No Dig - Dig?

This British gardener, Shewell-Cooper, wrote in Compost Gardening that the organic material should be left on top for the creatures to pull down. He made massive amounts of compost for that, but the same can be done with mulch left in place and renewed when digested.

One of the great fallacies of gardening is the urge to dig, plow, and turn over all the soil - to make it better!

One LCA pastor proudly told me that he took all the fallen leaves and rototilled them into the soil in the fall. He took a warm, insulating leaf blanket that would let the soil creatures stay warm and moist, away from the sun, converting the mass into food for billions of microbes and soil creatures. And then he slaughtered the soil population with his machine.

He was also an advocate for the lavender revolution in the LCA, so it was no surprise he did not grasp "the laws of Nature and of Nature's God."

This plant cell shows that a complex of chemical factories and regulating equipment is found at the microscopic level, all designed perfectly by the Creator.

The soil is almost as complex and also adept at self-healing. The garden soil has to heal itself after so many take their 10 hp osterizers to stir it up, as if they are sifting flour to make it better.

To exert the least labor and enjoy the most results, gather and keep organic matter for constant mulching. The lawn crew kept the maple tree nursery they scooped out of the gutters, and I thanked them.

Egg shells and Epsom Salts do not improve the soil, but coffee grounds do. The handiest and easiest  free materials are bags of mown grass and raked leaves.

Let living roots grow instead of rooting them out of the ground. I foster Poke Weed (tap root) in the backyard and Dandelion in the front. Birds love me, so I have lots of Poke in Rose Garden. I snip those off at the base, leaving the greens as mulch.

Almost all greens are high in nutrition (nitrogen) and quickly used in composting or mulching materials.

A compost pile is handy when getting rid of a huge amount of green. I put one in the corner of our yard, in the shade of a Mimosa weed tree. Mr. Gardener added all of his - which he loved, and I loved. I parked some red wiggler worms there, never hauled any stuff out. It kept going down, down. The Mimosa supercharged, going from weak and barely there to one we both cut back. It wanted the sun from their yard too.

Where Is This Going?

The Word works the same way. Luther says the Word has 100,000 arts against the thousand arts of Satan. God's complexities are as infinite as the relationships we see in Creation.

 Digging small holes is fine. I think this was staged.

Roses or Galatians? - Why Not Both!

Today I have new roses to tend and Galatians to write. These are some of the books published by the Lutheran Librarian, Alec Satin.

One member told me he looked for the morning post, and he lives on the Left Coast - more pressure to post early.

One reader is getting tips about gardening from this blog - more pressure from the gardeners.

It might rain today - more indecision!

Yesterday was sunny and dry. The Veterans Honor roses were opening as fast as popcorn in hot coconut oil. Ranger Bob came by for coffee, settling various accounts (books, parts, mowing payday loans - all interest free). He was pointing all the new roses - having just taken the Sunday crop to honor his step-father's grave. That was a 48 hour blooming time.

Later I went around to the new plants that seemed to be struggling and a bit weak. The new Joe Pyes were getting slug holes and the Red Daisies were not strong yet. I took buckets of rain water around to pour on each emergency case. One Veterans Honor rose was especially  weak, so I included that plant, an early donor.

One member kids me about using up the rainbarrels before each rain. That serves a double purpose. The mosquitoes lose their chance to reproduce and the weak plants get hydration and nitrogen just before a rainfall (if it happens). Storms often roar through Springdale to water areas east of us. As neighbor John likes to say, "It rained, just not here."

Mulch adds to this protection, keeping moisture down and harsh sun away from the base of the plant. Plants are like people (the name of a classic book) - they do not like being roasted in the sun.

Organic mulch will always feed the soil, and wood mulch is especially good in the long run. For instan soil improvement and moisture retention, I like Peat Humus (Stinky Peat), which is tamed manure mixed with peat moss.

Congregations are failing because they are seen with materialistic eyes and therefore provide no nurture. Wuhan Flu proved that churches could continue online (not a secret for Bethany) because the chief functions are based on the Gospel, not the budget.

If the pastors would drop all committees and use the time to visit people with the Word, and to see sick and shut-ins all the time, the congregations would be healthy instead of sick and dying.

But alas, the synod officials - trusted with millions of dollars - are anxious to mine the fools-gold by playing up to family trees. If a pastor has a drunken close encounter with a utility pole - boom - he is suddenly a world missionary who travels the globe for free.

"Do us a favor - send him back - soon."

WELS - HIP! - Adam Cross-dressing Mueller Chairs HIP

Adam Mueller, son of Wayne Mueller, will chair HIP and the women's ordination group. He was active in Church and Change Your Gender.

Hymnal Introduction Program (HIP)

HIP efforts will provide 1) information before the hymnal resources are released and 2) introductory workshops in the fall of 2021.

Copies of Christian Worship: Preview have been mailed to every congregation and school in quantities for leadership groups to review.

The HIP committee includes: Adam Mueller (chair), Bryan Gerlach (C/W Director), Jon Zabell (chair of both C/W and Hymnal Project), Michael Schultz (Hymnal Project Director), and Mark Buske (NPH).

 "I did not know that!"

***

GJ - The strange part was not about Pastor Adam Mueller cross-dressing with his church council for a church picnic and having children put women's makeup on them. No, the strange part was the congregation uploading a pile of photos from the event and joyously inviting everyone to view the fun pictures.

The least strange part was having Adam aka Eve become a speaker for one of WELS' boring, borrowed from the Calvinists "national events." As I recall, he was the keynote speaker.

When someone like Adam Mueller or Tim Glende messes up big-time, the authorities consult the family tree and award honors to the person normally shown the door for bizarre behavior. That is one of many reasons why the remodeled seminary is not overflowing with students and the congregations are closing faster than tattoo parlors during the Wuhan Flu crisis.