Last week I wrote about my woes concerning my annual attempt at having a few small vegetable plants to enjoy fresh produce from “dirt to table” so-to-speak. So far, the majority of my plants are still thriving under days of heat and rain. I’ve had–and continue to have–a bountiful harvest of dill. Those voluntary plants are turning out to be the best producers and will be most welcome in meals this fall and winter. I’m learning how to properly dry herbs, too,  which gives me a great source of joy!

Sitting here to write, nursing an irritating summer cold, I was drawn to my thoughts about my grandmother’s garden. My dad told me that from the time he could remember back to his own childhood, she had her vegetable garden which not only provided fresh food for her meals but also served as a training ground to teach each child responsibilities … .planting, watering, weeding. I recall my dad telling me one time how “Sadie Jewell’s Garden” was the envy of nearby housewives. When paying a visit it wasn’t uncommon for one of the women to compliment grandma on the beauty and health of her garden, always asking “what’s your secret, Sadie?” I can hear her soft gentle voice reply “Oh, a little manure mixed in the watering bucket every once in a while does the trick….” Dad always laughed when he told that part of the memory. Sure, manure helps plants grow nicely and living on a farm provided a lot of this “free” fertilizer, but he and everyone in the family who knew Sadie knew better. It was her prayers. She was a strong woman of faith who had much to pray about raising 11 children over a span of years. Filling hungry bellies was a need that often went before the Lord during her 2 am prayer time so it was only natural she’d pray over her seedlings as she strolled through the garden.

I also am thinking about another garden, the one we read about in the book of Genesis. I was curious about the number of times God called something He created as “good”. On Day 1 it was “light”. Day 3 He called dry land and seas and plant life “good”. Light and darkness came on Day 4. Birds and fish came on Day 5. Day 6 gave us living creatures on the earth and His declaration that “everything” He had made was Good. In fact, in verse 31 of Chapter 1 he expanded His pleasure by calling all He had made as “very good”. The only thing He didn’t call “good” was that man (Adam) should not be alone, so He created a woman to be his mate. 

I love the simplicity of reflecting on a beautiful memory from my dad’s own childhood about his mother’s vegetable garden. I marvel at the beauty and complexity of God’s own garden which He created in six days. Both gardens took time, needed tending, and both were considered “good”. God’s garden became a lush home for our first family, providing them everything they needed. My grandmother’s garden was very small in comparison to Eden, nonetheless God saw her efforts, heard her prayers for a bountiful harvest, and honored her with “goodness” from hands that toiled, lugged buckets of water, sometimes with a little manure mixed in….so she could stand back, wipe dirty hands in her apron and declare “my, my, my, ain’t that a beautiful sight to see?”  as she gazed at pumpkin plants, beans, corn, tomatoes, potatoes….all grown with small helping hands and a lot of early morning prayers.