Harvest
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Gen. 8:22). The harvest in Palestine usually begins around the start of April and ends in June, though later in some parts of the hill country. The barley harvest preceded the wheat harvest. A sickle was generally used for cutting the ears, just as with us, and threshing and winnowing were often done in the open air. Gathering up the individual ears, and even individual sheaves, left behind in the field after the harvest was permitted to the poor and became their own property.