The fall season is one of the most beautiful times of the year. In the United States, it begins in September and goes through October and November. We also call this season “autumn”. Summer is over and the days start to get shorter. The sun rises a little later each day and sets a little earlier.
Now that the sunlight is not as strong, the leaves on the trees begin to change colors, from green to yellow, orange, red, and brown. They soon fall off the trees and land on the ground.
Fall Harvest
Fall is the harvest season. When we grow food, we call these plants “crops”, because they eventually get cut, or cropped. Crops planted in the spring have grown all summer long. The nights start to get cold and farmers begin to worry about a frost. This is when the temperatures go below freezing and it begins to damage plant, including crops like corn, apples, and lettuce. Farmers want to harvest their crops as late as possible, to let them grow as big as they can. But they must pick and gather them before the first frost, or the plants will be ruined and rot quickly.
Harvest Moon
Traditionally, there are calendar days and holidays that mark the fall harvest. The fall (autumn) equinox is on September 21 or 22 in New York. This is the day when there is 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness. Before there was electricity, farmers used to wait until the full moon closest to this equinox to harvest their crops. That’s why they call that moon the harvest moon. They would start picking, cutting, and gathering their crops in the day, and this bright full moon would give them enough light to work late into the night to finish the job.
Once farmers have harvested the crops, they begin immediately to sent them out to market. What does not go out to market is stored inside barns and silos for the farm animals to eat. Among all of the food harvested in the fall, the pumpkin has become a popular symbol.
Questions
1 Why do farmers want to harvest their food before the first frost?
____________________________________________________________________________________________Farmers want to harvest their food before the first frost because the quality of the fruit and vegetables will be ruined if they freeze.
2 Why do the leaves on the trees change from green to red, orange, yellow, and brown?
____________________________________________________________________________________________Because the sunlight is not as strong as it was in the summer.
3 What do farmers do with the food that they harvest?
____________________________________________________________________________________________Food that is going to be sold is immediately sent to market. Food that the farmer will keep to feed farm animals is stored in barns and silos.
Fill-in-the-blanks
Word Bank| frost | October |
| autumn | barns |
| red | pumpkin |
| 21 or 22 | brown |
| seasons | rises |
| orange | leaves |
| grow | plant |
| November | moon |
| silos | yellow |
| sets | ruin |
| immediately | cold |
| fall | September |
| rainy | green |
| colors | gather |
| equinox | pick |
- Fall, winter, spring, and summer are __________________.
- In the fall, the weather is a little __________________ and __________________.
- The fall season in the United States is during the months of __________________, __________________, and __________________.
- Another word for fall is __________________.
- The sun __________________ later and __________________earlier in the fall than it does in the summer.
- The __________________ on the trees begin to change __________________.
- They change from __________________ to __________________, __________________, __________________, and __________________.
- Once they change colors, they then __________________ off the trees.
- Farmers __________________ seeds in the spring.
- These seeds __________________ throughout the spring and summer.
- At harvest time, farmers __________________ apples, tomatoes, corn, and many other vegetables.
- The farmers must ______________ all of their crops before the first __________________.
- If the farmers do not pick their crops, freezing temperatures will __________________ the quality of the fruits and vegetables.
- Traditionally, the when farmers saw the harvest __________________, they knew it was time to gather their crops.
- The autumn __________________ is when there are 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night.
- In New York, we have equal night and day hours on September __________________.
- After harvesting their crops, farmers must __________________ send them to market.
- The food that farmers keep to feed their animals is stored in __________________ and __________________.
- A most popular crop as a symbol for the fall is the __________________.
Answers
- Fall, winter, spring, and summer are seasons.
- In the fall, the weather is a little cold and rainy.
- The fall season in the United States is during the months of September, October, and November.
- Another word for fall is autumn.
- The sun rises later and sets earlier in the fall than it does in the summer.
- The leaves on the trees begin to change colors.
- They change from green to red, orange, yellow, and brown.
- Once they change colors, they then fall off the trees.
- Farmers plant seeds in the spring.
- These seeds grow throughout the spring and summer.
- At harvest time, farmers pick apples, tomatoes, corn, and many other vegetables.
- The farmers must gather all of their crops before the first frost.
- If the farmers do not pick their crops, freezing temperatures will ruin the quality of the fruits and vegetables.
- Traditionally, the when farmers saw the harvest moon, they knew it was time to gather their crops.
- The autumn equinox is when there are 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night.
- In New York, we have equal night and day hours on September 21 or 22.
- After harvesting their crops, farmers must immediately send them to market.
- The food that farmers keep to feed their animals is stored in barns and silos.
- A most popular crop as a symbol for the fall is the pumpkin.
More reading:
Pumpkins (add link)
Halloween
Haunted Houses