With the Shelter in Place mandate during the pandemic of 2020, the best idea we could ever come up with was to start a small garden with the kids in the backyard. This was gold because we could go outside and play in the dirt together and hopefully get something good out of it, like food to eat.
With so many items at the grocery store in high demand, at least we would be ready to learn how to eat from our own land and be ready for a food shutdown just in case. I was even prepared to raise hogs and cows if need be but my wife said that I was stretching that idea a little too far, lol!
We measured and planned out a 3×6 foot space, grabbed a shovel and went to work. We started digging and cleaning out the weeds and removing the clay dirt that made things difficult. We need good, fertile ground to grow what we wanted and this took much digging and watering before we finally got it right. Then we we went to several stores and gardening centers to buy some fertilizer, some veggie seeds and plants and listen to ideas and tips from the experts and people that farm gardens for a living.
We planned we prayed and then we went to a few stores and gardening copened up holes, put the seeds and plants in the ground and prayed over all of our efforts. I knew it would be a labor of love and that patience would be a great virtue in this adventure, my youngest daughter (age 7 at the time) had different ideas in mind.
We went out to the garden on the next morning and she was disappointed in not seeing any vegetables from the seeds we just planted the day before. She didn’t understand that there is a process with this gardening stuff and more than anything, the lesson learned will be in having patience.
We grew a bunch of tomatoes, squash and greens in the 2020 year. Fast forward to this year and we are starting the garden up again. Kids learn to use their minds in school and now that the summer break is here, it’s time to put those hands in the dirt again and get to work or shall I say have some fun!
Here’s to new beginnings and prayerfully, plenty of veggies and fruits to eat, serve and inspire! You can plant, you can water all day long but remember God is the one to give the increase!!!
Enjoy this Garden Lifestyle!
Wayne Jaye
waynejaye@youhaveagreenthumb.com
p.s. Here is another gardening idea to try especially if you don’t want to get your hands dirty!