Several tall weeds were growing in the corn patch this summer. I could not identify them, but they fit the description of "every plant has a weed that looks just like it." They were not just tall - they grew to 8 feet before starting to bud. That is where I had them - "By their fruits you will know know them. A good plant cannot bear evil fruit, and a weed, ever so tall, cannot bear good fruit." Weeds are best at crowding out good plants and reproducing themselves.
False teachers like Jon Buchholz, Paul Kelm, Jay Webber, Mark Jeske, and Paul McCain have to crowd out faithful pastors, because they must grab all the sunlight - glory - for themselves. They are deeply offended and scandalized that any pastor could work in a congregation without their approval. Notice that these five spend little or no time doing any pastoral work.
Whatever the issue for the moment, there are weedlike clergy who make it their cause to undermine whatever is correct, good, noble, and faithful to the Word. For instance, The ALC of 1960 had a group of clergy who fought against the inerrancy of the Scriptures, the same battle Franklin C. Fry began much earlier.
Fry would not even discuss women's ordination, but his granddaughter was ordained in the very church body he organized, the LCA. Thus his battle against Biblical inerrancy bore fruit in passing what he would not even debate.
The apostate Lutherans have eliminated
justification by faith from the official position of their sects - even from their New NIV Bibles, because the Holy Spirit can be voted upon and repudiated by these morons - at least in their imaginations. Now they pounce on any outbreak of the Gospel, even while fund-raising for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.
The UOJ fanatics are like the weeds that cover every patch of broken ground, opportunistic and aggressive but never fruitful.
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| Fireweed buds - Erechtites hieraciifolius |
Ah yes, fruitful. I waited for my tall, slender weed to flower and fruit until I saw buds forming. Stretching up, I grabbed some and took them inside. Looking up "tall weeds" on Google did not help until I switched over the Google Images. Another plant altogether is called Fireweed, but it is red.
I identified the ones in my corn patch and began reading.
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| The red stems made me think of Pigweed. |
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Pokeweed berries are bright red, ripening to black.
Birds love them but they are toxic to humans. |
Pokeweed is another splendid example of weeds in the wild areas of the yard. Queen Ann's Lace gave up early after seeding, but
Pokeweed kept growing, branching, and fruiting - first with red berries, then ripening to black.
Birds like to eat Pokeweed, so there is no need to plant more of it. The weed is easily cut down or left as berries for the birds. When I thought it was Pigweed,
Almost Eden said "A little goes a long way." The same can be said of Pokeweed.
Converting the Vegetable Garden and Corn Patch
Clearly I do not have enough sun for growing food on the West side of the house, the backyard. That may puzzle some, but I have a combination of trees in the backyard plus giant old growth trees west of our home. We get a pleasant amount of sunshine now, thanks to our landscaper neighbor who pruned like he was Paul Bunyan. But there is not enough solar energy for the plants to flourish and fruit.
We can buy fresh vegetables a mile away and grow plants for birds, hummingbirds, bees, beneficial insects, and butterflies in our backyard. I have just become aware of fun perennials to grow, so that will be on my mind during the fall and winter.
Walmart has the right plants in season and even better - clearance tables as the plants get closer to composting. Our helper has been talking about propagating many plants for free. I sent him home with about 500 crepe myrtle seeds from our pruning.
