20 August 2009

Patch of beauty.

This is an ode to my garden and all the beauty she brought into our lives this spring and summer.



Oh, she had some shining moments. After four years of laboring and learning, we can celebrate all the food produced by the work of our hands and the blessings of earth, wind and rain: bulging tomatoes, foot-long squash, peppery lettuce, savory and sweet herbs, fuzzy okra, shiny green bell peppers, and spiny canning cucumbers that were crunchier than any I've tasted before. And then the wildflowers...it seemed that new ones sprouted up each morning - a different variety, a different shade. The whole place hummed with color and life. A haven in our own backyard.

There was much hard work and struggle. We composted, dug, planted, weeded, pruned, prayed for rain, and had a moment of silence for our beloved pole beans that shriveled up and died a few weeks after the first harvest. But as the metaphor always is with growing things, with the struggle, there has been beauty. And community, too, as we got to share our garden bounty and discoveries with so many others {photo of me and Mary in the garden one June evening}.

And then, a recent discovery: with the sweltering, uncomfortable weather that can be so burdensome in Texas, there's a unexpected gift on the flip-side: a second growing season! When everyone else is retiring their gardens for the fall, we haul out more compost, turn the soil again, and replant a bunch of seeds for a second harvest! Fall is coming. I can feel it - beneath the heat that has finally begun to relent, a subtle breeze and coolness is rising. Perhaps this fall, our pole beans will be successful...

For now, we will keep doing our part: tending our garden, feeding people, using the ability given by our Creator to go on creating. We'll keep cultivating our own little patch of beauty nestled behind our home and between three fenced walls. Here, we grow things and in our own little way, take part in redeeming the earth.

















Life is indescribably beautiful.
Enjoy it today, and say thank you.

9 comments:

Christiana said...

I love this.

You're part in redeeming the earth is magical.

Truly, I've never seen a garden I wanted to visit more.

You bring color, sustenance, and joy to so many - here's to a bountiful Fall harvest.

(And thank YOU for making the world a more beautiful place.)

Tara said...

Have you read the book "See You in a Hundred Years?" I think you would love it. This post reminds me a lot of that book.

Beautiful garden. Like Christi, I hope to visit it one day and get tips from a true garden pro! :)

The Velvet Trunk said...

I always look forward to seeing your garden pics! Beautiful...

Hugs,
Mel

Unknown said...

I am always awed/jealous of how wonderful your backyard is looking. It's a long way from the concrete jungle on Emily, isn't it? I hope to be able to see it again soon!

Kristina said...

I miss you guys and your home. I love seeing the garden. Maybe Jeremy & I can take our first (after the honeymoon) married overnight trip to see y'all! :)

maryh said...

i still think about that connoction you made when we were there for dinner - your garden is so neat and i know it is the fruit of lots of time and effort - those are great pictures!

teamfish said...

i can't even imagine the joy you have with all those blossoming veggies! our tomato vine finally ripened a few weeks ago, along with our green pepper plant, and we're having a hay-day over here at the fisher house!

Michelle K said...

I got to your blog from Stephanie's. What gorgeous pictures...very inspiring!

Robyn Jones Clark said...

you have a beautiful eye for color stine! :)