the Peter Cundall of Nazareth

eh, lads, what's up with this tree then?

I’ve been reading the bible, or a version of it, through Testament, edited by Philip Law, based on the revised English bible, and have finished the old testament and am well into the soi-disant gospels. Naturally I’ll have much to say on this in time, but right now I’m amused and fascinated by the gardening advice of Jesus. Take the parable of the barren fig tree:

A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none. So he said to the vine-dresser, “for the last three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down. Why should it go on taking goodness from the soil?” But he replied, “Leave it, sir, for this one year, while I dig round it and manure it. And if it bears next season, well and good; if not, you shall have it down.”

Dig round your fruitless trees and manure them. Of course. Thank Christ.

And there’s more, such as the parable of the sower:

Listen! A sower went out to sow. And it happened that as he sowed, some of the seed fell along the footpath, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil, and it sprouted quickly because it had no depth of earth; but when the sun rose it was scorched, and as it had no root it withered away. Some fell among thistles; and the thistles grew up and choked the corn, and it produced no crop. And some of the seed fell into good soil, where it came up and grew, and produced a crop; and the yield was thirtyfold, sixtyfold, even a hundredfold. If you have ears to hear, then hear.

YAY verily, I hear it mate. Does this guy know his oats or what?