The market year
twenty-four turning days
The European produce year does not turn on the solstices. It turns on named days — Candlemas, Lady Day, Lammas, Michaelmas — the working calendar that markets, rents and plantings actually ran on. These are the twenty-four, with the date each opens and how long it holds. Eight are great turns; the other sixteen fill between them.
- I Candlemas Candlemas light 2 Feb · 12 days
- II St Valentine The birds pair 14 Feb · 15 days
- III St David Leeks and first cuttings 1 Mar · 24 days
- IV Lady Day The sprouting 25 Mar · 20 days
- V Cuckoo Day The cuckoo and the first pods 14 Apr · 9 days
- VI St George Sant Jordi 23 Apr · 8 days
- VII May Day The cold gardeners (Eisheiligen) 1 May · 14 days
- VIII Cold Sophia After Sophia — the great planting 15 May · 24 days
- IX St Médard Médard's wager 8 Jun · 16 days
- X Midsummer São João fires 24 Jun · 21 days
- XI St Swithin The cherries give way to the plums 15 Jul · 10 days
- XII Santiago Santiago and the dog days 25 Jul · 7 days
- XIII Lammas First bread 1 Aug · 23 days
- XIV St Bartholomew Bartholomew wipes the rain 24 Aug · 15 days
- XV Marymas Summer breaks 8 Sep · 21 days
- XVI Michaelmas Michaelmas geese 29 Sep · 11 days
- XVII Old Michaelmas The devil's blackberries 10 Oct · 8 days
- XVIII St Luke St Luke's little summer 18 Oct · 14 days
- XIX All Hallows All souls 1 Nov · 10 days
- XX Martinmas New wine and chestnuts (magusto) 11 Nov · 25 days
- XXI St Nicholas Nicholas and the citrus turn 6 Dec · 19 days
- XXII Christmas The twelve days 25 Dec · 12 days
- XXIII Epiphany Kings' cake and the mineral days 6 Jan · 16 days
- XXIV St Vincent Vincent prunes the vines 22 Jan · 11 days