‘Big Dose of Unpredictability’

Provided by Becky Nelson
Things don’t always happen as we humans plan. We were planning for a “normal” maple sugar season this year, and it didn’t happen…we were a bit below average in our production. We were planning for a “normal” planting season and it didn’t happen…it was cold and too wet when we planned to plant and we were delayed a couple of weeks. We were planning on a “normal” raspberry season, and it hasn’t happened…things are early and varieties that usually ripen in mid-July are already ripe and ready.

Things happen at their own pace and with a big dose of unpredictability. All we can do is look for the silver linings in the darkest clouds and the beauty in what might appear ugly. When I came home from a long day in the sun picking beans and peas and raspberries and blueberries and supervising crews and keeping things looking presentable at the store, I was pooped. It was all I could do to crawl out of the car, it seemed. But a patch of beautiful “black-eyed Susan” flowers caught my eye, and I couldn’t resist a photo. The patch was full of the expected flowers, but one was not quite the same as the others.

Somehow as the flowers grew, a couple of them fused together or a single one created a twin. What is usually a round dome-shaped center at the hub of the flower was oblong in shape with a fusion scar in the center, making it hot-dog roll shaped. The petals lined two sides of the center, and the flower was unusual enough to catch my eye. It made me wonder if it was viable as a flower. Would it create seeds? Would flowers from this plant be “normal” or would it be a viable new mutation?

We know a lot more about mutation nowadays than we ever cared to know in our daily lives with mutations of viruses and bacteria making it more deadly or in some cases, less deadly than its predecessor. The science of genetics and the infinite combinations of DNA and chromosomes is a bit beyond me, and I rely on the scientists in the family to tell me what’s what. But I do know that in the farming world, it is a constant mission to grow the biggest, best, tastiest vegetables and seed companies tinker with plants and their progeny to make the next generation better than the original, breeding, and now genetically modifying plants to produce desirable traits.

The same happens in animal breeding, with dog breeders, horse breeders, cattle breeders, even chicken breeders looking for examples in the flocks and the herds with desirable traits to breed to those of the opposite sex with equally desirable traits, hoping for the better and improved model. Sometimes things don’t go as planned, however, and just like the odd flower I saw, the new version isn’t quite right.

I am grateful to those who research and breed and offer us farmers better seeds and better genetics in our animal production. But I am also not quite on board with selective breeding when it comes to humans. With lots of advances in genetic modifications, we are just an ethics breath away from creating ourselves, and I’m not on board. Sometimes when I think too hard, my head hurts and my anxiety spikes. I think I had better go back out and just marvel at the unusual flower and appreciate each and every one of my neighbors and friends for their differences and beauty even in their “flaws” and be done with it. But I keep thinking…and worrying a bit.

Becky Nelson is owner of Beaver Pond Farm in Newport, eighth generation in a multi-generational farm that was established in 1780. She can be reached at [email protected].