I picked the wrong profession. I should have been a meteorologist. They are rarely right and they still get to keep the job. What really annoys me is their disdain for rain. We have had endless sun and cloudless skies. When there is the slightest possibility of rain, they rush to assure us that it won’t last and the sun will be out the next day.

That out of the way, how wonderful to have some soft, steady rain this past week.

My August first planting of bush beans yielded a bushel on Saturday. I sat on a stool and whiled away a morning picking by the handful. I do not believe I have ever grown a more perfect crop. For some unknown reason, not one Mexican bean beetle made its way into my garden this year.

I chained myself to my kitchen and processed the entire bushel into dilly beans.

I have an old freezing and canning cookbook put out by the Farm Journal. It has a handy chart on the inside cover that tells the yield of certain vegetables in quart canning jars. For example, the chart said I would get 15 to 20 quarts of beans from a bushel. I got 14 because I gave some away and ate some for supper.

I’m sure I could have Googled that information, but it was great to thumb through the old book and stroll down memory lane. Many of the recipes were used in the early 1970s when I first started gardening and preserving food in earnest. All the old standbys were on dirty pages with children’s artwork here and there.

Now that I have patted myself on the back for my beans, I have to confess, I did not get a single eggplant. I planted dozens of seedlings, all of which were enjoyed to the fullest by flea beetles. Oh well, such is life.

Luckily I stop by Ghost Island Farm and purchase them from Rusty. He grew the skinny, violet Italian type perfect for ratatouille. By the way, that dish is great piled on Boboli bread for a quick fresh pizza.

The black seeded Simpson lettuce is taking over. It has provided a large salad nightly. Planted just a few weeks ago, it loves the cooler nights and shorter days (as do I). At least when it gets dark earlier I come inside and quit for the day, for Pete’s sake!

Now is the time to move things around in the perennial beds and shrub borders. They will have time to reestablish in their new location before winter. It’s good to move things that didn’t work while it’s still fresh in the mind. Spring brings too many tasks of its own.

I am not fond of the bomb-type mums that are popular right now, cozying up to a pumpkin. I prefer the classic garden mum that comes back every year, is three feet tall, attracts bees like crazy, is just starting to bloom and will for most of October. Clara Curtis, Penelope Pease and Sheffield Pink are my favorite cultivars.

I need to sort through my garlic and pick out the biggest and best to plant for next year. There is still plenty of time to get it into the ground. It will winter-over and be ready to harvest by next July. Always use your best for seed to ensure next year’s crop success.

Do not forget this Saturday, Oct. 4, is the Living Local event at the Agricultural Hall. It is great to have such a vibrant agricultural community here on the Vineyard.

This is a shocker . . . for once I need to criticize both the Democrats and the Republicans. The entire U.S. Congress, in my opinion, is a bunch of cowards. They hightailed it back to their home states to campaign and assure themselves of a piece-of-cake job. Who wouldn’t want a full-benefit, six-figure job for doing absolutely nothing? They won’t even debate giving the president authorization for this latest bombing mission. Both sides have plenty of criticism for him and refuse to do their job. They’d rather hang him out to dry than take a chance of being on the “wrong” side right before the mid-terms. So much for Profiles in Courage.

Harry Truman’s infamous Do-Nothing Congress looks mighty good about now.