Medieval Farming

The fields of a medieval manor are open spaces divided, almost imperceptibly, into long narrow strips. Only the fields being grazed by cattle are fenced.

The others are open and are identifiable as separate fields only by the crops which they bear. The unusual detail is that the single crop in each field is separately farmed - in individual strips - by peasant families of the local village.

Under the Medieval system, land was communal and split into strips given out each year to different serfs. Under the new system, known as the enclosure system, the farms were now divided up into small compact farms. The commons of the old system were also divided up under the new system.

January & February, Work indoors repairing hunting nets. March, Work in the fields, ploughing and cultivating.
April, clean ditches, pruning trees, fixing sheds. May, Sheep cleaning and shearing, planting and field maintenance
June, mowing hay crop. July, harvest grains. August, threshing and winnowing of grains. September, fruits picked and dried.
October, gather nuts, roots, berries. November, firewood gathered. December, trim trees, grape vines pruned, and hunting

• Slaves, Weeding, Ploughing, Seeds, Irrigation, Sickles, Threshing, Wheat, Barley, Millet, Oats, Rye, Olive Trees, Grapevines