Succulents: Embracing the Desert

Though I was born in Colorado, my 'growing-up' years were spent in Virginia. Lush, beautiful, green Virginia. And I went to William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

So when I think of a garden, I think of this:

This picture is actually of the John Blair Garden in Colonial Williamsburg, a place where I spent hours and hours during college. I miss it a lot.

Especially since last weekend was Homecoming Weekend. I miss you, girls.

Anyway, since living in Colorado I have had to embrace a new kind of beauty. The desert kind of beauty, which is browner. Much, much browner. But beautiful nonetheless. And it's not all brown. There is one genre of plant that I have come to love a great deal: succulents.

They look like this:

They are unique in that they store most of the moisture in their stems and leaves in order to survive in more arid climates. And Colorado is definitely more arid than Virginia. :)

So I was on Pinterest last year, and I saw the most glorious project ever: a succulent wreath tutorial here. I was in shock and awe, and I decided immediately that I needed to do this project.

Apparently, you can cut a bit of the succulent plant off (which is then called a "cutting" or a "clipping") and this piece of the plant can then be placed in soil and can develop roots and become another fully stable and healthy plant. Incredible! I'd never heard of that before.

So I began the process of snagging a few succulent plants from Ikea, and over the next year, my succulents began to grow big enough that I could start taking a few clippings without killing the whole plant.

This was my experience with making a wreath:

1. Finding clippings was harder than I thought, especially clippings that are colorful and vibrant and diverse. It was also more expensive than I thought. I didn't have immediate access to a garden full of free succulents that I can get clippings from. So it took me longer to accumulate a variety of succulents to move forward. In fact, it took me about a year. And probably $50-75, if I'm really honest.
2. Each component/ingredient listed on the blog posting I found to be necessary to successfully complete the project. Perhaps others are more 'craft-savvy' than I am, but I honestly wanted to succeed, so I don't know how I would have done it without each key component.
1. Metal wreath frame - I needed both "sides" to contain the moss.
2. Sphagnum moss - I needed two bags. Three bags might have been fine if I wanted a very full frame.
3. Floral wire - It was very helpful for wrapping the moss around the frame. Mine was bright green, but it does "hide" under the moss, so it's not noticeable.
4. Floral pins - This helped hold the clippings to the moss. An absolute necessity for me. One bag was sufficient.
5. Rooting hormone - I had a year's worth of time to "test" this out on a bunch of clippings. I do believe it does make a difference. I think it cost $5-7 at a nearby nursery, but a little goes a long way.
6. Clippings - As I said earlier, you need a LOT of clippings to make a well-rounded, eye-catching wreath. I thought I had a lot of clippings, and when it was all said and done, my wreath didn't look at all as cool as the picture. Ha! So you do need a lot of diverse clippings to make a fun wreath.
3. Never trust bloggers when they say a project costs $10 and it took them an hour to do while their kiddo was down for a nap. As much as I'd like to say that, it was not true for me. It was more expensive, and it took a couple of hours - at least to do it WELL. The moss doesn't like to stay in the wreath. It was messy and unruly. I did eventually tame it, but it took longer, and somehow it still didn't look like the tutorial. Ha!
4. The tutorial was nonetheless helpful. I won't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The tutorial was helpful. It's a great place to start. Check out the links. Do your research. Go to Hobby Lobby and to your local nursery. And - if you want some cool clippings - I've seen some great ones on Etsy. 

This is how mine looked when it was done. Give it 6 months to a year. Hopefully it will be fuller and more vibrant. I may even add another clipping or two if I see a fun one. I've heard the lifespan of a succulent wreath is ~5 years. We'll see how it looks in a year or two!

And with the extra succulents I had, I filled in this pot below. Both the wreath and the pot will remain inside during the cold winter months while they take root. I'll be doing some research to see how succulents handle the cold, especially as a potted plant. My guess is that they're hardy plants, but not so hardy they could handle sub-freezing temperatures.

Jump on board the succulent plant bandwagon. They're so much fun! 

Ministry Over the Long Haul

I had no clue that I would be in ministry. Or that my husband would be in ministry.

It's not a bad thing. It just wasn't on my radar.

Ever.

My dad and grandfathers are/were not pastors. In fact, on a personal level I have known nothing of what "pastoral ministry" should look like. No up-close-and-personal pastoral role models to show me if I wanted to be in pastoral ministry or not. Just never considered it.

But when Jody came to Denver Seminary and began his studies, I got a job at a church on the other side of town. And while I'd grown up in a church of about 2,000, I never worked there. I had no idea what it was like on the 'inside.'

Fast-forward four years. I've been at Southeast - in the Missions Department - for four, long, wonderful, stretching, great, challenging years, and this is what I've learned.

Pastoral ministry is a marathon. 

You can truly tell you're made for it, when you can stick it out and still love the capital "C" Church. You can still believe that it's the Bride of Christ, and flawed and broken as it is, it is nonetheless worth fighting for. Your heart can affirm Jesus' words to Peter that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not overpower it (Matthew 16:18).

And - probably the biggest things I've learned - is that you're much more likely to stick it out if you have good boundaries. Thankfully, I have very little trouble saying, "No" without feeling guilty. It's a beautiful thing. And, I know it's because I cannot give when I am running on empty. Then I just give from tired, old, burned out me. And no one wants or needs that. People need Jesus. Desperately. And I can only point to Him well when I am full of Him. So I am learning that boundaries are what makes the marathon doable.

