Planting time has arrived. The soil has warmed up enough to plant seeds and seedlings, at least here in North Carolina. But I can't plant anything without preparing the soil, so I add fertilizer and dig and turn the soil over again and again, making it loose and well aerated.
Several years ago we purchased raised garden beds to put on the deck, raised on legs so the top of the planters are about hip height. We now have four of these, and they have taken away the back-breaking job of weeding and maintaining our vegetable gardens. Before I plant anything, I create a drawing of the four beds and decide where I'm going to put each vegetable, purchased weeks ago through a catalog. My tomato seedlings are also ready to be planted, so today, before the storms of this evening arrived, I planted my summer vegetable garden.
Even though the seeds are now in the ground, my work doesn't stop there. I'll be in the garden every day, waiting for the seeds to sprout and keeping a watchful eye out for any bugs which may destroy or damage my crop. Soon I'll see the different plants emerge, arching their stems toward the warm sun, then spreading their leaves to catch as much sunlight as possible. From experience, I know my garden, which has plenty of space between plants right now, will have little or no space between plants.
I'm continually amazed at how different seeds produce different fruit. All I have to do is put the seeds in the ground at the proper time, and God does the rest.
Just as each seed produces a specific fruit or vegetable, God has given each of us abilities to use for His glory. I can't try to imitate someone else's gift and expect to do what I'm not gifted to do just as I can't expect melon seeds to produce peppers. Each of us is different, and God knows what we are capable of doing, and if we allow Him to plant us where He wants to plant us and allow him to prune and fertilize us as needed,
we'll produce much fruit to bless others.
(The photo is of a previous year's garden.)
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