Main Garden

I promised a sweet friend of mine last night that I would get these pictures posted. This first one is of the main garden. It is split in two so that we could put garden equipment we were using in there.

There is chicken wire all around the perimeter and twine every foot above that x's 3. That is because of the deer. Supposedly, and I don't doubt it, this garden sits directly in a deer corridor! So far we haven't seen any, but I just remembered I left the gate open, so excuse me while I go close it!

Ok, I'm back. I opened the back door and right away I smelled a skunk. I came back in and went through the garage so it would hear me banging around and get the desire to leave. I have a garage door on the back of the garage as well as the front so I banged and opened it slowly. I shined the flashlight all around before I went out. Didn't want to stumble into one of those! Didn't see a skunk but I did see an opossum running away from the apple tree. Lots of dropped apples for her. (That's a guess on the gender)

So anyway. I'll post more tomorrow.

Here is our herb garden with plenty of flowers. I love white petunias! On the patio are potato plants in pots. I've been wanting to try it so since we had so many sprouters left over from last year we decided to give it a try. They are starting to flower and should be mature in 4-6 weeks. Yukon Gold. The herb garden was rocky hardpan clay! Covered in weedy grass. We both feel lawn is a waste of space and since many herbs are irradiated these days, we planted dill, garden sage, tarragon (French) thyme, oregano, 4 different kinds of basil, 2 different kinds of lavender, pineapple sage (I just like the bush and it smells awesome), echinacea, calendula, spearmint, and a knock out rose in the middle of it all. Petunias and marigolds round it out. I love it. I have always desired to put one of these in. It was a lot of hard work. After turning it up and shaking the dirt off the grass roots (which we added to our compost pile) we picked out multitudes of rocks. This is right near the house so the soil is full of rocks from when they built. We amended the soil with Michigan peat and composted cow manure. Then tilled it again and pulled more rocks. Since herbs can take or leave rich soil, they have flourished. But many flowers and herbs I planted did not come up. Maybe next year with finished compost on it. I used some of the dill last night in a "dill crock". I bought a 2 gallon crock and followed Euell Gibbons directions in my thrift store buy, "Stocking Up" by Rodale. We used dill, cauliflower, green beans, garlic, more dill, onion chunks, pepper flakes and more dill on top. Then we put 1 measure of salt to 10 measures of water and mixed it until the salt dissolved then added it to the crock, put a salad plate on top, and weighted it down with a glass jar 1/3 filled with water. The food must stay under the brine or it goes bad. This a.m. I added 1/4 cup of salt on top of the plate and skimmed off a little scum. It should be ready in 2 weeks. We are keeping it in the livingroom which stays between 70 -80 degrees. We'll see! Oh yeah, I also put in little rock hard green tomatoes. I hope it works. The art of fermenting foods (way better than pickled stuff) is almost lost. I'm going to learn this, I really am.

Well, where have I been?

Been gone forever! Much has been going on. We moved. Center St. was nice for the winter but we needed a place to move around in and grow stuff! We found a 3/4 acre place in the county and moved in May. We had to dig up a lawn to put in a garden and of course that brought a slew of bugs. But I am running ahead of myself.

I'll post pictures tomorrow. We are only renting for six months, but that could turn into an added year and a half. Depends on whether we stay in this area or not. We have been seeking new employment for Duane but so far the LORD is not giving him something new. Those trials some other time.

The LORD is good to those who seek Him. I just read that and I can't remember where the verse is from. I want to say Jeremiah. That's the problem when you aren't reading in order. You can't give the chapter and verse so others can keep you on line. I've been enjoying a lively chat lately about Revelation with an old Amish friend. That is an exciting book to be sure! And yet I have heard "Christians" say that it scares them and noone can understand it. God didn't write it so people would be confused, but comforted and blessed. In fact, He begins and ends the book with promises--check it out! Of course, you have to know Him to understand it. And there is only one way to know Him. Not know that He exists, everybody knows that. But to know Him and believe in Him the way that God has designed it, not us. God, not us, has determined how man may approach Him. And that is through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. To say there is any other way, is arrogance. God is not amused. It is the same sin that got Satan kicked out of heaven and Adam and Eve kicked out of the garden. And it is the same sin that brings condemnation at the moment of death. Listen, in Psalm 19 verse 7 it says, "The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple." It continues on: "The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes." These words of His are "more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. MOREOVER, by them Thy servant is warned, in keeping them there is GREAT REWARD." Then we read in Acts 4 what else God has to say, and it is about Jesus Christ: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we MUST be saved." Since the opening of Genesis God has shown man his need for a Savior. And that He has it taken care of it. There is no way for us to take care of our sin ourselves. It can't be done! We are to weak and unable to even see who we are. If He doesn't wake us up to the fact we won't even see it! Why? Why? Because "we are dead in our trespasses and sins" Can a dead man see? Can a dead man hear? Can a dead man do anything? No, a hundred times, no. Can a dead man make any kind of decision? No. And until Christ awakens you to your sin you will never seek a Savior. Do you hear Him? Is He calling you to awake, to arise from the dead? "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" For Christ died for the sinner. It is He who came at just the right time. To give His life for a ransom. To pay the penalty for your sin! To set you free from "the body of this death". Don't tell me you don't see it--your need to have the ugliness taken from you, to have your sins washed away, and be made a new creation in the eyes of God? Don't you want hope? Don't you want to be free? Then look toward Him who is more merciful than any. More patient, more forgiving, more knowing of you than you yourself, for He made you. Won't you seek for Him? For He says, "You shall search for me and find Me, when you search for Me with ALL of your heart." Open the New Testament and see how Christ calls all to repent from their sins and believe (not just mere assent, but wholeheartedly following)on Jesus Christ in order to be saved. No other way. No other person. Get alone with Jesus, today. "For today IS the day of salvation."