Last month our pastor's wife organized a dinner for all the staff. It was so wonderful. I confess I was a bit overwhelmed by how many people (spouses included) are on staff at Southeast. But it was a great time to get together and celebrate the work that God has been up to at the church. I am truly blessed.

The theme for the evening was gardening. And I just love it. We got some seeds, a shovel, some gloves, and these beautiful reminders. I just had to take some pictures, because I didn't want to forget them. Thank you for all your hard work, Donna!

I am also thankful that my husband and I are a team as we support one another in ministry. Because it really is a marathon.

Resurrection Garden

It will be Easter in just a few weeks. It seems early this year, and I'm not sure if Spring has quite arrived in Colorado yet. We might have some 60º or 70º weather, but we just as well might have a snowstorm that dumps a foot of snow on the ground. So we'll see.

In the meantime, my heart is preparing for Jesus' death and resurrection in a real and tangible way. 

Jody and I saw a picture of one of these and were inspired to make one of our own. It was a late evening already - 8-9PM - but we decided to do it anyways. We scrounged for rocks in a parking lot. They had to be just right. We hunted for sticks in our yard with a flashlight. We made a late-night run to Walmart for the pot base, the mini pot and the grass seed. We already had dirt and the string to tie the cross beams together. It came together in a matter of minutes, really.

But it's started a work in my heart this year that is different from years past. Somehow, making a visual of Calvary - where Jesus paid the price for my sin - and the tomb - where He conquered death and the grave and oh, so much more! - has begun the process of making room for Him in my heart this Resurrection season. Watering the seeds daily and making sure they get lots of sunlight has brought his death and resurrection to the forefront of my heart and mind.

Jesus, come and set up residence in my heart and life today.

I'm making room for You.

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. 

No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. 

Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

John 15:4

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!

The garden: My respite

With all that this season of life has brought our way while Jody has been in seminary, I have found a refuge our little backyard garden. I started thinking about trying my hand at gardening back in February. It took a while to get all the pieces together, but when we finally decided to do it, I regretted not starting sooner.

Now the summer is well on its' way, and despite incredible weather conditions, the garden has prevailed! We have had torrential rain, countless hailstorms, thunder and lightning like I have rarely seen before, and now humidity that has expanded our wood front door so that it doesn't shut right now. It has been unbelievable. Nonetheless, the garden is flourishing, and we are holding out for the fruits of our labor.

I have had several requests from people for an update on the garden, and so I wanted to include several pictures of where the garden is now (or was, as of Tuesday).

Garden Bed #1: Lettuce, carrots, garlic, broccoli, zucchini (and just planted cucumbers to replace the spinach)

Garden Bed #1: The broccoli

Garden Bed #1: The beautiful (and delicious!) leaf lettuce

Garden Bed #1: The zucchini, which has begun to flower and is now threatening to take over the spot reserved for the cucumbers!! I am seeing now why people say one zucchini plant is more than enough!

Garden Bed #2: Spaghetti squash, eggplant, jalapenos, and herbs. The tomatoes are in the green buckets and are not enjoying all this rain with no sun!

Garden Bed #2: Another angle

Garden Bed #2: The spaghetti squash

Garden Bed #2

STRAWBERRIES!

The wildflowers Lindsey helped me plant over Memorial Day Weekend

Rest assured. There will be pictures when I start reaping a harvest!

Gardening

This year I have embarked on this wonderful adventure called square gardening. Have you ever done it before? I haven't, and thus... here I am - a novice attempting to grow a garden in a desert climate. Ha! So, a friend told me that the best approach to gardening is as an adventure. She said not to expect anything, and just maybe you'll be surprised. What a downer, huh? But I appreciated her honesty, and it has helped me not set myself up for a disappointment. So, down to the nitty-gritty....

 an example of a square garden

As the soil in Colorado is poor and our backyard is fully concrete, I have opted for a few "squares" - wooden bins that are filled with dirt, like in the picture above. They are about 5 ft x 4 ft and about 6 in deep. Why did I pick those measurements? Well, I didn't. The wood was pre-sized that way, and hey, beggars can't be choosers. To allow for drainage onto the concrete, Jody drilled holes throughout the bottom  and the gardens rest upon bricks above the ground. So we had to get a bit inventive.

Financially, it was minimal. I am so grateful. The wood we got from the scraps behind the house. The dirt was a gift from a friend (Who knew that usually you have to PAY for dirt?!) And so all that was left for me to buy were exciting things like a trowel, gardening gloves and a watering can. I mean, you're not officially a gardener without one, right?! And then there was the purchasing of the seeds. A few were gifts from the Englewood garden. The others I bought, and what fun I had selecting them!

Bell peppers.

Jalapenos.

Zucchini

Spinach

Carrots

Tomatoes

Herbs... cilantro. basil. parsley.

And so, on April 21, Jody and I decided to plant our seeds. The tomatoes, peppers and herbs inside. The others outside. What an act of faith! It launched me on a deep internal dialogue between God and me about faith, about planting and harvesting. Now I know why the Lord made such parallels; they make total sense to me after embarking on this experiment.

But then it sleeted. And snowed (the end of April?!). And then the next day it would be so windy that the beds would completely dry out. I had no idea if I'd killed them all. Then, at work, everyone told me, "You're never supposed to plant before Mother's Day. Didn't you know?" Ha. Nope, didn't know that.

And then yesterday, what did I see?

Little sprouts!!!!!