By Keighley’s Mike Armstrong, an award-winning master baker with a big passion for baking...

AND so here we are in September, the month for bumper harvests, thanksgiving and celebrations for the good food grown on the land.

The harvest festival is celebrated in the northern hemisphere on the Sunday closest to the full moon which is nearest to that year’s Autumn Equinox (when day and night are of equal length).

The Autumn Equinox usually falls around September 22, so the harvest festival is normally celebrated in late September or early October.

The reason why harvest time occurs around the night of the harvest moon is that during the Autumn Equinox the moon rises at a similar time to sunset, meaning that traditionally farmers working in the fields had more light as they harvested summer crops.

In late September many British crops are ready to harvest, before the weather gets too damp and chilly – such as apples, onions, potatoes, root vegetables and pumpkins.

Sometimes this means that harvest festival in Britain coincides with National Poetry Day, so autumn and harvest poems and songs are a brilliant way to mark this seasonal tradition.

Many schools have events and activities for the harvest festival as it connects children to our rural past, and teaches them about agriculture with an autumnal theme.

In the British Isles, harvest time has been celebrated since pagan times before the English monarchy converted to Christianity around the 7th century. Nowadays, harvest festival celebrations often take place in the local church and have become integrated with Church of England traditions. There are many ancient pagan celebrations which have been adopted by the Christian church or as non-religious events, adapted from winter solstice and Celtic new year traditions.

Before international imports became common, a successful harvest was essential for the community to weather winter. This is why there has been a harvest festival for thousands of years. And the best way to celebrate is to make an apple crumble!

RECIPE

HARVEST APPLE CRUMBLE

Ingredients:

1.2kg/2 1/2lb Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges

1 orange, zested and juiced

135g/5oz caster sugar

100g/3 1/2oz plain flour

100g/3 1/2oz porridge oats

100g/3 1/2oz unsalted butter

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4.

2. Put the apples, orange zest, juice and 60g/2oz sugar in a pan and simmer gently for 10 minutes, until the apples begin to soften.

3. Transfer the cooked apples to an ovenproof dish.

4. Put the remaining sugar, the flour, oats, butter and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs or rub in by hand.

5. Scatter the crumble mixture over the fruit and bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden.

6. Serve warm with piping hot custard.