June, the month of summer... or is it?

It’s already June, or, in Finnish, kesäkuu. Kesä, to most modern day Finns, means ’summer’. The month of summer? Makes sense, it being… well, summer and all. Right?

Well, it's not quite that simple (you knew I’d say that, didn’t you?). As it happens, the old(er) Finnish word, in some dialects at least, for summer is suvi, while kesä originally referred to something else, namely kesanto – fallow farmland, i.e. unseeded land. Apparently, June was a time when such fallow land was ploughed and thus this task gave its name to the entire month (and then the season), making it another month name that has its origins in farm work.

I don't happen to have a picture of such fallow land, so instead you'll get a photo of our front lawn and a June baby (well, no longer a baby) reading a book. :)