On Gardening...

I speak often of Doug's parents. They are amazing people and I am blessed to have them in my life. I also speak often of their acreage and all the ways they use the space up there. One thing they have is a garden. A. Big. Garden. Because of the road trip they took in June, it was suggested that I plant the garden this year. I agreed with some trepidation because there was no WAY my inexperience was going to measure up to what Mom has done in the past.

At the end of May, Andrea and I did our best to plant the easiest vegetables. Hearty things like lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, tomatos and a pumpkin. (Thankfully Doug's dad did some peas and potatoes). Enter the month of June. It rained. And rained. And rained some more. No problem keeping that ol' garden watered. The problem was that it was alway too wet to weed or care for. Today I felt the need to spend some time alone. No kids, no family, no one. So I headed up to the acreage to check out the garden. It was... green. I'm not sure that the plants were supposed to be 3 feet high though. I had quite the job ahead of me.

Spending this time alone on my hand and knees gave me a lot to think about. I began to compare us, as people to the weeds and plants. I found that there was one weed with a pretty purple flower that had soft leaves which were VERY similar to carrot tops. I had to be very careful to pull only those ones without ruining the carrots. How often do we try to be someone or something we aren't, in order to mix in with the crowd? Our real self is hindered and choked by the 'fake' person we're trying to be. I think if I had waited much longer, the vegetables wouldn't have stood a chance. I took down those tall weeds that were blocking out the sun and gave them some hope. Every so often, I wonder if we too, need to take down the weeds (or walls) that are making us be who we aren't really. I think God is kind of like the gardener, trying to take off our masks so that we can be real for Him.

There is hope, just as I have hope that my carrots, cucumbers and tomatos will pull through.

 A small head of romaine

The freshly weeded garden. Two hours later. There is still lots of work to do but that's going to require a much bigger tool... like a combine perhaps? Ok, maybe a riding lawn mower will suffice but still...

Now I hope that there will be some usable produce to come out of this. I also know that the owner of this yard will be reading this soon and I'm not sure if she'll laugh or cry at my efforts. I'm also not convinced I'm a good solo gardener. Maybe next year I'll just be an apprentice. Yes, I think that's what I'll do!