Rain has started falling on a regular basis here on the farm,
last month over four inches fell, it was the first normal (it
was actually an above normal total) rainfall in two months, and
when I think back to last year's dismal spring and summer
rainfall, I can do nothing but grin at the garden-perfect timing
of the rain this summer. Tomatoes are ready to be picked, string
beans were hanging heavy prior to removing the nine quarts
yesterday. Peppers are doing surprisingly well, too (they tend
to prefer warm and dry summers). And, the good timing of dry and
wet this year has produced a remarkable crop of onions!
Anyone who has gardened will be able to confirm that sometimes,
no matter what you do to "normalize" conditions, there may be
bad years, like 2010 was for local area planters. I didn't hear anyone
brag that "2010 was a great year for...." It was just a bad year:
it was too hot and it was too dry. There was just nothing that
could be done to make it right, it was just "too bad".
And so too, it is with many of our endeavors, though we think of
ourselves as exceedingly clever to the point of having control, we are
ultimately humbled into seeing that we are merely a part of a puzzle
that someone else is trying to assemble, a puzzle of gardens, or of
cultures, of love, or of politics.
Well it's raining now, after that long dry spell. Gardens of all
kinds are growing.
