I do believe that I have the world's ugliest garden this year. From the time I can remember, my family has had some form of a garden every summer. One of my favorite childhood memories was going with my dad out to the garden on summer evenings. My grandmother and her cousin had a large garden together every summer that I can remember. Sometimes it was on her land and other years it was on his. But regardless of who had the garden that year, it was large enough to feed several families.
Dad would come home after work and ask if I wanted to go with him to check on the garden. I can't ever remember telling him no. We would load up in his white suburban and head out towards West Camp just as the heat from the day was beginning to recoil. I'm not sure what all we did out there. Most of the time, I remember picking whatever was ripe and maybe pulling a weed or two. I remember one summer the coyotes found the watermelon and really like it! I don't know if it's that my memory is just bad or if the garden always looked good, I don't ever remember it being ugly.
Once I was an adult and owned my house, Myranda and I always made a spot for a garden. They were never as big as the ones I had as a kid, but they were big enough for us. We always had enough room for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, and maybe a watermelon. I enjoyed working in it. I loved watching the plants grow, hoeing the weeds, and watering it. Every year, I spent countless hours working in it and I don't remember it ever being ugly.
While we were in seminary, I didn't have a spot or the time to devote to a garden. I missed it immensely. That's why last spring I was so excited when I borrowed a rototiller and began to turn the soil again. I went to the store and bought my tomatoes and peppers. I dutifully planted squash and cucumbers. The spot is smaller here, so I didn't have room for as much, but we still had plenty of plants that we should have been able to share with others. But just as the vegetables were getting ready, the summer heat intensified. I couldn't keep enough water on them and the plants finally gave up. I did get a little bit of produce off and even shared some of it. But it just seemed like it was a big waste of time. I had decided not to have another garden this year. I had put a great amount of work into it and so it wasn't an ugly garden...it just couldn't make it.
But as all gardeners understand, the desire to sow and reap is just too strong. So this past spring I halfheartedly began again. I didn't borrow a tiller. In fact, I didn't even try very hard to disturb the soil. I told Myranda that I was trying a "no-till" approach to gardening. But in reality I didn't want to put all of the effort into it just to be disappointed again. Therefore, I have the ugliest garden I have ever seen. Bermuda grass is trying to invade all parts of the garden (the frustrating thing is I chose this spot because there was no Bermuda there). There is another kind of grass that I'm unfamiliar with that is sprouting up everywhere. The weeds are twice as bad as they should be because I didn't mulch like I normally do. So yes, my garden is ugly.
But there is something funny going on. It is actually producing. I picked the first tomato off the vine just this week. There are several more that are turning red. The peppers look good and strong. In fact, all of the plants are blooming their little hearts out. Now I know the lessons about weeds choking out the good plants and I am doing the best I can to keep the weeds at bay. No matter what I do to this garden it will be ugly. But, the thing is, the produce that comes from this garden is good. The tomato I proudly served on the supper table the other night was absolutely delicious!
This garden reminds me of a couple of things. First, it reminds me of when God called forth Samuel to anoint David king of Israel. When Samuel first saw Eliab, David's brother, Samuel just knew that God wanted him as king. But God said, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." Second, this ugly garden reminds me of something Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
So I think this garden has to be one of my favorite ones. Yes, it takes a lot of work. It is very unappealing to the eyes. And it might quit producing at any time. But so far, it has reminded me that a vegetable garden is not primarily about beauty. It's about producing good fruit. As Christians, it would do us well to remember this. While we might have the world fooled in thinking that we are a beautiful garden, our produce is the indicator. St. Paul tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
I want to be known as God's ugly garden. I don't mind looking like I do on the outside as long as my spiritual produce is good. Until next time...
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