6 Nov
Dog Day Gardening
I try to be careful anymore with giving scripture references so as not to take anything out of context, but I found this and thought it pertinant. We complain here about the heat and lack of rain, when we ought to praise God that we aren’t in the shape the folks in Jeremiah were:
“The Word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah concerning the matter of droughts. Judah mourns, and its gates droop. They are black to the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters; they came to the cisterns, and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. Because the ground was cracked, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed; they covered their heads.” Jeremiah 14: 1-4
We bloggers generally like to post the pretty pictures. I decided today to take some of the not so pretty, the garden in August. I can certainly understand the shame of the plowman.
Technically, we’re not really in a drought. It’s just a typical late summer in southern Oklahoma. Despite using some supplemental water, the garden is a shambles. Lord willing, things will begin to cool off a bit in a couple of weeks and there will be rain to nourish a fall garden. We continue to praise God, though, as amidst the carnage there are blessings.
Many of the trees are wilting and shedding their leaves:
The sorghum is tolerating the heat and starting to ripen. In a couple of weeks I’ll harvest all the heads and mow it down. Lord willing it will make a fall comeback and at least provide a little fodder for the rabbits. I’ve seen it do that in the past:
The melons are done in:
The corn was basically a failure, but we are blessed with a few big full ears to provide seed for next year. We always save the seed that makes it through the heat of summer, hoping it to be more hardy and adapted to our climate than the original:
The tomatoes are making it, but the blister bugs have arrived:
The basil isn’t minding the heat too much:
Nor are the Szegedi Giant paprika peppers or the habeneros:
The sweet potatoes are limping along:
The kale is surviving, but the grass in the bed makes me want to cover my head:
And the sunflowers are making the best crop we’ve ever had:
Till next time, Blessings.
Judy
