Recognizing Weeds

This spring, I moved our vegetable garden from the back yard to the side of our house.  I already had asparagus and chives planted there, so I moved the strawberries, and added tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, and parsley.

Everything is doing very well, especially a pricker that was in the center of the yard.

I saw this pricker bush there this spring, and since we have some roses and some raspberries, I reasoned that perhaps it was one of those.  I decided not to pull it up, but to leave it and see what beautiful thing grew on the prickly vines.

Well, nothing grew there but leaves.  And the vine somehow attracted a very tall overgrown asparagus and pulled it toward the tomatoes, then attached itself to the tomato plant, creating a very effective fence in the middle of my garden.

This enabled more and more weeds to grow, because there was quite an area that I couldn't reach without extreme discomfort.

So today, I enlisted the help of my he-man husband, and we dug out that bush and hauled it out of the yard.

I can't say that I finished weeding the garden, but you can actually walk through it, now, and I did get quite a lot done.

How did this happen?  I didn't recognize this weed for what it was.  I thought it was harmless.  I thought it might be good in the end.  It looked like other plants I had that were not weeds.

A weed is essentially a plant that doesn't belong where it is.  It may or not be harmful, in and of itself, but can cause damage if left somewhere it doesn't belong, like a vegetable garden.  I have a patch of Brown-eyed Susans in the front of my house.  They're beautiful there.  But they spread all over the place and can take over the vegetables in my garden if I let them get in there.

Jesus told a parable in Matthew, chapter 13.  He spoke of a sower sowing seeds.  The seeds fell various places, with various results.  Verse 7 reads:  "And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them."   Later, in verse 22 he explains how this related to the people:  "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful."


The world has many cares, and many riches.  It is easy to be choked by them without even realizing it.  After all, we have to live in the world.  We have to take care of our homes and our families.  We feel that we need some pleasures in life.

I don't think God expects us to go around in sackcloth and ashes all the time.  He promises to give us good gifts if we ask him (Matthew 7:11).  But we have to learn to identify the weeds before they choke us.

When I was a teenager and young adult, I loved reading romance novels.  It was so enjoyable to get lost in the story, and imagine the handsome man on the white horse coming to take me away.  At some point, I realized that there were things in those books that a Christian shouldn't be reading about.  So I started reading Christian romance novels instead.

These books didn't include the promiscuous scenes, so I thought I had found a good substitute.  And then I got married.  For some reason, my husband wasn't quite like the oh-so-perfect men in the books.  And I began to feel discontent with my own marriage.

And then I recognized the weeds.  I don't think there's anything wrong with Christian romance novels. They are enjoyable, wholesome books which can teach Godly values, and sometimes present the gospel.  However, they had become overgrown thorns that were choking my marriage.

We have to be careful.  Those little things which we think are okay can entangle us.  The people in the parable weren't at fault for ignoring the word, but for letting the cares of life and the deceitfulness of riches, or things, choke it out so that they became unfruitful.

We need to be careful about being unfruitful.  In the 21st chapter of Matthew, Jesus was walking with his disciples into the city of Bethany, and he was hungry.  "And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.  And presently the fig tree withered away." (verse 19).  John 15:1-2 reads:  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.

I do not want to be withered, or taken away from Jesus.  So I will continue to look for those thorns that threaten to choke me, and I won't be fooled by the thorn bush in my garden again!

Faith in Little Things

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

Asparagus in Spring

I went outside (in the rain) today, and guess what I saw?  Yes!  Asparagus!  I would never have seen them, if I hadn't looked closely.  In fact, I had to move a few leaves away before I saw them.  But I was expecting them.  I know in the picture they look huge, but they are really so tiny.  Asparagus grow straight up, their ends poking out of the ground full size.  Then they continue shooting up, as if they were already formed deep inside the earth somewhere.  I know this is not the case, as the roots are not that far down.  How this happens is a mystery to me.  However, I know that soon we will have a whole row of them, shooting up into the air.  Any that are not picked will unfurl themselves and turn into miniature Christmas trees, complete with tiny red balls!

We have been waiting for these asparagus for three years.  When we planted them, we were informed that we would have to wait for two full years before we could pick any.  So, we have watched them for two seasons.  We have enjoyed their frilly adulthood until late in the fall, but have not tasted them!  Now, we will be able to harvest.  MMMM!  Just the thought of asparagus picked fresh from the garden is making my mouth water!  

Waiting for Sprouts

Lily and I planted two rows in the garden on Monday - one of lettuce, and one of onions.  None of them have sprouted yet, but I know the seeds are there, waiting.  Soon we will see tiny green leaves poking up out of the soil.  We also have rhubarb coming up, which was planted last year and, again, we had to wait until this year to eat.  

First Rhubarb Leaf 

Spring is an amazing time of year.  All of the waiting through the cold, hard winter is forgotten as the sun begins to warm the ground, the rain waters the earth, and life begins to return to the garden.  The message of new birth is so easy to understand.  Plants that seemed dead and dry last fall are bursting forth with newfound vigor.  I don't think it was a coincidence that God chose to have Christ resurrected in the spring.  He wanted us to remember each year that as the soil brings forth new life, we can also be renewed.  Take some time today to enjoy the springtime, and to let God renew your spirit as well.

                                                       Link at Women Living Well Blog!

Down on the Farm

So we did it... we got chickens!  We went through all sorts of ideas, and were just about ready to buy a few laying hens (8 months old) from a nearby farm, when we had to go to Tractor Supply for something else.  Boy, the chickies are cute!  So, we went with the babies for the fun factor.  I understand they tend to be easier to get along with if you've had them from chicks, also, so hopefully that will be true.

