No, that’s not true, Sally! Remember - it’s for the food bank - for people who can’t afford enough food.' Normally falling towards the end of September, or early October, the harvest festival is the closest thing we have to a day of thanksgiving. Although today we can plan a fixed day for this celebration, in the past the harvest festival differed, based on when all the crops had been brought in. The whole community, including children, needed to help right up until the end, as lives depended on the success of the harvest. Mr. Fox and all of the forest animals cheered and clapped and danced when they realized the scorching suns were no more. Each year at harvest time, they gather acorns and nuts and berries and all of the bounties of their great harvests to offer the Queen Mother and her white rabbit in the moon as a gesture of gratitude and goodwill. Then Dad popped his head round the door and said: “Maybe we could bring some vegetables from my vegetable patch in the garden!”

The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’ We also love to sing songs and tell stories during our celebration. Festive songs add a lightness to the walk and make it oh so special! How about you? Are you willing to work for Jesus and invite people to come to church? Will you go and tell people about Jesus' love and that he died on the cross so that they could have everlasting life? There are many souls who are need to be brought into God's kingdom, but there just aren't enough workers. Harvest celebrations pre-date Christianity, but it has always been seen as a very spiritual time to give thanks for the year’s crop. Symbolic corn dolls, made out of the last sheath of the harvest, were placed on banquet tables when parishes had their huge feasts. The doll was then kept until the spring to ensure the continuation of a good crop next year. This custom began with Saxon farmers, who believed the last sheath contained the spirit of the corn. I became an avid organic kitchen gardener and encouraged many of my friends to try this wonderful hobby. I watched online videos and read blog posts frequently. Of course, now, thanks to Deep Roots Project, I know about soil preparation and natural fertilizers and how to test the amount of water each plant needs. I still feel like a kid who just did something great that they’d never thought they would be able to do. The best part is cooking for my vegetarian and vegan friends and the ingredients are all produced by me.He told another story. “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too. It was Sunday and Sally was having a rotten morning. It was the day of the Harvest Festival at church - a service of thanksgiving for all the food everyone had to eat. The church had already been decorated with sheaves of corn and special hymns would be sung and - most importantly - everyone would bring some food from home for a huge collection. The food would be given to a local food bank - but some would be kept and cooked into a feast after the service, which everyone at church would enjoy together. Jonathan Brown revisits harvests of more than 150 years ago, when all the work was done by hand and everyone was roped in to help out. The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it. There wasn’t much joy at Sally’s, though. They’d had such a busy week! Sally had been doing tests at school, her Mum’s job was frantic and her Dad had been away on business until late last night. Usually they planned ahead and did a special shop for the food collection. But not this year - it had slipped their minds.

Another story. “God’s kingdom is like an acorn that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge oak tree, and eagles build nests in it.”

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A harvest tea or supper, shared by squire, farmer and labourer alike, was followed by dancing and merry-making. It was this final part of the day that caused consternation among the respectable classes – “unrestrained riot and excess” was how the celebration of 1867 was described in the Essex parish of Foxearth. As a result, the festival was “taken in hand by the clergyman”, and centred on a thanksgiving in the parish church. So Sally and her parents drove to the church empty-handed. Sure enough, everyone else was laying out donations on a table. Sally wandered over and looked at all the food. She felt a bit embarrassed not to have brought anything, but she knew she was right, really. Nobody wanted wonky vegetables. The success of the annual harvest is dependent on a number of environmental factors and the weather plays a crucial role – too much or little rain can spell problems and in recent years heatwaves and drought have caused serious issues for farmers. One key way we as consumers can support British farmers is by buying locally produced food and drink.