To help keep you inspired and engaged, our Living Well Team created a variety of themed activities and helpful resources.
The theme for the this set of resources is harvest.
You can use the links below to quickly jump to different sections of this resource page. Use them to navigate to the content you’d most like to access.
- Art and creative activities
- Seasonal poetry
- Book recommendations
- Seasonal recipes
- Reflections and articles
- Harvest photographs
We hope you enjoy the content, are inspired to get creative, and active too. We would love to hear from you, so let us know how you get on with the resources. You can email your feedback and pictures to us.
Art and creative activities
You might recognise the work of this 16th Century Italian artist, best known for painting portraits where the head is made entirely of objects such as fruit and vegetables.
His use of produce particularly links with our harvest theme for this set of resources. Read nine facts about Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Find out more about the artist by following this link to view a presentation.
Arcimboldo’s style has influenced artists for centuries. Take a look at some examples from artists, including surrealist painter Salvador Dalí.
Another artist who draws inspiration from the natural world is Hyperrealist painter Dennis Wojtkiewicz, who is known for creating large-scale images of sliced fruit and flowers. Visit his website for an insight into his work.
- Have a go at making your own pieces of art using fruit and vegetables! Take a look at some examples below, and make your own patterns with produce at home. We would love to see your creations, so please send in your photos!
Seasonal poetry
Making Jack o’Lanterns
Just take a golden pumpkin
Of quite the largest size,
Cut all ’round the stem, just so,
Scrape out the inside below,
And cut two holes for eyes.
And such a great big mouth with teeth,
And you’ve a Jack o’ Lantern!
Then fix a tallow candle,
Just big enough to light,
And when it flickers, see him blink,
And when it flares up, see him wink
And smile so broad and bright.
This is the jolliest sort of fellow,
With cheery face so round and yellow,
This funny Jack o’ Lantern.
Anonymous
The Twelve Months
Snowy, Flowy, Blowy,
Showery, Flowery, Bowery,
Hoppy, Croppy, Droppy,
Breezy, Sneezy, Freezy.
By George Ellis
Book recommendations
Read this overview of The Apple Orchard, by Susan Wiggs.
Seasonal recipes
If you’ve been growing courgettes and have lots to spare, get inspired with these recipes from BBC Good Food.
Judy from our Living Well Team shares her recipe for the perfect autumnal drink, sloe gin.
Volunteer Rosemary gives some advice on what to do with quince. Read her recipe for a delicious-sounding quince jam.
Thoughtful reflections and articles on harvest
Read an article about how harvest has been celebrated in the past, how it is celebrated now – and a look forward to the future.
Take a look at a reflective piece, written by a member of the Living Well Team, on celebrating harvest during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Learn about harvest farming techniques in this lovely article capturing childhood memories from this time of year.
Find out what the harvest moon is, and how it gets its name.
Have a go at guessing the fruit-themed idioms in this quick quiz.
Kathy O’Connell, Senior Healthcare Assistant in our Living Well Services Team, says: “Autumn is one of my favourite seasons. It makes me thankful for our beautiful world and our location.
“I love the colours of fall, all the festivals and as the nights cosy in and the log burner is lit for the first time, it brings a feeling of security and all over well-being to our little log home.
“Here is a collage of photographs I would like to share with you all of my autumn decorations. They may inspire you to create your own and display around your homes as I do every year.
“The warming kaleidoscope of red, orange, yellow and gold in my beautiful flower arrangements lift your spirits when days are grey.
“Pumpkins and squash are bountiful at this time of year: orange, red, green, yellow, and all shapes and sizes. They are warming to the eye and are nature’s art.”
Take a moment to watch and enjoy a beautiful video of harvest 2015, captured by Farmers’ Weekly using a high-definition drone: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR_CqLDUbJI
Harvest photographs
The pictures below show a spring barley crop being harvested. This year, the crop will go for animal feed – most likely cows – and this is due to the poor weather we had prior to the harvest. In a drier year it would have gone for malting to make beer or whiskey, but the weather was so poor the grains were not clean enough for this to happen.
When harvested, the moisture content of the grain was 14 per cent which is good. Any higher than 15 per cent and the grain has to go through a drying process prior to sale.
Apple harvest
