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| Atlantic Giant bloom. |
The Michigander wrote:
"Imagine my surprise at what I thought was a curiosity search about Epsom Salts would become such an inspiration for you, and even for others on Ichabod. I'm glad I sent the quotes along."
Another Lutheran wrote today:
"I love to hear the stories about Sassy. What a wonderful pet she is for you!
Keep the gardening reports coming. I'm trying out some of the methods on
our reluctant soil. I'll be laying down newsprint."
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| Warty gourd bloom. |
Interest in posts shows up two ways. I watch the numbers daily and look at what people read the most. If they look up old posts and those go up quickly in views, I assume a post was linked to others. Some recent surprises are the Yale Egyptology story from a year ago, and a quote about Mary commanding her Son as the Queen of Purgatory.
Secondly, I get phone calls and emails, which have concentrated on gardening and Sassy stories.
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| Crepe myrtle, like all bushes, enjoys prunes. |
Today the Epsom salts email led to Walmart and the purchase of an 8 pound bag for $6. Rain is starting, so I scattered it in every area where I am planting - and on the crepe myrtle bush, which is the superstar of the entire neighborhood.
I believe earthworms, some extra watering, and pruning led to this great display of flowers. If they all looked the same as mine, I would give credit to our early rains. Pruning a flowering bush after the blooming season will shape it, open it up to air and sunshine, and promote root growth.
God mulches his plants. Pine trees mulch pine needles, which are good for pine trees. A bush is going to shed quite a few leaves in a year. Rather than scrape them away to bare soil, I add worms to the base and throw wads of grass underneath when the lawnmower gets cleaned. What is better than soil and grass under a bush, with red wigglers waiting to pull them under?
I suggested to both gardeners that the increase the organic matter going into their soil. Just as the church consultants say "Rock group" as the solution for everything, I say, "Mulch with earthworms."
An old gardener's aphorism - "Every shovel of soil should have one earthworm in it." The soil population will build up quickly with soil amendments, including Epsom salt and wood ash, grass clippings, leaves, small twigs, wood mulch, sawdust, and animal (but not pet) manure.
Composting on the spot will take place all winter, since God has three teams of bacteria at work, one for each temperature of organic matter - hot, medium, and cool. When the organic matter is the wrong temperature for the current crop of decomposing bacteria, another team will take up. Hot is faster but it never stays hot, since the high nitrogen ingredients that feed the warming up are used in the process.
Earthworms are "cows that graze on high protein bacteria."
Soil creatures and organic matter will encourage more saturation of the soil by water, instead of runoff, and the soil will hold moisture better with the soil population and the sponge effect of humus.
We will either compost or mower/mulch all our leaves in the yard. I may get bags of leaves from neighbors, too, if family shunning is kept to a minimum. I can fill the compost area many times with leaves and still have room for more as they reduce in volume from decomposition.
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| Dave's Garden Blog |
I was in a hurry to plant seeds, especially when I had seed packets in a dish and thunderclouds overhead. I did not mark them. I have pumpkins growing and warty gourds flourishing. Which is which? The fruit will tell me in the long run. The flowers are almost the same, as shown above and may cross pollinate between warty gourds and Atlantic Giant pumpkins.
"Would you like a 500 pound warty gourd for your Thanksgiving cornucopia? No?"
I also have spinach, New Zealand spinach, and Malabar spinach growing. The first is real spinach. The second is a leafy vine. The third is a spinach substitute for hot weather. Real spinach loves the cold while New Zealand spinach loves the heat and abhors the cold. No plant can serve two masters. Each one has its own growing preferences.
Seedlings like very much alike. I planted bush beans and pole beans along the fence, because it was easy to do and not new garden space was ready. The pole beans are climbing now and the bush beans will stay low and produce near the ground.
Some of the weeds confuse me. The suspicious looking ones may be some of the new plants, so I am hold off on cutting them. I still remember the person who kept trying to get rid of this weed, and it kept coming back. He learned before it was too late that it was the rare and difficult to grow, trailing arbutus - or mayflower.
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| Trailing arbutus, by Rich Stevenson |
One of Jesus' parables is not emphasized much - the Parable of the Tares (Weeds). The crop comes up but weeds are growing in the crop. The owner warns that rooting up the weeds will damage the good plants, so the separation will take place at harvest time.
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
The weeds are related to the classic parable warning -
Matthew 7:15-21King James Version (KJV)
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Planting and Harvest.
The clear teaching is difficult to miss, when read with the Sower and the Seed.
The work of the Christian Church is to sow the living seed, the pure Word of God. Nevertheless, false teachers will arise from outside and from within the congregations. Non-believers will find it convenient to remain in the Church without faith in the Gospel, and clever ones will use the trappings holiness to acquire wealth, power, and harems.
The harvest will come at last. The Gospel seed will bear fruit for eternal life, and the weed seeds will grow abundant fruit for destruction.
