agriculture: Europe 33 into stacks and then brought to storage barns Peasants who mowed the meadows belonging to the lord were entitled to a portion, in some traditions as much as they could carry off the field with the points of their scythes Care of the herds of sheep, goats, and cattle was also an important summer occupation Lambs were sheared in late spring and their fleeces spun into wool Cattle and sheep were pastured on fields intended for later crops to fertilize the soil In some cases plowing for the fall crop began in early summer The plowman dug as deep as possible to expose weeds, which then had to be laboriously cut at the root and pulled from the ground Common weeds were thistles, nettles, cockles, cornflower, and marigolds In the summer households harvested the flax and hemp that matured in their gardens The plants were pulled by hand and then dried in the sun and put into running water to rot away the waste parts and clean the plants Flax and hemp fibers were beaten and separated and then up to dry Hemp was wound and used to make rope, and flax was spun into yarn used for matting and other household goods In late summer as food stores dwindled, medieval peasants had to forage for food from the surrounding forests and take any game they could from communal lands or, illegally, from the lord’s preserves By the end of August the summer grain harvest began This crucial harvest of winter wheat and rye and spring barley and oats depended on a steady rainfall in the spring months as well as several fair days, allowing harvesters to bring a dry crop into storage The reapers cut the wheat with short sickles and the other grains with long scythes Binders followed behind to gather the sheaves into bundles In some places a tithe to the church of one of every 10 sheaves was collected, and the rest was carried to storage Gleaners were allowed to collect any cut wheat that remained in the field Damp grain could be dried in special ovens, if any were available The stubble remaining was left to hens, ducks, and geese, who were turned loose to clear the fields and fatten themselves up for winter feasts Autumn Processing Harvested grain had to be processed, which required the labor of men, women, and animals The work was done immediately after the harvest, when the days began growing short and the nights cold Wheat and other grains were threshed (beaten) with long-handled beaters to separate grains from the ears and stalks The grains were winnowed by being thrown up into the air and allowing the wind to carry away the chaff, which was then used as animal feed Seeds were removed by passing the grain over a sieve The processed grain was collected and stored, ready to be milled into flour and then baked into bread If a running stream was available, grain mills were powered by water wheels In some places draft animals were used to drag millstones over the grain and pound it into flour Rodents and other vermin posed a constant threat to processed grain, which could be kept for a long period unless affected by damp After the harvest the peasant settled his yearly debts and rent with the lord of the manor Livestock that was no longer useful to breed or to work was slaughtered at this time, and the meat was stored and preserved by salting or by hanging in a smokehouse The skins of cattle and pigs were saved for tanning into leather for clothes and shoes Winter crops of wheat and rye were planted and harrowed after the fall plowing The fall was also the time for collecting wild fruit and for herds of pigs to scavenge nuts and mushrooms in the forest, a right that peasants might gain through negotiations with the lord In years of good harvests peasants had good stores of grain, nuts, dried fruits, and meat to last between the fall and spring They collected wood from the forest floor (because cutting live trees was usually prohibited) and reeds for use as thatching material to repair or build homes Household chores for women included making or repairing clothes, preserving food, preparing meals, and caring for children Men worked at repairing their homes and tools, at crafts such as ironworking and woodworking, at milling grain, and attending markets Improvements in Agriculture The two-field system of planted and fallow plots was eventually replaced by a three-field system: one field was left fallow while the other two were used alternately for spring and fall crops Three-field rotation greatly increased harvests, as did the development of new technologies starting in the 11th century The heavy-wheeled plow fitted with a moldboard was better adapted to the heavy soils of northern Europe A padded collar fitted to a horse enabled the peasant to replace oxen with the faster animal for plowing fields and hauling goods longer distances Water mills made use of the power of local streams for milling grain more efficiently and for making textiles Marl, or high-calcium earth, was used to extend animal dung as a fertilizer over large areas Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries European farm production and population increased National monarchies were establishing control over larger areas, although local power still rested in the hands of regional leaders: earls, dukes, counts, viscounts, and landowning nobles At the same time, arable land was extended to fields that were previously used as pasture and forage land In about the 13th century manorial lords began exerting closer control over common land These changes reduced the herds of cattle, sheep, and