Light in Goshen: Chapter 4 - Plant Gardens and Eat the Fruit

Our series continues.

"This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 'Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce." Jeremiah 29:4-5, Holy Bible

But,... how do you plant a garden?

And, how do you do it if you live in an apartment?

And, once something grows, how do we prepare it so that we will be able to have it for food?

Interestly enough, earlier generations were well familiar with the "How TOs" of gardening. And, throughout the Holy Bible, the idea of sowing and reaping appear. I have a special treat for some who perhaps didn't have the opportunity to see a much earlier post of the overall activity of "Victory" gardens of days gone by. I will replay that link in todays entry. But first, lets find out exactly how to plant a garden.

The steps to gardening are presented in How to Organize Everything by Peter Walsh, (New York: Free Press, 2004) ISBN: 0-7432-5494-5

On page 106 and 107, instructions are presented for planting [1] a vegetable garden, [2] a kitchen herb garden. Other types of gardens are presented in Walsh's book, but these are the two that will give us something to eat.

A Vegetable Garden has only 8 steps, the herb garden has 4. You can get that book or visit "How To" videos on the web.

You can also see these steps condensed on the web if you visit:

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-start-a-vegetable-garden.htm

Once you grow a potato[should you do so], look what you can do with it.


Roast & Oven Bake:
Quick And Healthy Mashed Potato Recipe

But, again, How do you plant a garden if you live in an apartment or dormitory?For that bit of information, I call your attention to the work of Mel Bartholomew---All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More with Less Space. Bartholomew popularized the idea of "Square Foot" gardening years ago and published the book I just mentioned in 2007. The garden space is 4ft by 4ft with Mel's approach. If you don't have that much room, there is another way. A related approach would be gardening through the use of a series of pots well situation to capture the required sunlight. http://www.gardenguides.com/686-guide-container-gardening-2.html

Amazingly enough, it is possible to grow not only herbs but also the following inside: tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, peppers, and other vegetables. Of course, the larger plants [corn is given as an example] are not generally grown inside, due to space restrictions. Read more: Indoor Growing for Vegetables & Herbs | Garden Guides http://www.gardenguides.com/131860-indoor-growing-vegetables-amp-herbs/#ixzz12wwsavwQ.

What do you do once you grow the food?

Well, I discovered a wonderful book entitled, Make Your Own Groceries by Daphne Metaxas Hartwig. But, even if you can get a hold of this book, you may wish to visit the "How to" Videos available on the web that can give you the same information if you look for it. I say that because many of the younger folks among us may have never considered the fact that it is possible to make:

breakfast cereals
salad dressings
baby foods
pickles
relishes
jams & preserves

And, while you are at it, you can make your own cleaning and beauty supplies, if you want to.

But, back to food.

To get you interested, I have posted a delightful link on how to make strawberry preserves. Now, you may not have grown the strawberries due to your just now considering the possibility, but you could visit a farm [or by now, harvest time, the farmers market] and for a relatively small expense you could pick and then prepare the strawberries and make enough preserves to last an entire year. If you are in a community of believers, you may wish to specialize in growing certain vegetables or fruits and then at harvest time exchange produce and can what you need. Just a thought. Anyway, here is the link. Enjoy!


Strawberry

Isn't it good to know that we can plant, and God brings the increase. This is the message not only with food, but with the spiritual food of the Gospel.

And, we do reap what we sow, many times more than we sow.
AMEN!
---Livvy McDonald :)<><
To see the videos, Click Here.

My Postscript

There are a lot of spiritual lessons to be gained from tending a garden.
Here is our trip into history. I remember this.
To God be the glory for He Alone is the
"Bread" of life that brings the Victory.