I think spring crops are the most delightful to anticipate. The ground is tilled, ready for planting. After I sow those first seeds in the ground, the garden looks so bare and brown. I need to mark the rows with stakes so I know where the rows are until the first green appears. Some of the green leaves are also weeds but an experienced eye can tell the difference.
There are spring onions, longer season onions, several kinds of lettuce, radishes and spinach which all provide a tasty fresh garden salad. Writing this stirs up a desire to gather some of these vitamin and mineral rich super foods!
The red potatoes are at the top of the picture. In between the straw, there are rows of beets, carrots, kale, and Swiss chard. Underneath the straw, there is a layer of newspaper for weed control. These veggies will need several weeks to mature before harvesting, although young beet and chard leaves are great in a salad.
This is a special garden. There is joy in the morning. The winter is past. I have renewed vitality and vision. There is newness in this garden because naturally, spring is here and physically my body has new strength.
The lettuce and cabbage plants are growing. The cabbage had a little setback after a furious wind and rain storm had them leaning but their roots held firm. The small tomato plants didn’t fare as well. Their stalks were broken off and they were lying flat on the ground because they had just been planted and had not developed a root system. The birds had also been helping themselves to parts of the plants, poor things. So thankfully I was able to buy six more plants to replace them.
This sounds like the parable Jesus told. There was a gardener who scattered his seeds. Some of the seeds fell on hard packed ground and the birds ate them. The seeds that fell on the rocky soil were fine until the roots tried to go deeper but as the sun became hotter there was no soil for them to go deeper. The seeds that fell in what seemed like nice soil grew up and were fine until the weeds and thorns grew faster and took all the moisture and choked the plants. Last of all, the seeds on the good ground grew and became vigorous plants that produced a crop.
Jesus explained the parable like this. The seed is the Word of God. The soil is like our hearts. When we hear or read the Bible it can be compared to the seeds that are sown. If we have unbelief and bitterness it can be like hard ground and Satan can come and steal the word because faith cannot enter.
Jesus said those with rocky soil receive the word with joy but when problems come or there is persecution for believing God’s word the seeds of faith die.
The third soil looks good, the seeds sprout, and the plants look great until the worries of life, the lure of riches, and desires for other things crowd out the truth. So there is no fruit. In my garden, plants that have been choked by weeds might still be alive among the weeds but they are small and not healthy looking and they don’t yield anything. Maybe that person still says they follow God but they don’t have any fruit and they are weak in their faith.
The good soil is the person who hears the word. They believe what God says is true. Faith is mixed with the word of truth which produces a crop of righteousness and good fruit which can be shared.
God delights in seeing His kingdom growing and producing fruit. We have the privilege of having a relationship with the Master Gardener who has vision for our lives in our new seasons of life.