The Seasons

As I have said previously, Pam and I are about to complete our first year in Germany. I have learned an important thing about Germany, it is a country of seasons. Sure, there are Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, but there is also, Strawberry Season, Spargel Season, Feld Salat Season, Wildkirschbraton season and many others.

Let me first start off talking about the 4 seasons. We are currently in autumn. This is autumn and not Fall. Use the term Fall to a Euro and they may not understand what you are saying. It is autumn. By far Summer is the season that is the most different than the others. Autumn, Winter and Spring are characterized by changeable weather. If it is clear in the morning, then it will be cloudy and rainy in the afternoon. If it is Rainy in the morning then it will clear by the afternoon and be sunny for a while. The rain here tends to be very different here than in Philly. In Philly, rain tends to be accompanied by wind, sometimes a little wind and sometimes a lot of wind. In Heidelberg, the rain mostly falls straight down with no wind. So, in Germany, taking an umbrella with you when it rains is quite helpful. Not only are you not fighting the wind with an umbrella, but because the rain comes straight down, you can stay mostly dry and not just your head.
As I mentioned, Summer is considerably different. It does not rain quite as much and can go for a week or more without rain. Also, Summer is considerably warmer than the other seasons. Actually, Spring this year was considerably cooler than Winter and it was the only time we saw frost or snow since we were here.

Then there are the other seasons and are mostly dictated by what food is in season. Strawberry season is something that is even special in the US. Freshly picked strawberries are so much better than berries picked in South America and shipped. At the same time is Sprargel season. Spargel is Asparagus, white Asparagus and the Germans though are very passionate about their Spargel. It is grown on immense fields and is grown so that the stalks never see the light of day until they are picked, preventing them from turning green. Driving down the road you will see fields with long mounds running down them in rows. These are Spargel fields. The picking season lasts from Mid-April until mid-June and during this time you will see workers manually going down the rows harvesting. Fresh picked white Asparagus is quite different than green asparagus. It tends to be sweeter and needs to be peeled before eating or otherwise it will be chewy. Spargel will appear in the Market and also Restaurants will have special Spargel Menus and then one day all that is left is Spargel soup, the season has ended and as you drive by the same fields, you will see the bushy tops of the plants growing wildly letting the plants re-energize for next year.

During the summer months as anywhere different types of produce come in and out of season. The next big season, is Oktober Fest which actually takes place at the end of September. At this point you will have special Bock beers and such.
Currently, we are in one of my favorite seasons, Feld Salat or Field Salad. It is a type of lettuce. This is a late fall winter crop and it used to run only from November to January, but now lasts until March. When we first arrived, I noticed people crawling in a field but I could not tell what they were doing. I described what I saw, people kneeling down and doing something with their hands and I described the plant that I saw, a low growing plant. I was told that this is feld salat. I had never seen it in the US before. It is a salat green and is quite tasty and only grows an inch or so from the ground. It is harvested by hand and the pickers have to get down to the level of the plant slice it off at the ground level and put it away, very laborious. Being here in November, I do notice that the leaves of the greens are larger than they were last January/February. I have to think that this is partly because Jan/Feb are part of the extended season and are probably a second or third round of planting.

We are also currently in Wildkirschebraton season. This is a season that I had not heard about until just last week when it started to show up. Kirschbraton is venison (deer meat) and wild (pronounced Veeld) is wild. We have had it served to us at a dinner, we have seen it as Maultaschen and as steaks. A word on Maultaschen. Taschen is the German word for bag. A Maultaschen is like a ravioli only it does not have cheese. Our favorite is Steinpilz Maultaschen (mushroom), there is also Puten (turkey) and Gemuse (vegetable) which are the most common. They also tend to be prepared differently, kind of pan fried and spiced. We tend to eat them like raviolis, in a red sauce….the Steinpilz are really good.

We are also entering Weihnacht season (Christmas). This is a big deal here in Germany and there are Weihnachtamarkts all over the country. These are temporary markets that open on the 3rd or 4th weekend of November and run until the day after Christmas and take place in a town’s major square. Heidelberg’s market is spread over the Kornmarkt, Marktplatz, Universitätsplatz, Anatomiegarten and Bismarckplatz. At a market you will find lots of crafts and seasonal specialty booths. Gluwein is the season specialty, which is a redwine that has been heated,mulled and spiked. It is served in mugs that are about half the normal size and have a yearly design for that Market. Pam and I have started planning a weekend around see several of the Markets in our area (besides Heidelberg). More on this later.