It was July of 2020. I looked at the dying tomato and cucumber plants and wept. The dying plants seemed emblematic of so much that was wrong with my life.
My husband Nick and I had grown vegetables in our backyard for almost 30 years. Gardening was a chore and a joy we shared. Even as the cancer filled his lungs and made breathing difficult, Nick had tilled the soil, put up the fencing, and planted the vegetables. Nick died in June, too soon to see the plants bear fruit. I had kept the garden going in the summer after his death, but my efforts were half-hearted.
The next spring, when it was time to prep the garden, I just didn’t have the heart. I didn’t till the soil or break up the weeds; I didn’t clear the ground or establish the weed barriers. At the last minute, I bought a couple of tomato and cucumber plants and placed them where plants had been the year before. I didn’t tend or water them regularly; they weren’t thriving; and weeds overtook the garden. I used some week killer that was supposed to be safe around vegetable plants, but it wasn’t. The plants were dying. I was failing at gardening without Nick. Often, I felt I was failing at life without him.
A gentle voice in my head reminded me – it was okay, even beneficial, for ground to lie fallow for awhile; maybe I just needed to give the garden, and myself, a little time, a little grace. The grace of a garden is that I can try again next year. The grace of life is that I can start fresh each morning.
When the Spring of 2021 rolled around, I set about re-establishing my garden, intentionally planning, executing, and writing about each step along the way. I wrote pages of notes and stories and insights. I realized God has long taught me lessons about life, and the Christian life in particular, through gardening.
This year, 2022, I want to share those thoughts with you. I hope that you enjoy the fruits of my labor, and that it will nourish you as the garden has nourished me.
Betsy Davies
Brentwood, Tennessee
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10
The Victory Garden 