My morning Bible reading included a portion of the book written by Amos, a shepherd and grower of sycamore figs. It seemed appropriate that his writing would include references to the challenges of farming. He described the perils of sparse rainfall, scorching winds, invading insects and mold that ruined the crop. Amos appealed to the […]
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Author: John
The Gardener’s Year End Prayer
Lord, thank you for this piece of land where I can dig and plant and grow and harvest, and most importantly, marvel over your creation. This past year has delivered challenges along with new lessons learned and successes coupled with some failures. My life outlook leans well to the positive as I tend the garden, […]
The Crazy Christmas Bird
I am not a big fan of hanging outdoor Christmas decorations, though I do enjoy the results of other husbands who were not successful in avoiding the activity. Our decorations go up the weekend after Thanksgiving when the temperature hovers around t-shirt range, and they come down between Christmas and New Year’s Day. All those […]
IKEA Planting Shelves
This past season we removed three towering trees from the back gardens at Paths of Hope. The garden canvas now has blank spots waiting for new designs, and we’ve jumped into the planning with glee. With the reduced tree canopy we’ve watched the sun patterns across the garden and discovered space for vegetable plantings. A […]
Salvia Explosion
From time to time a gardener feels the need to relocate a plant that has outgrown its assigned space. Our salvia “Purple Majesty” exploded this season in girth and height. The plant, pruned to three feet mid-season, roared back reaching well over seven feet. Shorter plants languished under the salvia’s massive umbrella, and as we […]
The Faithful Wheelbarrow
I had completed first grade when my parents announced we were moving. City life had its perks such as the abandoned grocery store parking lot where we could wear out bike tires riding in circles or the alleys behind the houses that yielded all sorts of mysteries to investigate. My journey to school covered about […]