In my 24-year span of living in Canandaigua, NY, I can not ever remember a summer like this one. It began with a very mild winter, then lots of spring rains. When the rains finally stopped long enough for the farmers to plant this year’s crops, the weather turned very dry. As soon as the corn was planted, the rains returned and flooded the fields. It seems to me like it hasn’t stopped raining since then – with about only two days of week without rain. The remaining days in the week feature scattered thunderstorms along with localized downpours and serious flooding here in Canandaigua.
My garden is a disaster. I had it rototilled twice this spring but with so much rain, the weeds just took over. I stopped by my favorite farm stand to buy some early vegetables. There was very little for sale. I started to complained to the women who sells home grown vegetables in a stand along the road, and she told me that “we believe that this is God’s punishment for not obeying His instructions in the Garden of Eden”. “We are forever doomed to hard work for what we grow and that includes putting up the weeds.”
There are a lot of good lessons to be learned in the biblical story of the Garden of Eden which can be found in Genesis 2:4 – 3:24. Man was told that he had to sweat and toil for his subsistence and that he would eventually die and return to dust from which he was created because he ate of the forbidden fruit.
As for myself, I just couldn’t keep up with pulling all of the weeds and tending to my gardens. My old legs have given out and kneeling is out of the question. I did hire Jon and Sara up the street to plant a summer garden for me. This has worked out very well and has been a joy for myself, my wife, and for all of our neighbors who frequently walk their dogs down the lane which passes by the garden.
My mother taught me how to garden and it has been a source of joy all my life. But now I must turn over the labor to those much younger than I.
James R. Bupp