What a Girl Thinks in the Sunshine.........

   I got the opportunity to get outside today and get a close look at my garden, which is laying in wait for me to begin work. I felt the old stirring of desire to sink my hands into the dirt and begin to turn, to plant, to nurture life from the tiny seeds that are laying just beneath the soil. I keep thinking this year of what I should add that is new, where I can get it, and where those plants will go.

image courtesy

   This year holds so much promise for me. Not only do I have the huge raised bed gardens that we put in last Spring at my mom's house, but this year I have my very own house (and large yard) to begin planting and sculpting to my heart's desire.
  

the beginning of the raised beds last year

   I am blessed that in all the years we rented I had landlords who understood how important a garden was to me, and had no problem with me planting it again and again. Our last landlord was even gracious enough to allow me to have two gardens--a regular one, and an herb garden. (We wont talk about all the rabbits and pets we have been allowed to raise over the last nine years either.) If you haven't read about this part of our story here~being finally Home~ at the Welcoming House, I would encourage you to mosey on over HERE and read about it. It is an important part of our story, and one I love to read again and again.
   I am not sure why gardening is such a relaxing thing for me to do, or why I look forward to it so much every year. When August rolls around and I am up to my ears in tomatoes, green beans, corn, and cabbage I always say to myself: "Never again, Heather! Next year you are going to buy it at the farmer's market and forget about gardening!". But, every year, Spring rolls around and I cant resist digging my toes into the soil, and dreaming about what I am planting and where.

image courtesy

   After a lot of thought, I realized that I love gardening because it responds to love and attention. Just like children, and just like "big" people. And it doesn't matter just how broken or abused that plant is, for some reason, it responds to the time and attention that is lavished on it, as do the hurting people have that God has brought into my life.
   It is that.......and the fact that once I weed, it stays weeded for at least a couple of days (unlike my house, which, once cleaned, I swear decides to start throwing things around, or urping them up out of their hiding places the minute I go to bed). There is such satisfaction in a clean and weeded bed, with pretty young plants growing up out of it in perfect rows, or patterns.

   I have also decided though, that people are like plants in other ways.

   Face it, some of us are blueberries, some of us are tomatoes, and some of us are beans.

   For those of us who are blueberries, the acidic things that have been poured on our lives, after some loving care and attention, just make us all the sweeter and the fruit in our life bigger in the end. It was because of those tough things, because the Master gardener decided when allowed a good dose of some painful times, that our lives are richer, and full of good things to bless others in the end.
   For those of us who are tomatoes, we send roots deep into the rich soil provided for us, and with a little love and a little crud, begin to bear fruit that over and over again fills others up. Our growth is slower at times, but when we reach that time when our maturity level is finished, we just keep giving and giving and giving, and bring in a bountiful harvest.
   And then there are those of us who are beans. We grow fast in plain soil, are used to a tough life and learn how to thrive on just a few important things: water, something strong to hold us up, and something to keep us rooted. Then we shoot for the stars, show the world our beauty, and eventually, contribute to the lives of others by giving them the basic things that are essential for their existence and survival. We teach them how to be a bean plant--rooted in the Word of God, reaching to the Heavens, and absorbing the water of Life.

   And of course, there are those who are brussell sprouts---sweeter for being touched by the frost that comes in every life....but perhaps not the most popular in every circle. :)

 Just had to throw that one in there.

   I was delighted to see that all my planted seeds have come up under the grow lights and are thriving. Another couple of days and I will be able to remove the plastic covers over the greenhouses, and start to make them strong with a fan. Did you plant anything this year? Do you have plans to expand or start a garden this spring? I would love to hear about it. :)

Many Blessings to you and yours,

Heather