In the Garden – The Welcome Home

The Provision of the Lord

teacuppamela

Marveling the sweetness of God and His provisions… our yard is filled with things that seem to be here for ‘whateverailsya’!! Sweet that He would provide for me very specific herbs/remedies in abundance.

♫ Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

The more I study (and read the labels on my *purchased* tinctures) I see what the Lord has *already* provided here in abundance!! Massive abundance! I am brought to tears at the goodness and mercy of God on my behalf. Incredibly, different herbal remedies I have needed (and have purchased from my healthfood store) are here in abundance. Just to consider this is so humbling. As I consider my favourite flowers… Hydrangeas! Well, the hydrangea root is an ingredient in a tincture I regularly use for kidney/bladder issues. Then I think on many other ingredients listed on the bottles and tinctures I have in my cabinet and fridge. Garlic. Burdock. Dandelion. Juniper berries. English Walnut. Black Walnut. Cleavers. Raspberry leaf. Chickweed. Plantain. Lavender. And, ta-dah! Just discovered the medicinal benefit *willow tree* bark — acetylsalicylic acid – aspirin! Isn’t this incredible to ponder?!?!

Before we bought this home, during the search for a home for our family, my sister-in-law suggested that I make a list of things to present to the Lord — a list of my heart’s desires for our family home. On the top of that list, I asked the Lord for a willow tree and space for the children to run and play. How sweet of the Lord to provide for me in ways I knew not — and gave me desires He would later fulfill or reveal. All the while we’ve lived here, year after year I’ve discovered new things about Him and His precise provisions for me – for my husband and children. Interestingly, it seems I’m just discovering them as I need them—-generally after I’ve purchased an herbal remedy, I will look up the different herbal ingredients and that’s when I discover that God’s already provided what I need and mercifully shows me what to do next. His care is unending and His love, eternal.

I pray the Lord will be your All in all, your provision and peace and that He’s demonstrating Himself strong on your behalf today. May you always be blessed.

a gardener’s journal

May I suggest….

A gardener’s journal… or a summer log… a season’s log…

I’m making one of these so that I can keep a running log of what’s going on in the garden — and what’s *supposed* to be going on ~wink~ in the garden.

As an example… my entries are including what’s being picked now, what I need to do as far as clean-up, storage, etc., etc. I’m dividing a simple notebook into sections — a section for an overview of our yard/garden (what’s planted where) and a basic timeline for maintenance. In this way, I can see when something was planted, if it’s in an optimal place, when it was fertilized and when it will need to be done again.

It also alerts me to what needs to be pruned this autumn and what can wait for springtime — I think I’ll make a note of the results of prior year’s pruning — especially if we made significant changes or did more drastic cutting.

As I make a note of vine fruits or tree fruits and their initial ripening date or length of harvest, I can better plan for food preservation — as an example, I can note when we first pick the strawberries or raspberries, when the black berries were ready and when the Italian prunes will be ready. As I see the squirrels gathering and running off with the hazelnuts, I’ve made a note of the date and in this way, I can better plan for getting the buckets ready and the nuts picked up. Since this is not a new activity to me and I’ve never really taken the harvest all that seriously, I’ve always just watched for the squirrels — but now I’m thinking it’d be wise to be a better steward of these trees and so, having the log will help me to keep better track of harvest dates. Who knows? I just might start keeping track of just how many buckets of walnuts and hazelnuts we actually gather. Until now, the amount has been generally quantified: a bunch or a whole bunch. We’ve tended to figure them in terms of prior years — more than last year or not as many as last year. While that seems to have been sufficient, I’d still like to have a better idea so that I can measure how well the different pruning styles have affected or will affect the next season’s yield.

