Fruit Inspectors

It's time for another post on the garden. After all, it has been a while, and the summer season is quickly moving into fall. Just  yesterday I opened up the front door and was greeted by extremely cool temperatures and the promise of rain in the air. A day later, a temperature of 58° and the rain we got last night have really impressed upon me that the end of summer is here, and it will soon be time for sweaters and a warm bowl of soup!

But back to the garden. As a novice gardener, I have learned so much this year. And there is so much I would like to improve upon next year (or whenever I am able to garden again). So here are some pointers of what I have seen and learned from my first year's experience.

Gardening is healing. I don't know about you, but life is stressful and situations beyond my control zap my energy and my joy. Spending time in the Word and in prayer and praise/worship challenge me to keep pressing on, but there is an elemental level of my being that gardening touches. Seeing a new fruit begin to develop fills me with a childlike wonder that never seems to grow old. Watching a strawberry ripen or a spaghetti squash turn color thrills me to my toes, and I am reminded that God is in control, and I can walk back into the house with a heart full of peace. Or I can sit out and just stare at every little sprout or bud that comes up. I am so thankful for the healing that the garden brought to me during this busy and difficult year.

Another simple principle that I've seen is that you have to plant in order to reap.  It is basic and perhaps silly to even mention, but I have never been able to reap a harvest in a vegetable garden, because I simply have never planted one before. So it is in life. I cannot reap what I have not sown, and therefore, I recognize that I need to put in a good deal of work beforehand in preparation for being able to sow in every area of my life - in friendships, in my marriage, in my health, in my walk with Jesus... and then I can expect a harvest. But more on that later.

Something that I did notice pertaining to my particular garden is that I need more sunlight. The vegetables that wilted in the sun were the lettuce and spinach. Neither did well with direct sunlight. But everything else really has depended on it. In fact, I have noticed that the fruit that my peppers, tomatoes and even my strawberries is significantly smaller than gardens in full sun. The only conclusion I can come to is that the plants in my garden just do not have the sunlight they need for full maturity. Another problem I've noticed is that I need deeper soil. Since my beds are raised above cement, the soil is shallow, and the sun quickly dries out the soil. Every morning or early evening I need to give the garden a good dousing.. or the plants will quickly wilt.

A few other things I have learned: A necessary but difficult gardening task is to prune. I read about it when I was doing research at the beginning of this grand adventure, but I never realized the effects of NOT doing it. Now, at the end of my first season, I have realized that pruning is necessary. When I first dropped those little seeds in the soil, I didn't know how many seeds would sprout. I saw that for some plants, only one or two of the several actually sprouted. For other plants, every single seed I planted took root and shot through to the surface. For those plants, I quickly realized that I did not have enough space to allow for their full growth. For the plants - like the carrots - that I did not prune, I found them  at harvest time bunched together, some of them severely stunted in their growth because they did not have full room to mature. Lesson learned. No matter how much it pains me to pull a few of those sweet, hopeful looking sprouts, I must do it so I can reap a fuller harvest.

I have also become a very avid fruit inspector. I have put in the hard work, and now I want to know if my plants - which I have given every good thing I can - produce the fruit they were made to produce. Most of my plants were very satisfying. The only plants that have not produced fruit have been the broccoli and the eggplant. I have beautiful plants... but no fruit. It brings a whole new meaning to Paul's letter to the Ephesians in Ephesians 2:10.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I have been created with a purpose. To do good works. And the same principle exists in the natural world. My broccoli and eggplant plants were created with a purpose: to produce broccoli and eggplants. And I am upset that they have not produced the fruit they should have. It is very disheartening. I now understand why God inspects our lives (and why we should inspect our own lives) to see if we are producing eternal fruit.

 
 Summer 2011 Garden
Planted                Sprouted          Fruit
zucchini                   yes                    yes
spinach                   yes                    yes (bolted early)
broccoli                  yes                     no
garlic                       yes                    yes (bulbs very small)
carrots                    yes                    yes (needed pruning)
lettuce                    yes                     yes
spaghetti squash     yes                    yes
jalapenos                yes                    yes
bell peppers            yes                   yes (fruit small)
eggplant                  yes                   no
tomatoes                 bought              yes (not much fruit)
strawberries            bought              yes


And now, here I am - mid September - and I am a bit sad that the season is coming to an end here in Colorado. I have loved every moment of it!

sale finds that make me smile

So I have been on the hunt for a floppy summer straw hat for several years now. You know the one I'm talking about. The one that makes you think about carefree summer days. Fields full of flowers. A flowery dress that rustles in the wind. Yes, that kind of a hat. And every time I would see one, I just had to try it on.

But they always cost more than I think they are worth, so I could never justify the purchase. When you live next door to a Goodwill and make most of your major purchases through Craigslist, shopping full-price loses a good deal of its lustre.

