I’ve sort of refrained from writing about my garden this year, fearing I could end up sounding like a broken record from years past.  Nevertheless, it does consume a fair amount of my thought and attention these days, so here are some random snippets about my garden.

:: Japanese beetles.  Ick.  They did a small amount of damage last year, but didn’t actually ruin anything, so I left them alone when I first saw them a couple months ago.  That was a mistake.  My cabbage plants have been decimated, and the beetles are attacking my summer squash and zucchini with swarms of their larva.  Gross.  I hate bugs.  They’re gonna have to go.

:: Septoria leaf spot (I think) on my tomatoes.  Probably due to a combination of the rain, and my procrastination that has led to only one plant being staked up so far.  So I’ve had to prune every few days to get rid of the affected branches.  I’m not actually sure that it is entirely pointful, but it helps my peace of mind to not see wilting leaves on my tomato plants.

:: Weeds.  They’re everywhere.  Always.  Whenever I am pulling weeds, my thoughts inevitably turn to the many parallels between sin and weeds and necessity of being vigilant with bringing both into submission, lest they prevent good fruit from growing.  I could go into much greater depth of comparison, but I will spare you my analysis.  It’s nothing novel, I’m sure.

:: Eating vegetables.  I am not a vegetable lover by nature, which, oddly, I’m only just now fully realizing.  There are a few that I love…tomatoes, bell peppers, broccoli, corn, beets (weird, right?) and [my new favorite] sugar snap peas…but pretty much everything else falls into the ‘I should eat this because it’s good for me’ category.  Cabbage, carrots, lettuce, spinach, kale (okay, any leafy green), all squash, cauliflower, turnips, beans – they’re all acquired tastes, at best, and using up all that we have (which seems like a lot, between our garden and the CSA) can be difficult when, sometimes, I just want a cheeseburger.

:: Harvesting strawberries.  Well, not any more…but we did.  About a gallon, total.  We had some pest eat a bunch of them, and we left the runners on, which supposedly sacrifices fruit volume, but will hopefully result in more plants next year.  This was really exciting for me, and the berries were so good.  Some things in my garden just make me feel spoiled.  Strawberries are one of those things.

:: Time alone.  One of the unexpected joys of my garden this year is the opportunity it occasionally affords me of being able to head outside while little ones nap and big ones read to just be by myself – pulling weeds, harvesting veggies, or pruning tomato plants.  I can sing, or pray, or just think, for sometimes an hour or more, without interruption.  I can’t describe how much this has blessed me on days when my attitude has needed adjusting, or my heart has been heavy, or I’ve just been tired and in need of a break.  I’m thankful for the way God can take a not-so-pleasant-task, and pour out grace to me in the midst of it.

I am not a lover of dirt or bugs or sweat, and even less a lover of those things in combination.  But I love my garden in spite of all of that.  I love to see God’s provision and creative power.  I love to see fruit borne in the midst of imperfection.  I love knowing that, at the end of the day, no matter how much I weed, water and prune, it isn’t my effort that makes something grow, it’s His.  Even if I never got to benefit from my garden’s bounty, that reminder alone would be enough of a reason to love it.