I think that one of the most important reasons I want to maintain this gardener’s journal is so that I will be more accountable or more responsible with the bounty I’ve been given. I read something some time ago… a mother talking with her daughter describing someone’s character and it went something like this: ” they’re the kind of people who let blackberries die on the vine.” Now that may not seem like all that big a deal — perhaps unimportant, really, but I read that with some measure of conviction bcz I’ve allowed blackberries and many, many other things to just die on the vine. I don’t want to be the kind of woman who lets fruit die on the vine. I don’t want to waste opportunities or waste what I’ve been given. Wasted seasons… the fruit of a season dying on the vine. God gave me a great blessing as I let that mother’s comment sink down in my ears… to my shame, I remember many seasons where fruit was left on the vine to fall to the ground. And, so… in light of this, in light of God’s great love, grace, mercy and kindness, I endeavour to, from this day, so far as it depends on me, to be careful with what He’s given me to tend.

Has God given me fruit, a harvest, a bounty… that I’ve let die on the vine? What can I learn and change? Have I been careful with what He’s allowed me to grow? Have I cultivated, pruned, watered, weeded and tended well to the garden the Lord has given me? What can I do today? How can I best plan for and invest in this and the coming season? I repent, I rejoice, I seek and find my answers in the Master Gardener’s Journal and I take another step today…

Fruitful

As the fruit and nuts and leaves fall from the trees around our yard, I can’t help but notice the poignant reminder that our lives, too, have seasons — and they change. As I reflect on this, I am reminded that the most fruitful season may not appear to be the currant one – even though it may appear so with the fruit that is dropping into the baskets at this time.

I’m looking ahead to the winter when the trees have no leaves or blossoms or blooms and I’m praying this time will be the most fruitful of all.

Fruitful:
a: yielding or producing fruit.
b: conducive to an abundant yield.

So, I’m in prayer that the Lord will continue to shape my life that it will be conducive to yielding abundant fruit. It may not seem like it from season to season –or even in the moment– but that’s where the being “conducive to an abundant yield” comes in — and that’s where prayer and fasting/waiting on the Lord comes in.

The prunings, the waste, broken limbs, the honeybees, the drought, the water, the shade and, yes, the fruit of my yesterdays all give me great hope for tomorrow.

I’m thankful for the pictures the Lord continually presents me… as He often speaks to me in or through the things He’s put in or taken out of my life. I’ve seen our children and grandchildren swing from the branches of the willow tree outside our bedroom window and I consider the strength of a tree. They’ve eaten the fruit of the trees in the garden… I consider the value of a well tended tree. They’ve seen years where there was no fruit to gather in the baskets… sobered at the value of a well tended tree.

Sometimes there’s no one to gather the fruit — no one to appreciate the fruit… and it falls to the ground and becomes part of the soil.

Write It All Down Before You Forget

If you spend time with me… you know it won’t be very long before you notice me writing something down. I write lots of notes — I even write notes about notes.

Well, tonight in this “write it all down before you forget” blog entry, I actually want to encourage you to add more to your kitchen counter journal or your kitchen log. If you don’t have one, may I encourage you do get a notebook — preferably an inexpensive, but thick, “half sheet size” spiral notebook that you can keep in your kitchen to record your daily chores and activities, calls, appointments, lists, etc. I know this might seem archaic to women who think palm-pilots are old relics and who don’t even use a PC anymore — but seriously, there’s something about pen and paper — the visual and tangible.

So, what you might want to do is write down on a few different pages: lists. You might have a “from now till year’s end” list and you might have a garden list and you might have a basic home maintenance and repair list. These lists are sort of running lists that you’ll add to and cross off (you might reserve a section of pages at the beginning of your notebook for such lists). Things might remain on your list for a long time — years even — these aren’t like shopping lists or activity to do lists — these are more permanent/ongoing lists. Don’t fret over what you don’t have — just work to appreciate what you do have and take care of it. If you cannot replace/improve it, learn to appreciate it. Cultivate a thankful heart. Write down “thankfulness” verses from the Bible. That might be a page of your kitchen counter notebook.

Write it down… before you forget.

