In Scotland the Harvest Festival usually takes place during September. Offerings of fruit and vegetables are placed around the church altar for a thanksgiving service that would make sure there was a good crop for the next year. Congregation members who did not grow their own vegetables or fruit bring caned goods. After the service the offerings of fresh produce and canned goods are given to those less fortunate. People take great pride in decorating the churches and often keep the best of the harvest from their own backyard crops for this festival. At the end of the service the produce items that have been left as offerings are each blessed and sent to hospitals and other institutions for the sick and needy. In addition to taking lots of our garden produce to church, my mother used to mak