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BackThe Seasons of the Habitant: Fall
Habitants Gathering the Harvest
W.M. Cary, "La moisson", published in L'Opinion publique, September 25, 1879, Musée de la civilisation, bibliothèque du Séminaire de Québec, 660.4.11
Flailing the Wheat
Charles William Jefferys, National Archives of Canada, C-73395
Flail
19th century
Wood, leather
L. 2.06 m
Made up of two sticks of unequal length joined by a leather strip, flails were used to thresh stalks of grain to separate the grain from the straw. Workers held the longer part and used the other stick to beat the stalks spread over the threshing floor, the part of the barn used for threshing. The planks of the threshing floor were tightly fitted so that no grain was lost.
Musée de la civilisation Collection, 58-100
The Winnower
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, 1913, 34.62
Winnowing Basket
19th century
Wood
H. 36 cm
L. 134 cm
D. 79.5 cm
After threshing, the grain was shaken in a special ‘winnowing' basket. Being lighter, the straw, dust, and other waste were shaken out of the basket, leaving only the grain behind.
Musée de la civilisation Collection, donated by Hôtel des Encans de Montréal, 89-3445
In the fall, habitants finished bringing their harvest into the barn and brought in the firewood they had dried during the summer. They spun the wool sheared in the spring into thread that they would later use to make fabric and for knitting. Fall was also the season for preserving the fruits and vegetables harvested in summer. The women made preserved onions, ketchup, winter salads, jams, marmalades, compotes, and jellies. They also made candles.
Once the grains in the barn were dry, they were flailed to break the husks and separate them from the grain, which was then sent to the miller, ground, and processed into flour. December was the time to slaughter all the fattened pigs, bulls, cows, and calves. Salt was used to preserve the meat. Habitants also hunted to supplement their diets.