It is time to dig up my garden; time to call it done. It is time to let the ground rest. The plants have died; there will be no more fruit this year.

The garden was a bust this year – the snow peas failed, and the squirrels ate all my green tomatoes. I harvested some cucumbers and peppers, but not very many. Sometimes life is like that. We put in the effort, but seem to reap little or no reward.

I have faith that God is in even these times, maybe especially in these times. Maybe the reward of this year’s garden was the survival of a wild animal. Maybe the seeds from that stolen fruit will produce volunteer tomatoes in the woods beyond my creeks, nourishing animals for years to come. Perhaps the fruit it produced was these musings, these lessons.

But the summer and this garden have come to its end.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

There is a sadness to ending the garden for the year: no more fresh growth; no new blossoms; no need for me to walk the garden daily. Where did the summer go? But there is a relief as well: no more weeding; no frustration with failure; no constant demands for attention. Are you ready for some football? There’s an excitement for what Autumn promises: Bible studies are getting back together; my daughter’s expecting twins; I need to prepare for family gatherings and holidays. Such excitement on the horizon!

A time for everything.

Now is the time to let the ground rest, lie fallow. Rest is a vital part of the growing season, allowing the soil to rejuvenate. The ground, like you and me, needs rest, sleep, vacation, Sabbath.

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work. Exodus 20:8-10

Perhaps this blog needs to take a rest as well, but not quite yet. I have a few more thoughts I would like to share over the next weeks, not all of which are garden related. If you have subscribed to this blog or are a follower, WordPress will notify you of my posts. If you are getting these posts through an email from me, please let me know if you would like to continue receiving it, because I will no longer send out unsolicited emails.

As for future gardens and plans, I am trying to stay open to the Spirit’s guidance. God willing, I will have a garden next year; God willing, there will be something to harvest. But for now, I am pulling up the dead plants, taking down the fence, and letting the grass grow.

This season is over. I look forward to what God holds in store for me during the next one.

Betsy

All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. John 1:3-4

I can remember our dining room table covered with tomatoes. Nick said it made him feel wealthy. We were so grateful for God’s abundance.

This year, my garden has blessed some squirrels with a wealth of tomatoes.

The heat has been too much for my exuberant cucumbers, and the vines are dying.

I have not given up hope. I still water and tend; there are still blossoms. I have reinforced the fence and netting. There’s still a chance.

Any harvest fills me with gratitude. What an amazing gift – food from the earth. We are so accustomed to it that the wonder has dulled. God gives us what we need to survive. He always has. Not the government, not business ventures – the earth. God’s creation feeds God’s creatures.

God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. Genesis 1:29

This year, in a time of drought and heat, God has been feeding His wild animals through my garden. That is OK. They cannot go to the grocery store or the farmer’s market to purchase what they need. I am grateful that I can.

I am grateful that I have a yard. I am grateful that there are wild animals living among us, although sometimes the bunnies and squirrels behave more like pets. I am grateful for water to quench my thirst, trees to provide shade, and a home with air conditioning to keep me cool.  

There is so much to be thankful for! So many of God’s gifts to us have become “given” that we fail to stop and give thanks for them. The sun, the warmth, the rain, the cool breeze, water. Trees, flowers, grass, seed bearing fruit.

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth. Psalm 104:14

Too often I focus so much on what I want to do, and my failure to complete it, that I miss what God is accomplishing. I miss the opportunity to give God thanks for what He has provided, what He is doing in my life.

The Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:17-18

So today, I am giving thanks for my peppers. I am choosing not to dwell on my lack of ripe tomatoes. I am grateful for the cucumbers I harvested last month. I have decided to be grateful that my ripening tomatoes may have helped some desperate animal. I have plenty, and I have the ability to get more. I may still be able to harvest some tomatoes this year. But even if I don’t harvest anything more, I still choose to be grateful. Grateful to God for all that He has provided me. Grateful to God that He cares for me and the squirrels.

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you.  I Thessalonians 5:18

A friend of mine has a sign in her kitchen which reads: What if you woke up tomorrow with only those things for which you were grateful today? Would we not spend the entire day listing all the things for which we are grateful? Will I spend at least part of my day today thanking God, being grateful for His gifts? Will you?

Don’t you think He would like at least one of us to “return and give praise to God?”

Thank You, Lord, for these peppers. Thank You for teaching me through the garden. Thank You for letting me have a garden. Thank You for gardens everywhere – your constant provision for us. You are a good and gracious God.

And thank you, friends, for reading this. Thank you for your encouragement.

Betsy

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness. John 8:12

When you buy starter plants, they are in trays, which are labeled at the end. The suppliers mark each plant are individually, but I don’t always look at the individual labels. A recipe for disaster.

One year, we planted small sweet peppers. We had found a recipe for stuffing them with cheese and were eager to make a bunch. We bought two plants. But as they grew, one looked a little off; slightly different shaped leaves, a darker hue, thinner peppers. Nick reasoned that he should try one before we stuffed them.