I’m suggesting this tonight because this is sort of the lull of autumn (at least here in the States) and, like the month of March, is a great time to get some things done… before the next big push. The last big push — around here, anyway, was to get outdoors: gardening, planting, outside repairs, and then the next big push was the food preservation – jams, jellies, canning and freezing – all the “putting up” for winter. Well, now it’s the other side… now it’s time to put everything away outside, get ready for the colder days and longer nights… it’s time to do the indoor repairs, a well stocked pantry, setting in the wood, candles, flashlights & batteries, lamp oil and other preparations and necessities. All the things you might want to do before the next big push… celebrations and family times. You may want to use this time for a really good deep cleaning of your home — every room, top to bottom, inside out. Wash and iron the curtains, wash walls, ceilings, touch up paint and whatever else you might consider needing to do.

Write it down… before you forget.

And, before you forget… maybe one more list:
What were you glad you did this past year? Write down what you’d like to repeat next year.
What were you glad you planted in the garden and yard?
What sort of garden did you envision and what really happened?
Now… write down the plans you want to hold onto for next year’s garden, next spring, next summer…

There’s a phrase and, sadly, I know it to be so true: Fail to plan = plan to fail.
But I like this better: Make a plan… Make a good plan… and follow through. This is my encouragement; again, I know it to be true: Your plans will work if you will work your plans.

Look up and write down verses on industriousness and slothfulness, hard work and laziness… these are great motivators for all of us… as we help our husbands and families.

The cool thing about notebooks is that you can still read and write in them when the power goes out or when the batteries are dead or when the phone lines are down. ;o) ♥

Autumn’s ushering in Winter

It’s sure chilly-chilly here tonight!! The forecast even includes snow! Suddenly it seems to be just fine to give up wishing for warmer days and working in the garden for the year — for now, baking season is here! And around our home it’s time for “special requests.” By this, I mean that it’s time for everyone to submit this year’s favourites for me to bake — or, better said, this year’s update to the list of things “we have to have ________” for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Confession: I simply cannot keep track of who likes what and who doesn’t like what for the traditional Thanksgiving meal. So, I decided a few years ago to sort of announce the menu (though the menu doesn’t change a whole lot) and that’s when I really find out this or that child doesn’t really like this or that menu item. And then, too, I have a few others who say something like: we have to have_______!

Some recipes never change and some have sort of evolved as children have aged, tastes have matured and new favourites have come into play. Some things I don’t make bcz they just don’t taste the same as they used to taste — for example, my dear mother-in-law always used to make the most delicious layered jello salad for both Thanksgiving and Christmas… she’s living far away now and so that dish is just one of those sweet lingering memories.

Some of the must have’s include turkey — of course, fresh cranberry relish, russian cream, potato rolls, sweet potato casserole and… pies. Lots of pumpkin pies — otherwise, what would they eat for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning?? 😉 Each year I’ve been working at making sure there are lots of things from the garden for the Thanksgiving meal. So, this year from the garden we’ll have carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, pickles, raspberries to top the russian cream, apples & walnuts in the salad and pies. I’ve been making walnut pies using a standard pecan pie recipe.

Since we have walnut trees and a bazillion walnuts, it doesn’t seem all that prudent to buy pecans — though I must say pecans are pretty tasty! So… Monday’s the first “pie day.” Besides those, this year I’ll be adding Swedish Pear and Almond Cream Cake and Hazelnut pie to the dessert menu. We didn’t have much of a blueberry crop this year and though the blackberries were plentiful this year, we were attending to other things and the blackberries didn’t get picked — so, no blueberry pie, no blackberry pie this year.

I’m so looking forward to this week in the kitchen… thankful for so many things… and the beautiful music in the background.

But another confession: I do not – do not – like the smell of turkey cooking in the oven. Or turkey broth simmering on the stove. But I like cold turkey the day after Thanksgiving. And simmering cinnamon, cloves and oranges make the kitchen smell soooo sweet.