents will be familiar with the concept of sending items into school to contribute to food collections for the harvest festival.

Three ways to celebrate harvest in your kitchen

If you have young children and want to celebrate harvest at home, we have three suggestions as to how you can do this – and hopefully have a bit of fun in the process! 

So clear some space in your kitchen and get going on one or more of the following activities together:

Baking bread

Bread is a significant food item for harvest time. Many young children will be familiar with the sight of fields being farmed for wheat, and perhaps also water mills processing the wheat into flour. Harvest is an ideal time to experiment with making that flour into bread that you can then eat together as a family.

First of all, make sure you have plenty of space to work in, for example a kitchen worktop, island or table. Then get everything you need out of your kitchen cabinets before you start, to make everything run smoothly.

The key thing is to keep everything as simple as possible. An easy recipe is to combine the following ingredients into a bowl:

• 12oz bread flour or plain flour
• 1.5 teaspoons yeast
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• A pinch of salt
• Some also like to add a pinch of sugar but this is not essential

Then add 8fl oz warm water and knead together into a smooth dough. Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased loaf tin, then cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise at room temperature for around an hour. Then cook at 180℃ for around 20–25 minutes. Even if the result is not perfect, enjoy!

Harvest wreaths

If you have very young children, it can perhaps seem a little ambitious to attempt to make a colourful wreath, but one very simple way to do this is to use a large paper plate as a base. 

Cut out the centre of the plate so just the rim remains. Then stick leaves to the rim using either glue or Blu Tack, whichever works best for your child. When finished, attach some pretty ribbon and hang the wreath somewhere eye-catching to brighten up your kitchen.

Charity shoeboxes

If you like the idea of celebrating harvest by giving to others, one way to do this could be to fill a charity shoebox. Many different charities welcome this type of donation, just Google which charities in your area would be interested.

Charity shoeboxes for other children can really grip the imagination of your own children. They can help to choose the items to include, for example small toys, dolls, pens and pencils, crayons, felt tips, notebooks, colouring books, hats, gloves, scarves, jewelry, and some toiletry items (check with the charity what they will accept).

We hope that you and your family have fun together in your kitchen this harvest and enjoy celebrating this special time of year.

And if all this makes you realise that as your children are growing perhaps you need a bit more storage space in your kitchen, do check out DIY Homefit’s range of kitchen cabinets to see how we can help.

Do check back here soon for more lifestyle tips from DIY Homefit.