The saga of my garden continues. A couple weeks ago, I posted about my concern that last year’s raspberry canes I pruned (drastically) back in February weren’t going to sprout new canes. There’s good news to report on that front! Not only have they sprouted nicely but they look to be thriving! I can’t tell you how excited I am to have a partial victory on this! See the picture below.When my Beloved announced over the weekend he was going to purchase tomato and green pepper seedlings and maybe a few other vegetables for planting, I was both surprised and goaded into action! Until now, he had more or less ceded the raised-bed garden space to my care … but I wasn’t going to refuse his sudden interest, no, no, no! So I knew I had to take immediate action!

Since last fall, the space has been grossly untended (except for my February pruning of raspberry canes). Weeds, weeds and more weeds had taken the opportunity (while my attentions were turned elsewhere) to enshroud the emerging strawberry plants! And there were additional grasses, something prolific called purple dead-nettle (which is edible according to some web sources) and a delicate vine (that grows like a weed!) that weaseled its way in, over and around the strawberry plants.

Needless to say, if I hoped to provide a decent place for my Beloved’s garden inclination, I had my work cut out for me!

All day Saturday, I weeded … it was a beautiful day to be in the garden! (And yes, I awoke Sunday morning to the ugly disputations of stretched muscles I’d been ignoring for a year or more!) I carried numerous piles of discarded greenery to the burn pile behind our barn. It wasn’t a perfect job – I know there are still weeds lurking! But my intent was to have things cleaned up enough so my Beloved could plant.

Today, my generous neighbor made a lovely contribution to our gardening saga. See picture above. There are a variety of tomatoes as well as regular and unusual (my view) peppers! I’m so excited!! We’ll get these in the ground tomorrow and given the size of a slug we saw out there this evening, a heavy coating of diatomaceous earth will be sprinkled about!

Every season as I’ve spent time in the garden has been a learning experience. As far back as May 2012, I started posting about what I’ve learned by getting my hands dirty. This was all a surprise to me! What could I possibly learn playing in the dirt and performing a thankless and mindless task?

But God has proven how wrong I was! This year, He’s teaching me something different. In the past, I determined to eradicate every single weed from the ground! E-R-A-D-I-C-A-T-E … as in stake out a square foot of ground and dig it completely free of any and all organic offenders! Needless to say, at that rate, it was easy to feel overwhelmed, as if I had an impossible task in front of me.

The comparison between weeds and sin has been a valuable lesson. I’ll let you read this post if you care to follow my thoughts on the subject. The lesson is now expanding. With a limited amount of time on Saturday to clear the entire raised-bed, my mission wasn’t to eradicate existing weeds. I’ve come to understand even if I succeed in removing currently growing weeds, others will quickly take their place. The winds blow, seeds are carried. Birds do their part, etc.

Instead, God is teaching me vigilance. Acknowledging the nature of my sore muscles, it’s rash to think I can “fight” weeds (sin) one or two days a year and delude myself to thinking I’ve licked the problem! It’s an ongoing battle. This is part of Eden’s curse:  God told Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you.” That’s not going to change.

Despite my achy body, I will rise up tomorrow, go outside and plant those wonderful seedlings God (through my neighbor’s shared bounty) has provided … and I will anxiously watch them thrive … while listening intently to the next lessons God has for me. I am blessed and thankful.