Wholesome Harvest: Planting and Praying

What is more gratifying than planting a garden?  Tilling the earth, planting a seed, and harvesting fruit (or veggies!) is a wonder to the young and a miracle to the old...unfortunately it is a lost art.  It has been trampled by the hectic pace of modern life and forgotten along with practical necessities like apprenticeships, domestic skills, and parenting.  My husband and I swim upstream as we fight our culture’s social disconnect and drive for self-fulfillment to provide our daughter with genuine, wholesome childhood experiences that will serve her physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Gardening is something we are just beginning to learn. Each season brings a new opportunity to apply what nature taught us with our last harvest.  We are hoping to model for our daughter, the faith it takes to plant a tiny seed, the patience to produce a budding plant, God’s glory in all living things, and appreciation for the bounty you are given.

Here’s how we got started:

My husband and I built a raised garden bed and made a canopy structure that can be removed during sunny days and returned during storms. (8’x4’x24”)  It is a small start to the garden we would eventually like to tend, but it is all we had the room for now.

 Our daughter and I filled jiffy pots with soil and planted the seeds (cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, basil, cilantro, and parsley.) 

We also started with a few small potted plants (tomatoes and peppers).

 She watered them carefully and we kept them in the shade until they started to sprout.

 We laid down a soaker hose in the garden and made room for the plants. We invited friends over to help with the planting process since their yard is too small for a garden and we wanted to share the experience.  All the kids worked together to dig the holes and give the plants a home.

We already have two little green tomatoes starting, true leaves on our cucumber and zucchini plants, and the carrot seeds are in the ground. Now we wait... and pray for a wholesome harvest.