One of my earliest memories is sitting in the garden at twilight, plucking sugar peas off the vine. Each pod was a treasure, splitting open to reveal a row of sweet peas that I ate one after the other. In the bright morning we picked raspberries (one for the bowl, one for me) and I remember watching in fascination as we harvested potatoes– yanking up the useless greens to reveal clumps of red potatoes below.
I was raised in the era of stake farms and President Kimball’s oft-repeated counsel for every family to grow a garden. As new converts, my parents couldn’t navigate all of Mormon culture, but oh could they garden! Rows of corn, carrots, peas, beans, tomatoes filled the backyard. Strawberries spilled out of pots, great clumps of rhubarb grew by the back door (don’t eat the leaves!), pumpkins spread along the back fence where nothing else would grow and our best, sunniest spot was reserved for raspberries. Our dozen chickens provided more than enough compost for the garden and fresh eggs for two families. On car drives to visit my grandparents in Idaho, my mother knew exactly where to stop on the side of the road and pick asparagus– slender stalks are the sweetest–and where to find low-lying huckleberry bushes with their tiny, tart berries.
Gardening (and chicken farming!) is experiencing a resurgence in America. Nearly everyone is clearing a bit of earth or growing herbs on their windowsill. For me, and I suspect for many Mormons, planting seeds in the earth is not simply a quest for food but a desire to become closer to God. Everything in nature testifies of Him– a well-cared for seed will grow into a mighty plant, fruit trees must be pruned for a greater harvest, weeds are inevitable– just keep pulling them out.
This year (if we can get a few sunny Saturdays in Utah!) we are crafting grow boxes next to our chicken coops, our dead apple tree is being replaced with a new Honeycrisp sapling and I am transplanting raspberry bushes from my mother’s garden. Most exciting– we are building beehives and will populate them with 10,000 bees next week (how will we ever name them all?). Beekeeping feels absolutely biblical to me and I am sure I will tire everyone with all my honeybee/gospel analogies.
In a world where so many events are beyond my control, I love the simplicity (and divine complexity) of my hands in the earth. Plant this, add that, nurture here, prune there and watch it grow. Yes, there are blights and bugs in the garden, but for the most part following the rules will yield results. It is one place where we can literally grow happiness.
And it gives me hope that all my efforts, in all I do, will one day bring a great and glorious harvest.
What are your must-haves in the garden?
What are you adding to your garden this year?
Do you see God in your garden?
What life lessons have you learned from gardening?
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