Every seed-bearing plant...will be yours for food.

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Genesis 1:29


When the dirt warms under the spring sun, and the robins start seriously singing, there is something inside of me that starts to wake up. As the rooster song joins in the bird's chorus, and they start greeting the dawn earlier each day, there is a small seed that starts to sprout in me.

It is planted much earlier, like a wildflower seed, fallen in October on cold, unwelcoming ground. There is nothing inside of me that wants to put my hands in the dirt then. But through the winter months the cold and snow gradually prepare the seed to welcome the spring rains by freezing the hard shell. Sometime in January the small seed starts to thaw and feels the beginnings of the urge. Catalogs full of mouthwatering pictures start arriving, and the blander fare of winter makes the delicious tomatoes and watermelons even more appealing.

In February the seed starts its first growth. Still inside the protection of the seedcase, it starts to swell. Tomato and pepper seeds go into tiny pots, and it is hard to imagine they will ever make it to giant plants bearing hundreds of red fruits.

By early Spring the tiny seed has cracked and the desire to reach out into the warm dirt causes me to start digging. The soil is still cold, but it is welcome ground for potatoes and tiny shriveled pea seeds. I am happiest outside now.

I have been working outside for several hours each day, and I have not showed any of you my progress. :) Our garden is about three times larger then it was last year, and I am determined to keep it growing and producing. It is over 1,550 square feet.

Now that it is starting to grow taller, I just had to brag a little. I am pretty pleased with it. ;)

Planting tomatoes in Jiffy Pellets.




Daddy on the tractor, disking the ground for me.




His audience. Yes, we really do have a weight bench in our yard.... don't ask. Please.




The first rows- peas are going in! CJ in PJs and cowboy boots. :)




Tomato plants, about two weeks old.




Potatoes and peas, around the end of May.




Tomatoes in their buckets, taken today. About 8 weeks from transplanting.




The garden today; one row of peas, four rows of potatoes, four rows of tomatoes. Beyond the edge of the picture there is one row of peas, a row of lettuce and other salad veggies, and two rows of cucurbits. (Winter and Summer squash, cucumbers, melons and watermelons. )