I thought I was about done with babies in the bedroom, since Lily is almost two and usually sleeps through the night now, but now I have six fluffy babies in a bin in my room.  We couldn't figure out anywhere else to put them to keep them away from the cat until they can go outside.  Right now, they have to have a heat lamp all the time.  So, not only is my room noisy (peep, peep, peep), but it has a red glow 24 hours a day.  Oh, well.  This too will pass.  The kids love them, and even Mike said he had to go check on "his peeps"  the other day.

We also had our first chick injury scare.  I was checking on them, and noticed that one seemed to be pecking under her wing.  When I picked her up, it was all bare and bloody there.  So, I looked on line and found not very much of use, but I tried washing it with a saline solution.  After that, she started preening more than picking, and it looks much better today.  Hopefully that will be the end of that.

I can't believe how fast they are changing - and I thought human babies grew fast!  They were a few days old when we got them, so they had a few feathers on their wings, but now some of them have almost all of their wings feathered, and they are starting to get tail feathers, too.  That looks pretty funny, with all the fuzz!

The bunny has a new fence.  We only let her out of her hutch when we are outside, but at least it gives her a little mobility.  She doesn't like going back in her hutch at the end of the day, though!

The kids and I planted some seeds in pots last Monday.  Lily has sunflowers up, Rory has a morning glory and some zucchini, and I have cucumbers and tomatoes.  The onions are also coming up in the garden, and today we have asparagus!  We only planted them last year, though, so we won't be able to eat them until at least next year.  (sigh).

We've been having sump pump problems (again).  The pump is working, but the float switch broke.  Therefore, we have been having to go downstairs every hour or two around the clock to turn it on and off.  PAIN!  I had to order a new switch, because the store we got the pump from does not carry replacement parts for it.  It finally came today, and wouldn't you know it, I couldn't get the old one off to put the new one on.  I'll wait for Mike to get home to do that, so I don't strip the screw (one of my talents).  The depressing thing was that I had the part, but still had to run up and down the stairs all day.  Well, I thought of using WD-40, since "if it doesn't move and it should..."  but then I decided to plug the thing in and try it unattached.  It works by turning the pump on and off at the plug, and it has its own cord, so I reasoned that it didn't really have to be attached to the pump to work.  Well, I was right!  Then I had to figure out how to make it tip up when the water got too high.  Well, everyone knows that "if it moves and it shouldn't..." use duct tape!  So, I duct taped it to the side of the sump pump hole (with a whole lot of tape, because it's wet in there and doesn't stick real well).  So, it looks strange, but it's actually working!  Hallelujah!  Now I just have to convince Mike that it really should be put in the right way, as I don't know how long the duct tape will hold.

Rory is back to school today, after having a week off for Easter break.  He's trying to figure out how he can be a fireman, a policeman, and a builder of some sort all at the same time.  I told him he doesn't have to decide on a career quite yet.  He's very concerned about wanting to get a job.  A couple of weeks ago he wanted to be a lawyer, and he's also spent time wanting to be a doctor and a teacher.  Now he's thinking he'll sell eggs.  Maybe we will have enough to sell - who knows?  I guess we'll find out when the hens start laying.  

Random Thoughts

Believe it or not, both kids went to bed tonight with not much fuss.  Lily only cried for a couple of minutes and then fell asleep, and Rory was okay as soon as he got his glass of ice water.  I hardly know what to do with myself!

If any of you have tried to comment on my posts and have not been able to, I think I have the settings fixed so that it will work, now.  If you still want to comment on any of them,  you can get them from the archives if they are not currently showing.

I tried a new grocery store today, called Trader Joe's.  I had expected the prices to be high, but they really weren't.  Most of the items in the store were Trader Joe's brand, and all of them are all natural, which is a good thing.  I try to buy natural products whenever I can, and it was easier knowing that I didn't have to read all of the labels!  I spent more money than I do sometimes at the local store, but I also bought more specialty items than usual, just to try them out.  I had also been very frugal the last couple of weeks, which meant we were out of a whole lot of things, so I had to stock up a bit.  We had some of the food for supper tonight, and it was all quite good!

I think I've decided on a curriculum for Rory for next year.  Geography Matters carries a curriculum called "Paths of Exploration," which uses biographies of different explorers to teach the history and geography of America.  The curriculum basically ties in all the subjects except for math, so that will be helpful.  It is supposed to be for grades 3-5, but they say it can be modified for 2nd and 6th.  I looked at the samples, and I believe Rory will be able to handle most of the third grade work without modification, anyway.

Rory is convinced that the calendar and Punxsutawney Phil are both wrong, and spring is already here.  I'm tempted to agree with him!  It has been warm for the last two days, and most of our snow has melted.  We're both getting the gardening bug.  Rory wants to plant a corn field in the front yard.  We'll see how that works.  Maybe hubby won't be too upset, because it will keep him from having to mow that part!  I don't think Rory knows exactly how difficult it will be to dig up the whole front yard, but maybe it will keep him out of trouble for a while.  We haven't really had good grass there since we had construction done on our house, so it wouldn't be a great loss.  The corn might actually look better.

We are planning to go ice skating with our homeschool group on Monday.  Rory has never been ice skating, and I haven't been for about 20 years, so this should be interesting!  Hopefully neither of us will break anything but our egos.

No one has gotten back up yet, so I am going to take this opportunity to get ready for bed, and actually get some sleep myself!  Good night, all!