Until a few days ago. Jody and I were just strolling through Park Meadows mall, enjoying browsing through the stores and window shopping, and we decided to stop in Urban Outfitters to look at all their quirky items. And lo, and behold, what did I see? 

My floppy hat. 

On sale for $10. 

Oh yes, I did. I bought it.

And wore it yesterday, while I read out in the sun!  (Jody told me I couldn't wear it inside, no matter how excited I was about it. Alas... I need the sun to shine so I have an excuse to wear it!!!)

And here I am in the hat. :)

Family Time at Fun Valley

So this summer marked the third year that Jody and I have made the trek to South Fork, Colorado for the annual Been family gathering. We left early Saturday morning, August 6th and got to Fun Valley before anyone else arrived.

It started out a bit roughly, because the night before we left Eu-mi got into some gluten-free hamburger buns. Everything seemed fine Friday evening; we packed after I got home from work and we went and visited Sam and Britt (who had just bought a little dachshund pup that I just HAD to see!). But on the way to Fun Valley the next morning, we discovered that Eu-mi had left us a little present in her crate. *sigh* So first thing we did upon arriving in FV was to get her bedding cleaned at the laundromat. Little did we know that we would be cleaning her bedding 4 (yes, you read that correctly - FOUR) times due to disasters in the crate. But I digress...

Right around lunchtime everyone began to start arriving: Pam and Alan, Lindsey, Lindsey's parents Jimmy and Brenda, Lindsey's brother Justin, his wife Isabel and their daughter Deana, Lindsey's uncle Jimmy and his wife Angie and their two kids, and (finally!) Brad and Lindsey's friends Clint and Carla Taylor. So it was a crew of 16 people and 4 dogs! 

I was a bit curious to find out how everything was going to work out, since people were not all staying for the same amount of time, and for some this was their 10th+ time to come to Fun Valley and for others it was their 1st time... But, in the end, it was a good time and I think everyone had a blast! The dogs had much to snif, the kids were able to ride bikes and run around FV, and the adults could sit and talk or sleep as much as they wanted. It really was the best way to spend a week away from the "real world."

Here are some of the top reasons why I love Fun Valley SO MUCH!

1. It breeds relaxation. After the stresses of this season, there is no gift greater than REST. When Jo and I arrived at Fun Valley, one of the first things we did was pull out our ENO hammocks and set them up for the week. It became the new routine that there was 'hammock time' right around 3pm. That afternoon sleepy time. Absolutely heavenly!

2. Eu-mi is welcome, too. On so many vacation trips the biggest stresser is, 'What are we going to do with Eu-mi?' But at Fun Valley, there is plenty for Eu-mi to do, as well. So, so thankful that we can bring her along. 

3. Family Meal Time. I don't know about you, but growing up in a big family I learned to treasure meal times around the table. All 10 of us, sitting around talking over each other (haha) and hearing about the events of the day. There is nothing more precious than being able to spend time together over a meal. And this year at Fun Valley, there were so many of us that it really felt festive to have a reason to bring all 16 of us together.

4. Daily Walks / Train-Riding around Fun Valley. Fun Valley is not enormous, but it is large enough to satisfy the need for a nice walk. Or a ride on the Train. SO MUCH FUN! Most every day Jody and I would take Eu-mi for a nice, long walk around Fun Valley, and we got to see some fun dogs, say 'hi' to some of the friendliest people in the United States (good ol' manners from Texas and Oklahoma!), and see if there were any fish in the ponds. Such a relaxing time, especially in the cool mornings. If you ever go, you should ride the Fun Valley train. :)

5. ICE CREAM O'CLOCK! Carla led the way for us all in establishing that on vacation, calories just don't count. And as the week progressed, I realized she was right! I have spent so much time focusing on getting healthy, that I realized it was wearing me out a bit, and it was time to take a break... for just a week. ;) Soooo, we began to take daily walks down to the Snack Shack to get an ice cream! What fun! I have to say, it made my day. This and hammock time. Love me some ice cream and hammock time. Did more good for my soul than months of counseling and unpacking the past few years. 

6. Fire (S'more) time! Right after the afternoon nap time, it was about time to get a fire going. That might mean running up to the Fun Valley store to buy some more wood or some lighter fluid (because starting a fire on vacation should not be hard, right?). And then, we'd get the fire burning nice and hot. And we'd get to cooking and talking. I have to say one of the highlights of this year was watching Deana cook hotdogs and s'mores over the fire for the first time. Deana and her mother Isabel are from Honduras and have lived in the States since Justin and Isabel were married a few years ago. Watching both of them grow in their English abilities as well as in their knowledge and understanding of American culture have been so much fun to watch!

It was a good week, and I'm so thankful for the memories!