This past weekend, it was time to clean out the garden after our first frost. It wasn’t the best year for our tomatoes. They never seemed to ripen, and the leaves were shriveled most of the growing season. It was a dry summer. We had so many green Romas we expected would turn red, but they never did, and then the first frost came.
I cut branches away from their support cages and dug up fingerling potatoes. The last of the beans succumbed to frost damage. I found just 12 chickpeas in their pods, and maybe a cup of green peanuts.
I thought about how hopeful we had been at the beginning of the season and reflected on my research of North Carolina yeoman farmers in the mid-nineteenth century. I read North Carolina Yeoman: The Diary of Basil Armstrong Thomasson, 1853-1862, edited by Paul D. Escott, University of Georgia Press, 1996.
In May 1862, after four days of wet weather, Basil Armstrong Thomasson wrote in his diary, “Its all for the best. Whatever pleases the Lord should please us, be it rain or shine.” (pg.327)
June and July had their challenges also with heavy rains; he wrote, “The water got up and cleaned out some of the creek bottoms to the clay, or as deep as they had been broke. Such heavy rains are providential, and for some good, but we can’t see exactly how men are benefited by having their farms so completely washed away.” (pg. 327-8)
We see his perseverance in his words: “One thing, however, we do know, and that is that all things work together for spiritual welfare of all those that love God.” (Pg. 328)
It struck me how faithful Mr. Thomasson remained throughout his life. He farmed to feed his family, and he faced constant challenges and uncertainties: his wheat crop failed, his straw cured up like hay, worms infested the stalks, and the oats failed. He replanted when he could, and did his best to save his poor crops.
He took it all in stride and persevered. Then late summer grew too dry, rust cut into the oats, and the corn was small. He noted that, on top of the weather-induced problems, the Civil War was going on, and food for humans and livestock was growing scarce.
Basil A. Thomasson had never remembered failure like this; farmers raised less than they sowed, so their crops were short and inferior. Thomasson wrote: “A famine is feared among all classes but more among those who have all to buy and nothing to sell.” (pg. 328)
“I fear the time is not far off when meat and bread will not be had at any price. Well if the Lord will let famine, pestilence or anything else come that will bring the dreadful war now raging in out land to a close. There is perhaps nothing better calculated to humble a nation than famine and nothing better calculated to produce famine than war and short crops.” (pg. 328)
Mr. Thomasson concluded 1862 with this prayer: “Thy will , O Lord, be done on earth as it is done in heaven. As our days may demand so let our strength be. Amen” (pg.329)
I find it humbling to read this kind of gratitude in his diary entries, which also expressed his appreciation for cultivating and harvesting. His dependence on God is evident throughout his diary. He continued to foster his deep connection with the Lord and the land he was blessed with.
Yet, I was disappointed in our “short” tomato crop. I couldn't make the sauce I am accustomed to for winter. But then again, I can jump in my car, drive to the grocery store, and buy canned tomatoes. That wasn’t a convenience Mr. Thomasson knew; for him, hunger meant uncertainty, and he believed in faith that he could feed his family.
How do we value gratitude? What I have learned from history is that gratitude isn’t about getting what we hope for, in this case, good crops (for one thing, it is out of our control), but about appreciating our blessings.
Have you found yourself learning from the past when people showed gratitude, especially for their existence? Please feel free to leave your comments below.
