Gardening...

Good Friday always marks the beginning of gardening season in the Garland household. My Father and his father and his father before him have all insisted on getting potatoes in the ground on Good Friday.  When I asked Granddaddy once (it was probably an icky Good Friday) why we HAD to plant them on Good Friday, he responded that Christ went into the ground on Good Friday and HE rose from the earth so if we plant potatoes on Good Friday then THEY will rise too! 

Whether that always works or not it marks when our Garden gets started.  Inevitably it tries to rain on Good Friday even if the ground is in perfect shape before then.  This year was no different so Mom and I were frantically marking and digging rows before rain and wind interrupted us.  Some of the potatoes had to wait until Saturday to be planted along with our cold crops, peas and some lettuce plants (but I don't think it has hurt them too much!).

Last week we direct seeded more lettuce (so it will come in waves and not all at once), radishes, onions, carrots and spinach.  They are poking their heads out this week and I can't wait to make a spring salad from the garden!   The ground was trying to crust over, so the boys set up some sprinklers to keep the new babies from breaking their necks while pushing up through the soil.

I can't wait to get the rest of the garden out, even though we won't be here for all of the harvesting.  I'm not sure why, but I find so much satisfaction in growing and storing our own produce.  Part of it is knowing where our food comes from and what methods and chemicals had been used in its production.  Part of it is the superior quality when you grow on high quality soil, are able to grow unique/heirloom varieties of vegetables,  pick them at the peak of freshness and store them in ways that preserve flavor.  There is also the joy of looking out your window and seeing the neat rows of plants and different shades of green.  All of these things combined contribute to my enjoyment of gardening, but beyond even this there is a wonder I experience every year as the seed push up through the soil, flowers pollinate to form fruit and we enjoy the bounty.  I know these things will happen, and they have happened every year in the past, yet the fact still amazes me when the new year comes. 

It is such a comfort and wonder to me that God has embedded some of His characteristics in the world He created, like His faithfulness.  He will never fail, He always follows through, He always keeps His promises, and He always watches out for His children.  He can be depended on, just like Spring.