Veganism and the Wheel of the Year: Finding Gratitude and Joy at Lammas

Celebrate the first harvest with gratitude, joy, and a deep connection to the Earth’s rhythms

Apr 28, 2025

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The first harvest is a powerful moment—not just on the farm, but in our hearts. Lammas, celebrated around August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere (and February 1st in the Southern), invites us to pause, take a deep breath, and recognize the fruits of our labor, both seen and unseen. 🌾💛

In today’s post, we’ll explore the meaning of Lammas through a plant-based lens, celebrating how this ancient festival calls us to live more mindfully, sustainably, and compassionately.

I’m also sharing a gentle gratitude practice you can try, one that honors not just the bounty on your plate, but the quiet, beautiful harvests happening in your life.

Let’s slow down, celebrate what’s growing, and remember that every small choice we make toward kindness and care matters. 🌱✨

Please Note: These articles aren’t meant to match the actual timing of each Sabbat. Instead, they’re here to help you explore how each seasonal celebration connects with vegan values. Think of it as a gentle guide to learning and reflecting year-round—no matter what the calendar says.

This post may contain affiliate links. Full disclosure at the bottom.

The First Fruits of Lammas

The air is filled with warmth and the rich scent of growing things. Gardens are brimming with their bountiful produce. Fields stretch wide with grains and grasses, all ripening under the nurturing gaze of the sun, a sight that never fails to inspire awe.

At Lammas, we start to see the results of what we have been tending. The season invites us to slow down and notice. What fruits are showing up in your life? What small or large harvests are arriving quietly?

This is the perfect moment to pause, take a breath, and look around and within. Lammas reminds us that growth is not only for plants. It is also for our dreams, our healing, and our hearts.

Lammas and the Blessings of the Harvest

Lammas is celebrated around August 1 in the Northern Hemisphere and around February 1 in the Southern Hemisphere. No matter where you live, it marks the first harvest. It is a time to gather, to give thanks, and to honor the gifts of the Earth.

Traditionally, Lammas celebrates grains. It honors the hard work of sowing, growing, and finally reaping the rewards of the season. Bread is often baked and shared as a symbol of life and community.

But Lammas is about more than just food. It reminds us that every harvest is the result of many forces. Our hands work hard, but the land, the rain, and the sun play their parts too. This is a time for humility. It is a chance to say thank you for the visible and invisible help that makes life flourish.

Harvesting with Heart

At its core, Lammas is a gentle reminder that we are not separate from the Earth. We are intricately woven into her seasons, soil, and gifts. A vegan lifestyle deepens this understanding, teaching us to harvest without harm and inviting us to give thanks for every choice we make, fostering a sense of unity and respect for all life.

Lammas calls us to be mindful. It invites us to celebrate abundance with compassion and to live in a way that supports life for all beings. It inspires us to make choices that align with the Earth’s natural rhythms, motivating us to live in harmony with nature.

Here are five ways Lammas connects with plant-based values:

Gratitude for the Earth – We honor the soil, the rain, and the sun that make every meal possible.
Harvest without harm – Choosing plants lets us gather with kindness, respecting life in all forms.
Living the cycle – We join the natural rhythms of the seasons, sowing and reaping with care.
Sustainability in action – A vegan harvest helps protect resources for future generations.
Compassion as a celebration – Every meal becomes a way to say thank you for the Earth’s generosity.

Gratitude Grows

Lammas invites us to slow down and truly see what has grown. Sometimes, the biggest blessings are the ones we take for granted. This simple ritual helps us pause, reflect, and offer thanks for the harvests of the heart, which are the intangible blessings and personal growth we experience.

Set aside ten or fifteen minutes. Choose a spot where the light feels soft, like near sunset or by a window. Light a candle if you can, or place something from the Earth nearby. A bowl of grains, a flower, or even a simple garden leaf will do.

Open your journal. Gently, without rushing, write down three harvests you are grateful for this year. They can be big milestones or tiny moments of joy. Each one is a gift.

Then, write down one way you can give back. It might be a kindness to yourself, a small act of care for the Earth, or a moment of generosity toward someone else.

When you are finished, close your eyes, take a deep breath in and out, and offer a word of thanks to the Earth, either aloud or in the quiet of your heart.

This is how we live the spirit of Lammas: by noticing, giving back, and choosing gratitude.

The Quiet Power of Lammas

Lammas reminds us that growth is not always loud. It is often slow. It is steady and deeply rooted, just like the grains that quietly ripen in the fields.

Gratitude is its own kind of nourishment. When we stop to recognize what we already have, we can live with more intention and find more joy right where we are.

Lammas asks us to honor the quiet harvests in our lives. Not just the big achievements but the small daily victories, the healing, the patience, and the simple moments of peace.

As you move through this season, carry this reflection with you:

What am I harvesting in my life, and how can I share that abundance with kindness and care?

Coming Up Next: Mabon and the Autumn Equinox

As the wheel continues to turn, we will soon arrive at Mabon, the Autumn Equinox. This is a time of balance, gratitude, and deeper reflection. We will explore how the second harvest calls us to align with the rhythms of giving and receiving in even greater harmony.

I cannot wait to share the next part of this journey with you!

Thank you so much for being here and for bringing your beautiful heart to this space. Your light matters, and your journey matters. It is an honor to walk through the seasons together.

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Lammas teaches us that growth doesn’t have to be loud or dramatic. It can be slow, steady, and deeply rooted, like the fields of grain quietly ripening under the sun.

By honoring the harvests in our lives—big and small—we reconnect with the Earth, ourselves, and the simple joy of living in rhythm with the seasons.

Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me. 🌿 Your presence in this space is a gift, and I’m so grateful we get to walk the Wheel of the Year together.

I’d love to hear what small or surprising "harvests" you’ll celebrate this season. Hit reply and share—I read and respond to every message! 💬💚

Expect Miracles!
Until next time,
Julene