On the eve of August’s full moon I feel both happy and sad. We have just over a month of summer left and with luck, two more months before the frost. Traditional native American names for August’s full moon include: Sturgeon Moon (historically a good time to catch sturgeon in the Great Lakes), Green Corn Moon, Wheat Cut Moon, Blueberry Moon, and Moon When All Things Ripen.
August is a time when crops such as corn, zucchini, cucumber, apples, eggplants, peppers and squash reach maturity. The amount of bounty has dropped across Ontario, including my garden, due to a scarcity of rain. However conditions vary from location to location and markets still display local produce.
Where I live, rain finally came over the last few days so I wrote a full moon tanka:
∼
At last! rain drenched soil
Drooping leaves lift up, fruits swell
fresh flowers open.
Revived gardens come alive,
Hopes ripen on August moon.
∼
∼
This photo, sourced at Pixabay, shows how red peppers ripen from green to red. A few of my peppers–the ones not eaten by rabbits–have been turning red recently. They are small, but tasty.
©2016, all rights reserved by ontheland.wordpress.com
Ontheland 
Lovely!
LikeLike
I love the indigenous names for the months: they are so beautiful. Thanks for reminding us of them. They kep us in touch with the land in which we live.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your welcome. I love the names too and discovering how they really speak to what is happening in the natural world around me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is so easy to forget that natural world when we live in big cities and are (im-)planted in front of computer schemes. That is why we need the old memories so badly: to keep us in touch with a nature that we have abandoned and forgotten, in so many instances.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. I lived in Toronto for years and missed the cycles that are so much more obvious now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Where are you now, Janice? I am in Island View, New Brunswick. Graduate of U of T!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m in a rural area near Kingston Ontario. It’s quite a welcome change from the city gridlock traffic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was in Kingston (Queen’s for a conference) two years ago. It’s a nice city. I came down on the train from Ottawa where I was visiting my daughter.
LikeLike
Beautiful Tanka Janice and I trust those are your nutritious organic peppers? I really like the last of the traditional American titles, “Moon When All Things Ripen”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Denis. Yes I like the ripening name too…let’s hope it continues to be true for years to come. You missed my small ‘out take’ after the picture mentioning pixabay as the photo source. My ruby red smaller peppers are in the fridge and not in the mood for a photo shoot. I liked the pixabay picture as it shows a pepper in transition from green to red. Until I grew bell peppers I wasn’t aware that green peppers become red peppers if left on the plant long enough to ripen further 🙂
LikeLike
Lovely tanka, Janice. The ground here needs some drenching. I love how there are all these names to the different moons. As for peppers this year I’m trying to grow some chilli peppers for the first time – hints of them visible at last!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Chilli peppers sound fun. I saw some wonderful photos of them at pixabay.com when I was selecting a picture for my post. Good luck with your plant(s) 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
We could have send you some rain over :-). Great post 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the rain offer. I’ll keep that in mind :))
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh dear, I need to put my thinking cap on then to find a way 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person