The Garden

I have been trying to grow a garden in my depleted and miserable soil for about three years now, mostly because I have felt that with a third of an acre, I should take the opportunity to follow the counsel of the Lord and my own heritage. But I'm not that great at growing things any more. The first year, I got about six tiny tomatoes and a whole lot of chewed off stems. Last year, I got about a dozen tomatoes, some onions, a miniscule pepper and a whole lot of chewed off stems.

This year, things are looking a little more promising. The Snails (and if you met them, you would know why it is capitalized) are mostly gone. My plants are surviving, though not yet flourishing. I'm still having problems getting enough water to them, and I am frankly getting a bit frustrated.

Why am I spending so much time and money to grow something that comes quicker, easier, and tastier from the Farmer's Market?

As a single mom with too many projects, I don't get to weed as often as I would like. The morning glory, especially, is very thankful to me for creating such a nicely fertilized area to grow. Just last week, they were knee high, tangling up my pumpkin and tomatoes. Finally, I decided that I cared less about getting the girls to bed on time and more about freeing my choking produce. So I got down and started to weed in earnest.

The girls were playing nearby, exploring the wilds of my backyard. Eventually, bored of other pursuits, they wandered over to oversee my weeding. Up until this point, they have been utterly disinterested in my gardening efforts, despite my efforts to get them excited.

But Ely started asking me questions. "What is this? Is it a weed?"
"Yes, that is morning glory."
"Can I pull it?"
"Sure! Just twist a little, don't pull straight up. Perfect! Good job."
"I did it!"

And it went from there. Soon, she was enthusiastically quizzing me on the plants in the garden, how to pull the weeds, what kinds of vegetables we could expect, and why some of them died instead of growing. She organized her sister to take the failed radishes to the compost pile. She had dirt up to her elbows and ground under her nails.

As she was pulling grass out from between the peas, she said, "I can't wait until we get to pick some of this!" And I sincerely hoped we would this year.

"I like weeding, mom!"
"Good! I'm glad to hear it. Why do you like weeding?"
"It's fun to get dirty!" Go figure. "We should do this every day!"

And that's when I realized why the Lord asks us to garden. It isn't about saving money. It's about teaching ourselves and our children about life. Gardening is a metaphor, yes, but there is something magical about getting your fingers in the soil and following one of the oldest commandments.

"And the Gods took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it." 
Abraham 5:11