 |
| This three generation photo shows Baby Ichabod in the high chair, Little Ichabod holding the first of three grandchildren. |
Last night we had enough rain to make the wheelbarrow damp on the inside, another reason to use stored rain before the promised rain. A reader, who currently enjoys kidding me, finishes my sentence when I say that. I told him, "Don't resist the advice."
I scanned the rose farm today. Peace roses are in full bloom in the back. The climbing rose - a gift in a plastic bag - is growing like a weed. The main rose area in front is packed with blooms and buds, including spent flowers that need to be trimmed away.
Creation Gardening bears fruit, in spite of mistakes and quirks of the weather, simply by a refusal to follow man's wisdom. Even the weeds are splendid in their growth. When a TV host was praising the value of a mosquito mist, Mrs. Ichabod thought it looked promising.
I said, "Yes, it works well. It kills the mosquitoes, the spiders, all the beneficial insects. And then the mosquitoes from next door fly in to fill the breach. The supply of pests is endless, even with constant spraying."
Mrs. Ichabod, "Oh."
I added, "Mr. Gardener tried it. Each time it cost more to spray and did less good. But he damaged my efforts at the same time. I let him try - no advice except a word or two. He finally told me what a waste of money it was. The beneficial insects work for free and do the job 24/7."
Every single aspect of Creation Gardening works that way. Without my management, the creatures and plants work together to maximize output. Beneficial insects and spiders increase their numbers by doing their jobs. I increase their safe harbors with certain plants (mints, daisies, dandelions, sunflowers, borage, comfrey, and any carrot family member).
This works so well that beneficial wasps and hover flies follow the roses into the vases, like friends waving their tourist pals off on a big voyage. If aphids are trying to grow among the roses, beneficial eggs are about to hatch and feed on them.
I was somewhat aware of this, but Jessica Walliser made me look closer at the roses to find my little helpers.
 |
| Three Pink Roses - by Norma A. Boeckler |
Leave the Soil Alone - Sell the Ten HP Garden Osterizer Unit
A garden becomes far more productive when we allow the Creator's principles to take hold, instead of thwarting every good thing with toxic fertilizer, toxic pesticides, toxic fungicides, and toxic tillers.
 |
| Bacteria are the foundation of all life. Fungi are God's Internet. And why does water in a pool grow algae in the sunlight? Could all this be randomly evolved? |
Save all coffee grounds for the soil, for mulch around favorite plants. I add mine to rainwater, giving the stew a distinctive fragrance, swamp coffee.
Creation Garden effects from God's Word:
- Fungus will connect all plants, feeding and watering them.
- Birds will join spiders and beneficial insects in attacking pests.
- Earthworms will tunnel and fertilize the soil.
- The biomass under the surface will reach its peak and store the water and nutrition through a constant cycle of dying and feeding.
- Roots will open up the soil and provide vast amounts of organic matter to the underground lab.
- Butterflies and hummingbirds will visit, enjoying the abundance of nectar. Butterflies normally specialize in plants, so "weeds" like milkweed will feed the infant Monarchs, which provide a spectacular show of transfiguration, or metamorphosis in Greek.
- The gardener will learn daily
- how God provides in abundance,
- heals wounds, and
- prompts thanksgiving for the blessings given from the Means of Grace, the Word and Sacraments.
 |
| Mrs. Ichabod laughed when a doctor asked about her weeding chores. She loves the result of gardening, especially with roses. She decreed, "The lawn is boring. Replace it with roses." |
