Gardening Is An Affair of the Heart

-The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, one is nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth.
~Dorothy Frances Gurney, "Garden Thoughts"

I finally got off my duff and started cleaning in the yard today.  And boy, what a difference just a few hours of work makes.  The extreme heat and drought we have had here in the Austin, Texas area is a bit of a downer when it comes to gardening.  I watered and kept it alive (barely), but there was not much growth and no vegtables or such this year.  There is hope as the forecast shows temperatures cooling down to the 90s in the next week!  Downright chilly!  I also started working toward one of my goals to save money by starting a compost in the corner of my yard to place over my garden beds this winter.  I am going to try what is called Lasagne gardening.

Lasagna gardening is a no-dig, no-till organic gardening method that requires little work from the gardener. The name of this type of gardening refers to the method of building the garden, which is done by adding layers of organic materials that will “cook down” over time, resulting in rich, fluffy soil that will help your plants thrive. It is also known as “sheet composting.” It is great for the environment, because you're using your yard and kitchen waste and composting it in place to make a new garden.  I started out today with a layer of grass clippings and covered with some fruit and vegetable scraps and coffee grounds, just to get some practice and a little compost started.  Closer to fall and cooler weather, when I get all the brush cleared away, I will incorporate the true Lasagna gardening and cover the area with 3 or 4 layers of newspaper and then add alternating layers of brown (leaves, shredded newspaper, hay, etc.) and green (grass clippings, fruit, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, etc.).  We already forgot to save the clippings from mowing today, so getting into the green mode is not always easy!  Going green means overcoming a lifetime of bad habits.  According to eHow,

"An average household produces 600 pounds of compostable yard waste yearly. Compostable material makes up 20 percent of a community's residential waste."  We go pay good money for compost to put in our gardens and on our yard, when we have most of what we need that is going in the garbage!  I am determined to learn this art of composting, not only for the good of my own yard, but for the good of the environment and community.

As I work in my garden, I think of how my heart is God's garden.  He took a dark, hard, dry, and barren space and planted love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  He tends the garden taking time to weed, dig, rearrange, and fertilize.  He watches over it and encourages me to guard it.  My garden will never die.  No matter what kind of drought, neglect, hurt, or suffering it endures, in the end, it will live and flourish..because it is rooted in eternity.

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."  -Ecclesiastes 3:11