Medieval Farming
This information blatantly copied from this British History Learning Site. Supplemental information from this History on the Net site. Minor text edits are mine.
Medieval Farming
The farming year in Medieval England was clearly shaped around the weather. At certain times of the year, certain things had to be done by peasant farmers or crops would not have grown. Farming, in this sense, was controlled by the weather.
| Month | Work to Do | Desired Weather |
| January | mending and making tools, repairing fences, weaving | showers |
| February | carting manure and marl | showers |
| March | ploughing and spreading manure, weeding | dry, no severe frosts |
| April | spring sowing of seeds, harrowing, pruning, scaring birds | showers and sunshine |
| May | digging ditches, first ploughing of fallow fields, scaring birds | showers and sunshine |
| June | hay making, second ploughing of fallow field, sheep-shearing | dry weather |
| July | hay making, sheep-shearing, weeding of crops | dry early, showers later |
| August | Harvesting, tying, winnowing | warm, dry weather |
| September | threshing, ploughing and pruning fruit trees, milling | showers |
| October | Last ploughing of the year, milling | dry, no severe frosts |
| November | collecting acorns for pigs, butchering, salt/smoking, weaving | showers and sunshine |
| December | Mending and making tools, killing animals, collecting, digging, weaving | showers and sunshine |
Glossary
Marl = a limy clay used as manure in Medieval England
Frosts were a major worry for Medieval peasants as just one severe frost in the growing season could kill off their crop. Seeds were especially vulnerable to frosts. The impact of a bad frost could leave a family or village without a crop for the year.
Harrowing = a spiked farming tool used to cover up seeds after they have been planted. Like a giant garden rake.
Fallow fields = these were farming fields left alone by the farmers for a year so that the field could regain its strength. If a field was used year in year out, it would not maintain its fertility. Though this system seems a waste as land was lost to the farmers, it was the only way then not to exhaust the land.
Acorns = these come from oak trees which were a very common tree in Medieval England. Pigs were allowed to wander in forests and feed themselves up on acorns. Acorns were free and a lord would not mind as he would have no use for the acorns - but he certainly would for fattened pigs.
Heavy rain - this was feared in the summer as the crop had nearly grown and a heavy rain storm could flatten the crop and make harvesting it all but impossible.
Tying = bundling sheaves of wheat to dry