679: Weeds and my Ancestors

I garden, partly for stress relief, and partly in self-defense. Actually, that’s pretty much the same thing.

Today, in the garden, I was pulling weeds, getting ready for the next planting of cool-weather crops. When I am in the garden on my knees, getting physical tasks done, there’s lots of mental activity time available. God seems to visit with me quite frequently when I am in the garden, on my knees. Today, I was noticing how many weeds had appeared since the last time I paid attention to the garden, and I realized my life is a lot like that, too. When I am not paying attention, weeds sprout. When I am busy with other concerns, bad habits come back to visit, and new bad behaviors threaten to become new bad habits.

Bad stuff happens when I’m distracted and not focused on my relationship with God. The enemy is always looking for a way in. When I spot the weeds, or when God gently (or not so gently) points put weeds, we can together root them out. I just need to be willing to pay attention.

While I was pulling weeds, I also noticed some lettuce seedings that had volunteered where I had lettuce growing last season. God nudged me. He reminded me that good things in my life that “volunteer” are often there also because of what happened in a previous season. I have family members (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, other relatives and precious friends) who had good things growing in their lives that I have benefitted from in my life. Scripture speaks about a “great cloud of witnesses” that encourage us in our walk. Those people provided me with good examples (and sadly a few bad examples) that I can learn from in my walk on this Earth. Many of my good habits sprouted because someone else had tended fruit, or sown seed, in their lives that took root in my life, too.

My family has helped me to establish good things. God shows me things that need to be fertilized, weeded out, or pruned. Life, and my garden, are a journey through time. Seeds planted take time to sprout, and more time to grow. They take time to fruit, and then, with more time, they are removed to make way for new plants, or they are refreshed and re-fertilized for a new growing season. This is the cycle of life and gardens.

I have thanks for the examples given to me from my “great cloud of witnesses,” including those examples in my Scriptures, and all of the good things that are already established, or that are now newly growing in my life’s garden because of someone else’s fruitful walk with God.

The volunteer lettuce seedlings have now been transplanted into the garden where they have room to spread out and grow. I’ve also planted seeds for new plants to grow, too. In the same way, I’ve been reading and studying to start new fruitful habits in my life, too. God directs my attention towards things I’ve been doing that He’d like me to stop doing, or to do differently. I just have to listen and then He’ll help me get it done. One day at a time.

664: God’s Lessons from the Garden

With the time off I was given from COVID-19, I planted a garden. Because this was a last minute thing, my new tiny garden spot did not have amended and enriched soil (which takes some time and pre-planning). It was whatever was there when my cousin came over with his tractor and spent 15 minutes turning up the soil. Strike one.

I planted some seed that I had saved well over a year before from an acorn squash I bought from the grocery store. For those of you who know, often commercial produce is from hybrid, or cross-bred vegetable strains so that the resultant fruit is bigger and better than either parent variety – and that usually does not repeat with the offspring’s seeds. Even if it had been top-quality seed, that seed should have been planted the next growing season, instead of two or more seasons afterwards. Strike two.

When the plants grew to fruit-producing size, the scrawny vine sturdily put on three very small acorn squash. The smallest of these wasn’t even as large as my clenched fist – and I am not a large person. In due time, I harvested these three green balls of home-grown goodness.

Today, I prepared the smallest of the gardening results from this one courageous vine. I was surprised to see when the tiny squash was opened that it was stuffed full of seeds. Just for fun, I started counting the seeds this smaller-than-fist-sized squash created. I stopped when the number of seeds exceeded (no pun intended) 300. More than 300 seeds from a fist-sized squash planted in very poor soil from seed more than two years old.

God nudged me, as He often does about the garden. Jesus gave so many parables that were agriculture-related because the people of his time were agrarian, and could easily understand the analogies He made between the Kingdom of Heaven and growing plants and animals. Consider how faithful and how hopeful this tiny, stunted little squash was, growing under adverse conditions – and still creating seeds. If the seeds from this one tiny squash were all planted next year, its progeny would be the only thing the entire garden had room for.

God tells us to share His message – to plant seeds. God is responsible for the harvest. It’s our job to faithfully plant the seeds, counting on God’s faithfulness to increase our meager influence to yield the bountiful harvest – even when we are stunted ourselves from our circumstances. We can still be faithful and plant seeds. Even when we are small and insignificant – we can still be faithful and plant seeds. Work for the harvest yet to come. Plant the seeds.

663: Dealing With the Bounty

Planting a garden, even one as small as my tiny backyard one, is a blessing. Lots of rewards in seeing plants grow and flourish. Lots of food produced. However. You need to think about how you are going to handle that produce, because God is generous, so that you are sharing. When you see people at church are avoiding you, though, you need to man up and handle your own produce sometimes.

Buying another freezer is expensive – and lately, freezers have just been unavailable, since apparently lots of other people are also planting gardens, and well…God is generous. Problem with a freezer is the initial cost and the ongoing electricity, and the occasional freezer disaster, or power outage.

Canning is another solution that works well, but it is hot and labor intensive, and the jars and lids and rings are also expensive initially – which explains why they are such hot sellers at yard sales and thrift stores. Thank goodness once you have the jars, you usually only need to buy new lids every year, and there’s no electricity cost, just shelf space to store those gorgeous jars of delicious food.

