Vegetable Garden Gospel

Posted on by Jane Carlile Baker, Author, Editor, Teaching Consultant

I have grown quite a few vegetable gardens since I started at about age nine. Stuff I’ve learned might be an interesting topic. For example:

  • It’s fun to sing “In the Garden” while you weed, water and tie up the tomato vines.
  • My father may have been right about cussing at the vegetables making them grow. I think I prefer cussing at the gophers, though.
  • Gophers really love bean roots.
  • Waiting until school is out to plant will make most of the vegetables ready after school has already started again.
  • Snails like everything.
  • Dogs and cats are messy.
  • Working in the early morning can’t really be called working.
  • A fresh anything is better than store-bought, or even farmer’s market bought.
  • Don’t grow corn unless you plan to use the stalks because you only get one or two cobs and then what do you do with the rest?
  • If you don’t water, it won’t grow.
  • If you water too much, it won’t grow.
  • You can plot stories in a vegetable garden.
  • You can squish tomato worms in a vegetable garden, especially when someone has pissed you off.
  • You can pray, with a lot of focus, in a vegetable garden, especially any time you want.
  • Owning a vegetable garden is playing God in a sense, because you get to determine everything, what vegetables grow, which way the rows go, whether to chemically fertilize or mulch or use pesticides or go for organic.
  • The knowledge of vegetable growing is transferable to younger generations.
  • Sunshine is good for your attitude.
  • Dirt between your toes builds character.
  • You can garden whether you’re young, middle or old, but if you’re old you might want to get a garden bench to weed from.
  • Wear gloves to till and rake.
  • Do not wear gloves to weed.
  • Weeds are fast.
  • Weed every week, or you’ll be sorry.
  • Tomato vines are kind of scratchy.
  • If you’re the impatient type, fried green tomatoes are really good.
  • Sometimes, vegetables won’t grow, no matter what.
  • Bees are your friends, but mosquitoes aren’t.
  • Plant the shade lovers in the shade, and the sun lovers in the sun.

Now I titled this Vegetable Garden Gospel, and you’re wondering where the gospel part is, aren’t you? Get ready, every single thing you do has Jesus at the center, from squishing tomato worms to cussing gophers to tieing up tomato vines. And that’s true, not just in the garden, but everywhere. So whatever you do, do all to His glory. I just kind of like hanging around with Him in the garden.

Published by Jane Carlile Baker, Author, Editor, Teaching Consultant

Jane has loved writing from the time she learned to hold a pencil. Her writing journey moved from that pencil to personal computers through the seventies, she edited for a hospital public relations department. The eighties found her owning a public relations business, publishing newspaper and magazine articles, and directing communications for a large church. In the nineties she published her first book and led critique groups and writers' workshops. In the twenty-first century she became a teaching consultant for the National Writing Project, published several more books, and began an editing business. Jane also loves raising chickens, dogs and alpacas, gardening, oil painting, swimming and hanging out with her family.

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