Today I had the opportunity to see an unusual custom that perhaps should not be so unusual. Some beans had been harvested this afternoon, the first of their harvest, and I gave a prayer of thanksgiving to God in honor of his blessing the fruit of the land. After all, the firstfruits of the harvest are devoted to God in His honor, and in remembering He who brings rain in due season and blesses the harvest so that we may eat, we are reminded of the source of our blessings.

Not knowing the customs of other people, I am not sure whether this habit of lifting up the firstfruits in gratitude to God is a common one as far as farmers go within the Church of God culture. I know that I come from a farming family and such a thing was never done, but perhaps it should have been done. I think it is all too easy for us, especially those of us who do not come from farming backgrounds, to forget the absolute dependence a farmer has on factors far beyond his control.

After the firstfruit ceremony was done, I stuck around the farm for a little bit to see how it was progressing. Ati-wat, overseer of the garden, has quite a lot of plants growing well with his crew of students/workers. There are some beans that, he tells me, are about a week away from being harvests, some herbs, some corn, and some hot peppers. All in all, the garden looks like it is flourishing. I had the chance to talk to him about fruit, and he got a rose apple for me to taste–truth be told, it was red but not very sweet, and then he went to get a giant frog out of the washroom. All in all, the trip to the farm was quite fun. I would go there more often if I didn’t have to bike there and back to the school again.