— what a day it was
On Lammas Sunday, the old first-harvest festival, the barn filled for the second time — and somehow it felt both brand new and like it had always been there.
More stalls than June. Growers with the summer's first gifts, makers showing their craft to anyone who asked, healers with taster treatments and time to spare. Live music drifting across the lawn all afternoon, slow food worth queuing for, and the ice cream van doing steady business in the sunshine.
But the thing we'll remember is the same thing we remembered from June: the way people showed up for each other. Neighbours who came as strangers and left swapping numbers. Children being taught to weave. Questions asked at every table, and every one answered gladly. This is what "for the people, by the people" looks like when it's real.
Thank you — to every stallholder who brought their year's work, to everyone who bought a ticket and came hungry and curious, and to the community-ticket holders who took us at our word that no one gets turned away.
The wheel keeps turning. We're back on Saturday 26 September to bring the harvest home.