I still don’t know what they were – ghost peppers, perhaps? Mouth on fire, tears streaming down his red face, stuffing bread into his mouth, Nick washed his face and hands and arms, repeatedly.

With gloves, we packed all the harvested peppers in a ziplock bag, dug up the plant and gave it all to a friend who liked hot peppers.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? … Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruit. Matthew 7:15-20

Our inattention had led us to plant something we didn’t want in our garden. It needed to go – immediately and totally. Since this was a matter of taste, we could give it to a friend. If they had been poisonous, we would have thrown them all away.

Sometimes, our inattention allows bad fruit to grow in our lives. Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell the false prophets from the real ones. Often the plants can look very similar, but the fruit is very different.

While Jesus commands us to “judge not,” to be loving and forgiving, to understand that all sin is equal and your sin is no worse than mine, to know that all have sinned and God is willing to forgive all sin, Jesus also calls us to be discerning about who we listen to, who we follow and what we plant in our spiritual gardens. It’s not always clear. Sometimes our inattention leads us astray; sometimes there is deception at work.

So, once the “bad fruit” becomes obvious, dig up that plant, cut down that tree, and get it out of your garden.

And sometimes, this issue is not “bad fruit,” but no fruit at all.

We tried to grow blueberries for three years without success. We researched varieties and growing recommendations. We enhanced the soil and protected the plants. 6 blueberries in 3 years. Finally, it was time to dedicate that garden space to something else.

Like the man in Jesus’s parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9), “For three years I have come looking for fruit on this tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it waste the soil?”  We cut our blueberry bushes down. In the parable, the gardener (presumably Jesus) is more patient and kind and convinces the man to give the fig tree more time, promising additional love and care.

What a gift, what a blessing, what a warning.

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  2 Peter 3:9-10

Right now, my Victory Garden is growing well. The plants are producing, and the fruit is good. But it is not a time to rest. Every day I must water; every day I must encourage growth, every day I must harvest what is ripe. I need to be vigilant for the appearance of bad fruit and concerned when no good fruit appears.

How is your garden growing?

Thank you for sharing your time with me and sharing these thoughts with others. I hope that I have involved you in this story, and would love to hear your thoughts.

Betsy

Do whatever He tells you. John 2:5

The cucumbers are ripe and the peppers have turned red.

I need to go out and pick, today.

Tomorrow, there will be more to pick. Because I planted indeterminate plants, this is happening over a period of weeks instead of all at the same time. As I pick, more ripen.

In fact, if I do not pick the ripe fruit, I delay the production of more fruit. Perhaps the plant only has so much energy to share, and it goes to the ripe fruit before it goes to the emerging fruit. In this sense, picking the fruit is a sort of pruning that allows for more resources to be sent to emerging fruit.

Pruning is the act of cutting back the unproductive parts of the plant so that the more productive parts can flourish. Much less important in backyard gardens than in a vineyard, pruning dead branches and “dead-heading” flowers can still improve any crop. Perhaps picking the fruit accomplishes the same goal.

Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit. John15:2

Nick liked to think that it made the plant happy to know that we desired its fruit; that us picking the fruit encouraged the plant to produce more. And I want happy, fruit-producing plants.

After all, everyone likes to feel appreciated. We all want at least one other person to appreciate what we are producing, what we are putting out into the world, what we are gifting to the cosmos. And when others seem to appreciate our efforts, we are more likely to continue them.

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

Another reason to pick the fruit is because the fruit I grow in my garden, like the fruit the Spirit grows in my life, has a purpose. And its purpose is not to just to sit and rot on the vine.

We may not know the purpose of what is growing in our lives. Like the tomato I give away, I may never know its end use.

But one thing I know. Every fruit has a purpose beyond its own existence.

Fruit propagates more plants and benefits every creature that partakes of it. That beautiful tomato does not exist to make the plant look pretty. And God does not give us joy and peace so that we can be joyful and peaceful in our home by ourselves.

God gives us His fruit to further His kingdom and benefit every creature on this earth. What a waste it would be to let it rot on the vine, to deny that fruit its larger purpose.

“I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, have what is yours.” But his master replied, “you wicked and lazy slave!” Matthew 25:25-26

So I am headed out to the garden to pick a cucumber or two, maybe even a pepper. Maybe I’ll have them on a salad or as a sandwich. They will provide me with vital nutrients to support me for another day. They will allow me to put off a grocery run for a while. I may even share them with you.

And I will thank God for growing them in my garden. I thank Him for my yard, the sun, the rain, the fruit itself, and the ability to pick it, eat it and share it.

I also thank Him for you, dear friends, who have encouraged me and continue to do so. I hope my experiences in the Victory Garden have encouraged you. You, too, have fruit to share.

Betsy

It is the Lord that goes before you. He will be with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8