Korju

Korju is a term used in the Estonian language to denote the harvest of crops, including both the act of gathering ripe yields from fields and the period in which harvesting takes place. It encompasses the labor involved in collecting crops as well as the seasonal window when fields are cleared for storage.

Linguistically, korju is a noun derived from the Estonian verb korjama, meaning to harvest. In dictionaries and language resources, it appears in agricultural and rural-life contexts and is used in speech and writing about farming practices and seasonal calendars.

Cultural and historical context: In traditional Estonian farming communities, korju marked a pivotal phase of the agricultural year, often requiring coordinated labor and influencing rural livelihoods, markets, and food supply. Harvest-related activities could be linked to communal work and regional practices, reflecting the cycles of dependence on crop yields and weather.

Modern usage: The term remains common in agricultural discourse and cultural descriptions of rural life, appearing in discussions of harvest yields, agronomic calendars, and literature that depicts rural economies. It is primarily an everyday lexical item rather than a technical term, though it can appear in more formal contexts within agricultural science and policy discussions.