What I like using on those days when I suddenly have 47 tomatoes is a dehydrator. Yes, the dehydrator is initially expensive, and it takes electricity, since I have not made the necessary trays and screens (also $$) for solar dehydrating That is also an option and works on these hot, sunny days we’ve been having (but watch out for those sudden summer showers). The electric one is more convenient for us lazy folks.

You do need containers to store the dried goodies, but unlike canning, any old glass or plastic jar with a good lid will do – and the finished product also stores on the shelf with no further need for electricity. Plus, unlike canning, where the volume of preserved food is actually greater than the initial food (water, vinegar, additives), dehydrating allows me to put 10 tomatoes in one fairly small jar, because I am removing the water. That’s what you add back when you use the dried peas, beans, okra, onions, peppers, tomatoes, blueberries, peaches, apples, etc., etc., etc, Some veggies do better when you blanch them first, and I had to consult Google this time about the green beans. It”s been a while since I had a garden, and I forgot if they needed it or not. There is advice online for beginners. And recipes, too!

437: How Your Garden Grows

A garden is a good place to meet both yourself and God.

You meet yourself as you pull weeds on your knees

and God as you discuss with Him what went right,

and what went wrong,

and how you might can do better next time.

Weeds start out small and insignificant

and are easily pulled out by the roots, but

give them a week, unchecked,

and they turn into monsters that uproot the good stuff, too.

Don’t wait to address a problem that is still small

because it won’t stay small long.

The garden, and God,

taught me that truth.

370: Drying the HERB

Here at my new house in Panama, I am on the ground floor and have access to dirt. That means that I can GARDEN. I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant and other goodies, including herbs. The lavender and dill did not sprout. The cilantro is doing well, finally, and the thyme is coming along. But the basil…………….!!!

When you plant, you always sow the seed a little thickly, because not every seed chooses to sprout and grow. So, if you over-plant the seeds of what you want, you generally get enough for yourself, and maybe some to share. But the basil….!! EVERY basil seed sprouted and vigorously grew. I have basil coming out of my ears. I need to find an Italian restaurant to give it to. Every two weeks, when I cut the shoots, I have cases of basil to process. Case of paper size BOXES of herb.

I am too thrifty to throw it out, so I give it away by the armfuls, and I cut and dry whatever is left. I had the last cutting’s worth processed and drying in pans on the back sidewalk in the full sun. To do this, you must strip the leaves, and slice them. Cut leaves dry more uniformly so they keep in bags without molding or spoiling.  Plus, you must place a piece of hardware cloth (big spaced wire) on top so that the wind does not blow away your nicely drying herb in the process. So, there sat my shallow pans, full of minced, chopped basil leaves, happily drying in the sun….and my landlord sees them and asks me, what is this??

I explained that it was three pans of basil and one pan of mint, conveniently growing nearby. I gave him a bag of the dry basil for cooking to take home. It was not until he left that it occurred to me that he had probably thought I was drying HERB: marijuana. They do look a little alike, I guess…..not that I would know from experience, mind you……….!!!

211: Gardening

new spinach

Gardening is a soothing activity, most of the time. When there is a stubborn root to dig up, or a stone, then it’s not too much fun, but otherwise, it is soothing, rewarding and intensely satisfying to see rows of healthy, weed-free plants growing, blooming and producing. It is a deep down satisfaction similar to when one of your beloved fur children comes to your lap, and raises a soft paw to touch your chin, just because they like you, too. Then I know I’m a good cat mom.

Cats like the garden, too – a little too much. They view it as a big kitty potty, full of interesting bugs and dangly things to play with. Still, they are good company when you are on your knees, weeding. They come to see you for a few pets and cuddles, and then they wander off to explore interesting things. Those are great times to think and ponder the universe, when you are on your knees, weeding in the garden. Even when your ‘garden’ is a series of flowerpots, you can still grow herbs, spinach for fresh salads, tomatoes and various other goodies (including catnip), and the pots still need tending, just like any other small garden.

I found myself thinking about weeds, and bad habits, and how much they are alike. The both start out small, and are easily uprooted and controlled, if you keep up with them. Let them go for a few weeks, and you will discover that the roots have grown deep, and that they have multiplied, too. Then, getting rid of them is a real problem, without uprooting the plants you wanted to have there in the first place. Bad habits are just like that. Let them go, and they are the devil to get rid of, too. Uproot them when they are small and just starting, they are a snap to get rid of. I’ve quit biting my nails about a thousand times. I’m STILL working on it. *I* don’t like it, and I still don’t seem to be able to get it stopped. I do it when I am distracted and not thinking about it, like when I am reading (which I do a lot for my job). Really aggravating. If it happened just by making up your mind about it, I’d already have inch long nails.

Plus, the garden teaches you some patience – and lets you see what happens as a reward when you let things take their natural time. Planting seeds is an act of faith in the future. It takes a little time for those seeds to stop being seeds, and start being what they were intended to be: plants. It’s a process, and it does not happen overnight, kind of like kids. They have to grow into what they are going to be, too – and they have to decide to stop being kids to do it. Not stop enjoying life, but stop being children. Grownups are not childish, but they can still have a child-like wonder at the beauty and majesty of life and the world we live on.

Besides, just-picked tomatoes are worth whatever little bit of trouble it takes to grow them. And fresh spinach is lucky if it lasts long enough to make it to the salad – YUM!!