Observation and ingenuity have always beendistinctive features of the Russian people who helped them to overcome the most difficult times. It is thanks to these qualities that Russian folk symbols have appeared for the harvest, which can rightly be called an encyclopedia of rural life. Over the centuries, this knowledge has accumulated so much that even today they are invaluable to us.
In our observations of nature our ancestorsa special place was given to spring days. This is not accidental, because they bring with them a revival of nature. It was noticed that what they will be, this will be the harvest this year. The villagers started their observations from the first days of March, when the sun was only slightly touching the earth with its rays.
Old people taught young people that if Marchit will be dry, it is a sure sign that the mother earth of her toilers will be pleased with the abundant harvest. Then hurry to fix the old barns and build new ones. And vice versa. If the spring at its beginning will mourn with rain tears, then these tears will be poured out and to the peasant who has remained in the autumn without a crop. People's signs for harvest in winter and summer are true, proven by many generations.
A good sign was the March snowball.Even small children knew that if the spring covers them with vegetable gardens, it will be collected from the beds and prepared for winter. And with special excitement the day of March 25 was expected. A lot of things depended on him - they knew if he was foggy, or even better, with the first spring loud-speaker, then this is a sign of such a harvest that there will not be enough barns for him.
When April replaced March, alreadyit was believed that nature does not cry for rains, but after washing the winter sleep it joyfully washed. Accordingly, and a sign it was the most kind, promising an excellent harvest. She also portended the summer, rich in mushrooms, but the April thunderstorm is a sure sign of the harvest of nuts.
But the most sophisticated connoisseurs will waitearly morning of April 4 - the day of Vasily Solyachnik. We got up still dark and went to the field to catch the first rays of the sun. It was believed that if there are red circles around the awakening luminary, then doubts can be discarded - a year will be abundant.
Very peculiar were the people's signs on theharvest associated with the weather in May. Modern people, especially city residents, rejoice if it is given out dry and warm, but for our ancestors engaged in peasant labor, this was the worst sign that does not promise future full barns. It was the cold and rainy weather of the last spring month that promised a good harvest. Even counted the number of rains this month. It was believed that, how much they spilled on the ground, so many years will be ahead.
But now the capricious and changeable spring has changedfine summer days. For people experienced and experienced, people's signs for harvest and here carry a lot of information. Experts are highly recommended to pay special attention to 10 and 16 June. The first of these days, the harvest promises a windless weather, and in the second - the wind, and preferably the southern one. Here it is important not to confuse anything, so as not to mislead either yourself or others.
Signs can not only tell about the sizethe future harvest, but also about its quality. For example, the truth is the fact that if from 18 to 20 June the weather is dry and warm, then the grain in the ears will grow large, but the rain that happened on Fedot's day (June 20) is a clear harbinger of lean nourishment.
The main connoisseurs and consumers of cucumbers withspecial excitement is expected on July 7 - the holiday of Ivan Kupala. A rich harvest of their favorite product is guaranteed by the morning dew that fell abundantly on this day. And if the night before becomes a star, the assortment of appetizers in winter will be replenished with fungi.
Autumn also does not bypass the folk signsfor the harvest. In Russia, it was always time, when summing up the summer work, filled barns and granaries, and field work gave way to weddings. But also for the merry festivities of the peasants did not leave worry about the future harvest. And here the weather gave the farmers answers to the most important questions of their life.
The picture of autumn rains is dull and bleakfor urban residents, the heart of the peasant rejoiced. She was the forerunner of the future abundance of the fruits of the earth. This is understandable. The present harvest is collected, and bad weather is not terrible for him, but for important shoots to water the earth with rain water - it's no small matter.
By the way, people's signs for harvest areevidence not only of people's observation, but also of the boundless optimism inherent in it. If you carefully understand them, then it is easy to see that the overwhelming majority will take advantage of luck and joy. Autumn is a vivid example of that.
Harbinger of a rich harvest next yearit is customary to consider: bright stars on the night of October 25 (the day of Saint Prova); slush after the rain on October 30; autumn leaves falling to the ground, and turning inside out; dry and thorny first snow; snowflakes lying on the ground and not melting; abundance of snow in November. It seems, and there is nothing to add here. Some of the above will happen and inspire confidence in the future harvest.
Did not leave our ancestors optimistic aboutthe onset of winter. It was believed that the snow and snowy December with thoroughly frozen ground and hoarfrost on the trees, undoubtedly, promises a rich harvest of all crops without exception in the coming year. It was strongly recommended to pay attention to the weather on December 19, the holiday of winter Nikola. The frost on this day was proof of the upcoming plentiful harvest.
Varied and interesting are people's signs onharvest. In winter, two days before Christmas (according to the old style), the villagers determined the future fertility of the earth according to how windy this day will turn out to be. It is noticed: the more blows blows out, the better for a crop. Snowfall on Christmas Eve also promised abundant shoots. The sun, which looked out on the sky on January 8, was considered the harbinger of a rich harvest of millet.
Of great importance was the weather and on the eveNew Year's holiday (also according to the old style). On that day, in the direction of the wind, they learned a lot of what was necessary and important for life. If it was blowing from the south, the old people would say: "Wait for a good harvest year, but it's hot, so it's hard for a peasant." The eastern wind foretold an unprecedented abundance of berries and fruits. Here it was necessary to think in advance how to dispose of them. The frost and snow on the New Year's Eve party foreshadowed good seedlings of grain.
You can not ignore and some other folksigns for harvest. In Russia in the winter, knowledgeable people were able to predict to the smallest detail what and how to grow on the fields next summer. On December 19, in the case of heavy snowfall, they talked about the harvest of grasses, and consequently, the fat feed for domestic cattle. Sunny and clear weather in the last decade of December foreshadowed, according to them, a good collection of all cultures.
There were no trifles in weather forecasting.For example, the great importance was the color of clouds that swept across the sky on a winter day on January 19. If they had a dark blue tide, then you could be calm - without bread you will not stay. But in the presence of light snow-white or, worse still, generally cloudless clear weather - wait for trouble. The summer will be hot and arid, what a harvest there is.
And in conclusion one interesting experience.It was the result of many years of observations, like all folk signs for the harvest. In the Moscow region, in the Epiphany night (January 19), several open containers with grains of various cultures were taken out to the street. By morning, only a few of them were covered with hoarfrost, but it was these crops that gave the most abundant harvest that year. The experience was repeated several years and in different parts of the country - the result was the same everywhere.
