Sunday, July 24, 2016

Our Garden

So I haven't mentioned our garden this year, I think.

Here it is, the vegetable one, that is:


Almost lost in the head high weeds are 3 healthy tomato plants.

That is it. Seriously.  That's all we have for a garden this year.

We usually have cucumbers and zucchinis and lots and lots of sweet potatoes. We've had corn and squash and watermelon.  We've been gardeners.  

Well, Kevin has been a gardener.  I'm not.

But this year we're tired and busy and worn out, and Kevin decided to take a break.

So 3 tomato plants. Nothing else.

It has actually been nice. Yes, we are spending more on groceries and we don't have fresh produce from the garden, but it has been relaxing to not worry about harvesting beans and working on weeds. And actually, there are farm stands and decent produce in the grocery stores, though of course we have to pay for it.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, the Lord told the people of Israel to not plant every 7th year. That was supposed to be a year of rest.  I know all the reasons for that directive are not clear to me, a spindly, wimpy human, but it ties into the idea of the Sabbath rest.

We're not doing this for religious reasons, but it does feel right to sometimes just rest when we're feeling very stretched.  Maybe next year, we'll go back to having a significant garden.

Now let's talk about flower gardens.


The flower beds were awful.  

But then, there was the Attack of the Lydia!

That girl is a weed removing machine!

She's been working for our neighbors with their outdoor work all summer.

One hour later and our flower beds were much better.





There is still a big section that is bad but this week maybe she can do some more weeding.

(Yes, I'm paying her.)



1 comment:

Sarah said...

If I remember correctly the reason for every 7th year of rest was to allow the land to rest and revitalize itself, as you mentioned sort of like the Sabbath rest for us. It is also I believe the reason behind farmer's nowadays rotating crops and some leaving their fields dormant for a season.