RYE MOWING AND MESHING
Relva (Monteiras civil parish, Castro Daire municipality)
Saturday, August 1st from 8:00 am.
The Museum of Relva by Ilídio Magueja, the Associação Desportiva, Cultural e Recreativa Relvense, the Civil Parish of Monteiras, the Municipality of Castro Daire through its Municipal Library and Binaural Nodar, present a cultural and communitarian activity “Segada e Malhada do Centeio” (“Rye mowing and meshing”), which will take place in the village of Relva on August 1st, starting at 8:00 am.
The activity will comply with all the most recent sanitary recommendations of the Portuguese General Directorate of Health and will consist in a route of work, entertainment and gastronomy through various points of the village of Relva, in order to revive the ancestral spirit of mutual help in tasks related to rye, such as as it existed in the mountain villages of Montemuro until a few decades ago.
“We are in the middle of summer, when rye is being harvested, this being the first cereal to be harvested to fill the warehouses where it is stored so that during the autumn and winter it is the guarantor of bread for people’s food, as well as corn, potatoes and beans. All of these food items, some of which have been transformed into flour and later into bread, serve as food for the people of this region. The rye that we are now harvesting was sown around the month of September last year and there were several previous activities so that a good quality of grain was obtained, namely manuring and cutting weeds.
The summer days are long, the work is done from sunrise to sunset and this activity is the one that involves the most number of people and is the most lively. Farmers begin to arrange helpers at the end of June so that they can choose the best days and the largest number of people to assist. This tradition continued for many years with few changes. After the mowing is done bundles of rye are curled up in stacks to be stored until they will be meshed. The working day ends with a party with traditional singing and dancing.”
Quoted text by Ilídio Bonifácio Magueja.