For our groceries we go to the supermarket. When there was still a supermarket you had to take care of your own food. You lived off what the land, the garden and the animals yielded.

This started in the spring with digging and plowing, sowing and planting, weeding and hoeing. Will the weather stay good? Too much or too little rain, sometimes a late frost, pests in the crop. The yield of the garden and the land determined whether there was enough food for animals and humans in the coming winter.

Harvesting was a big job and many hands were needed to bring in the harvest on time. The whole neighborhood helped bring in the harvest.

The grain was mowed with a short scythe or sight. The mown grain was usually tied into garves by the women and girls. These garves were put together with 8 pieces upright into hoppers to dry. When these were well dry, they were loaded onto a wagon with a pitchfork, and then stored in the barn or on a haystack. Afterwards, the mower, pulled by horses, took over working with the scythe. The binding was still done manually. Even later came mowers, which delivered the corn ready-made.

It was hard work at harvest time but it was ok a pleasant affair. In between the work, somewhere in the field, they sat together to eat the bread they had brought with them. When everything was mowed, the mowers were treated to a glass of foezel, a self-fired grain jenever. In many places, the harvest festival (or harvest thank you festival) was celebrated on the last Sunday in June. In Limburg this is called mower Sunday.