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