Come to my garden!

All I need is there in the garden...
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You clear away the dead parts,
So the tender buds can form,
Loosen up the earth and
Let the roots get warm,
Let the roots get warm.
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A bit of earth,
She wants a little bit of earth,
She'll plant some seeds.
The seeds will grow,
The flowers bloom,
Their beauty just the thing she needs.
She'll grow to love the tender roses,
Lilies fair, the iris tall.
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I know that my gardens are nothing like Lilly's or Mary's in The Secret Garden, but they sure make me happy, from the very first sign of green, showing that things are "wick" to the last jar of applesauce or salsa we eat in the winter(spring or summer depending on how long they last!) This year I have been so happy with all of my experiments! Things have grown really well...could be all that rain we had in June, letting everything get well established before the heat of July.

Here are some of my favorite garden shots this year.


And here are some pics of our early harvest.


Those are a normal size apple and a normal size pear next to the potatoes!

I haven't taken pics of all that we have harvested...some things just don't last long enough! But we have so far harvested peas, lettuce, cabbage, summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, green beans, potatoes, and carrots. The peas and lettuce are done :(, but we still have corn, pumpkins, butternut squash, cantaloupe, and watermelon (an experiment)yet to harvest, not to mention the blackberries, grapes, apples, and pears! Oh I love growing stuff!


I think that gardening is like life. So often we need to "clear away the dead parts"...the things that are holding us back, be they regrets, mistakes, sins, whatever, so that we can grow and move in better directions and ways that we never imagined we could. I also think that we need to get out of focusing on ourselves, get our hands in the dirt and do something for someone or something other than ourselves. And most of all we need to recognize the beauty of this world that Father has given us ~ what a fabulous gift!