I’ve recently inherited a garden that I have no idea how to
care for. Besides watering, fertilizing and pruning, I have no further
knowledge on what this garden needs. On Saturday morning, I woke up before my
husband, as usual, crept out of bed and went to the backyard. I raked up fallen
leaves from our orange tree, pulled weeds surrounding the tomato plants and laid
down some new soil for upcoming winter vegetables. Later, I wandered around
downtown until I found the local nursery. Peering over the stacked boxes of
fertilizer I was balancing in my arms, I asked the man behind the counter which
one he recommended. I walked away with a few helpful tips on how to revive my
basil and a bag of organic something-or-other. I strolled down the street to
the library and checked out three books with helpful titles like “Gardening in
Southern California” and “Vegetables 101”. With determination, I headed home,
ready to equip myself to succeed.
I spent Saturday afternoon reading through the books,
fascinated by how much planning and preparation goes into growing the
vegetables I effortlessly pick up at the market. I took notes, placed Post Its
on important pages and photo copied planting schedules. While reading up on a
chapter about how to properly plant bulbs, I came across this paragraph:
“Even if you plant a
bulb upside down in the ground, they send their shoots up and their roots down.
Sending up their shoots takes longer, and wastes some energy, but they manage.
Eventually, the bulbs even reorient themselves in the ground.”
I imagined how frustrating it would be to put all the time and energy into preparing the soil, buying the right fertilizer, learning how to properly care for the plant and then plant the seed or bulb incorrectly. Not only is it fascinating to me that a bulb can turn itself
right-side up in the ground on it's own, but it was also a very small reminder of a very
vast thing:
In the end, God will have his way.
