I have written a number of times about my backyard garden.
I love planting seeds, watching the starts poke through the soil, and then seeing them grow into crop-producing plants. If anyone wants to experience God’s miracles, all you have to do is plant some seeds. Seriously, how is it that so much comes out of a tiny seed?
It brings me more joy to be able to feed my family from the things I have grown in my yard. I feel like a homesteader when I wander outside with my basket to pick food to nourish my people.
Ann Kirsten
My berry hedges alone produce uncountable gallons of raspberries and blueberries each summer. The berries are like little jewels. Their colors are vibrant and they taste so sweet. But picking all those berries takes time and energy. Added to that, they have to be processed (flash-frozen in batches or turned into jam). It’s a lot of work.
Ann Kirsten
Besides the berries, I grow tomatoes, peas, beans, beets, carrots, parsnips, and radishes (to name a few). After processing the berries I have to harvest the rest of the vegetables and work on them too.
By the time summer ends I am tired and burnt out from gardening and I never want to see another home-grown vegetable again.
I have a short memory however and usually by the time the next spring arrives, I am ready to plant way too much once again.
But this year a funny thing happened. The few flowers I planted last year flung seeds to all of my raised beds and this year the beds were filled with blooms. There was no room to plant my usual variety of vegetables.
Ann Kirsten
My daughter urged me to pull up the flowers to make room for other things, but I couldn’t bear to do it. For one thing, the blooms were so pretty (it was like a meadow in my backyard) and for another, I felt such a lifting of my spirit.
I felt like I had been given a sabbatical from work. The flowers taking over meant that I didn’t have to spend weeks in the kitchen processing uncountable tomatoes and other vegetables. I didn’t have to feel the constant guilt of unpicked food that was going to waste.
I suddenly felt free.
So, I did something I never thought I’d do. I left the “meadows” alone. I didn’t plant my usual produce-department-variety of seeds. Instead, I picked bouquets and drank in their beauty. I skipped my marathon sessions of food processing and just enjoyed the beautiful weather instead. I read and embroidered. And I truly enjoyed the summer without the constant guilt and back-breaking work.
Ann Kirsten
Other countries tell us that Americans don’t know how to stop and rest. And that can be true. Until the flowers arrived, it never occurred to me that I had a choice. I thought I had to work hard just because I have dirt and I have seeds and I have a body that moves.
Taking a year off has been life changing. I feel rested and peaceful.
My garden is starting to fade now. The blooms are going to seed and seedpods are replacing petals. They have a beauty of their own and the promise of flowers to come again next year.
If I wanted to, I could let all the seeds scatter and give myself another year of respite. But, for now, this year was enough. I will pull most of the seed pods and compost them instead. There will still be enough flowers.
Next season I will go back to planting food once again. The flowers and vegetables will mix together in a more symbiotic way. Yes, that means that the garden will be a lot of work.
But, I have had my year of rest and I will be ready next year for the harvest once again.
When you read through the Bible you will see that even the God of all creation rested.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Genesis 2:1-3
This year God has taught me so many lessons about resting. That it is indeed an option, how good it feels, how necessary it is for renewal of body and land, and how treasured it is by Him.
And, instead of a heavy yoke, He used flowers to teach me.
“The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, “Tell the people of Israel this: ‘When you enter the land I will give you, let it have a special time of rest, to honor the Lord.” Leviticus 25:1-2
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Read more of Ann’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
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