Saturday, January 30, 2010

For Truly Curious Green Thumbs…

Our plants do have roots...
 
And this is what it looks like when you dig up a seed to ask it why it hasn’t germinated yet! :o)


On the subject of thinning, (a truly painful topic for the short sighted gardener)…

We were just recently in a Bible study discussing the verses in Colossians chapter 2, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." We talked about the truly agrarian nature of the simile.... What does this very literally look like in the growth of a seedling?

If a seedling is poorly nourished, the soil being depleted, the plant will develop an extremely minimal root system and in order to conserve energy it will rarely if ever put out it’s true leaves, thereby remaining an immature seedling that will live for years(literally years; firsthand experience in that area) at a relatively unchanged level.

If a seedling is not given sufficient light exposure it begins etiolating; growing very few leaves but continuing to grow in a thin line upwards until it eventually drops to the side and continues to grow sideways across the floor.  This has happened to us several years, including the year we planted our tomato seedlings with their stems buried sideways and then twisted them upwards out of the soil at the top.

Often when choosing between two seedlings during the thinning process, we choose the seedling with the sturdiest stem and broadest leaf spread because this suggests an excellent root system and a less susceptible plant life. A seedling that grows in a thin tall burst will be more likely to die in the hardening process but a seedling that in time puts on vibrant green foliage over its thick sturdy stem will be able to handle drought and wind by only growing stronger!

That may be a lot of information for you non-green thumbs, :o) but how comparable this is to our own rooting and building system! Without the nourishment of the Scriptures and the light of Christ we too grow weak and produce poor fruit.

So tell me,which is stronger?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Miracle of Germination...


“You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it.” Psalm 65:9

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ~Genesis 1:11-12

 “To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass…” Job 38:27

 “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man, That he may bring forth food from the earth,” Psalm 104:14

2 Samuel 23:3-4 “ ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, Like the tender grass springing out of the earth, By clear shining after rain.’”

“Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together. I, the LORD, have created it.” Isaiah 45:8

 Though I have seen it thousands of times, a tiny vibrant green spire of growth twisting itself out from beneath a weight of soil never fails to astonish me with its mysterious constancy. Surely the beauty of what we do see is accounted for doubly by the invisible process we do not see. And despite the advances of scientific observation much of the process still remains a Divine mystery. As one scientist put it: “We understand the kitchen… We can see the toaster, the oven and the eggs and ham but that still doesn’t make breakfast!” In other words we understand how the outer coating of the seed is moistened, becoming malleable, allowing the endosperm to swell sending chemical messages to the germ. We know what hormones act to bring the seed out of its protective casing seeking light above, and yet that still doesn’t make breakfast. We know the ingredients of life but the actual process, the initial stigma that causes the life, not merely the proper environment but the actual initialization of life itself remains an utterly unsolvable mystery apart from a Divine Creator; a mystery that dozens of so-called authors and scientists have attempted and failed to explain, like Mary Shelley's fictional Dr. Frankenstein. It is indeed a miracle to witness the germination of a seed. As someone once said, “Anyone can count the seeds in an apple but only God can count the apples in a seed.”

Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,” and 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”

His invisible attributes are clearly seen…by the things that are made, and yet we see but through a mirror dimly compared to what we shall see hereafter!

“The works of the LORD are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them.” Psalm 111:2

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Spring is Come!

Six Arrows Farm is pleased to announce that despite evidence to the contrary Spring is come! In January, in Minnesota of all places! Well, almost….


Though we are still buried in mounds of white and we are supposed to be resting from garden work, some of us have an unresting green thumb that refuses to be stifled. Perhaps we come from equatorial descent… Whatever the case there are certain places in the dry warmth of winter where dwelleth a perpetual Spring, (i.e. wherever there is a south-facing window). We have an experiment with gourd seeds some of which were harvested from a hybrid plant and germinated at 72%, we have a rare greens garden, several other test plots for germination percentages, a forest of chives and various other long season perennial herbs getting a “head start”. Really, they need a head start.  :o)