How Does Your Garden Grow?

For the first time ever, the Thomas' are putting in a garden!! WE ARE SO EXCITED!! Well, Sarah and I are anyway . . . .

Sarah and I measured and staked our garden outline, and Tom rented a rototiller (the Mantis hadn't arrived yet) to begin work on our garden. There was some dispute about whether to take the sod up first, or just 'till it under, and 'tilling it under won.

It was thought that the rototiller would easily begin to chew up the underlying sod and earth and pulverize the grass. Within the first 30 seconds of setting the blades to the ground, reality set in. Our little piece of earth is very compact and dry, and not easily cultivated. My heart ached for my husband as I watched him wrestle with the rototiller!

After about 20 minutes of little progress, Tom suggested that we saturate the ground in hopes that the blades could maneuver through the soil better. (I think we probably violated our watering restrictions -- I'm hoping we don't see a fine on our water bill!) It helped somewhat, but the chore of 'tilling up the soil was a grueling task for poor Tom.

After the initial 'tilling of the ground, we decided that we needed to mix in a nutrient dense garden soil. So the next day, Tom and I headed to Home Depot and picked up 600 lbs. of garden soil (which wasn't enough -- we had to get 800 more). As I spread the soil around, I was so concerned with what the top of the ground looked like. I wanted to cover up all of the poorly cultivated dirt with "pretty" dirt. It occurred to me as I was doing this that it didn't matter what the top of the soil looked like. The real issue was the quality of the dirt at the root level of the plants. I realized that I do this in my own life! I seek to cover up the sin in my heart, the root level, by making the outside, or top layer, look attractive. It doesn't matter what the top of the soil looks like if the roots aren't being nourished and are unhealthy. The plant will still wither and die. It is the same way with me -- I can wear the latest fashions, put makeup on my face, and color the gray out of my hair, but the real issue is what is underneath -- the condition of my heart before the Lord.

Our garden plot before the additional soil was spread on it.

The question arose of how to transport a rented rototiller, to which Tom had a simple solution. He needed a new toy! Here are Andrew and Sarah catching a ride in Tom's latest acquisition, a utility trailer. We are always needing to haul something somewhere, so this will be a useful tool.

Since we are going to be living in this house for awhile (Lord willing), we are going to begin to plant around the whole house. This is the east side of the house, which receives shade 80% of the day due to trees and the house, so we are going to turn it into a shade garden. Here are Sarah and Andrew clearing out some beds. They were great helpers!

This first year of gardening will truly be an experience. We are starting with poor soil, and I think my list of crops is very ambitious, and probably too many for this small plot of land. As I was planting strawberry plants the other day (a June-bearing strawberry for you experienced gardeners here in Georgia reading this, panicking that I haven't planted them early enough!), I realized that we are going to have a real battle with the grass that we tried to 'till under taking root. Honestly, I am not hopeful for much in the way of produce from my garden, but I think I will gain much experience!