Whimsy and Woe in the Garden

P1110068

I suppose every garden this side of the New Jerusalem is destined to have both whimsy and woe…

P1110063

I love having a rooster minding the henhouse again…I glance out in the yard and there he is standing sentinel.

P1110065

And freshly potted plants need a spot of whimsy too…

Baby spiders hatching remind me of Charlotte’s Web and I just watch in wonder at their profusion!…

P1110035Baby spiders39

But there I draw the line; a profusion of marauding slimy slugs is somehow not as delightful…

P1110079

Especially here…

P1110075

The potato patch is apparently the place to be:

P1110083

Whoa…hang on!

P1110077

And that’s life in the garden, for now.

–LS

Anticipation

P1100904

Much of the joy of spring is in the anticipation that sprouting things bring…

Life springs up everywhere bringing hope of great beauty and fruitfulness to come..

P1100907

strawberries!

P1100959

plums

P1100949

apples…

P1100913

…a pair of pears

P1100946

and of course, cherries…

P1100953

It is a time too of watching for the ‘foxes’ that can spoil the vineyard just when it is in fullest bloom. Stealthy deer munch unseen on tender cherry leaves.  Caterpillars creep with devastating steadiness.  Slugs search out emerging seedlings.  Grass threatens to choke out the strawberry patch…

There is great hope and great hazard in the springtime, but flowers dance and birds sing blissfully unconcerned… even while the gardener makes her rounds to secure their well-being…

P1100940P1100926P1100936P1100939

This is the delight of spring—this confident anticipation of good things to come.

–LS

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God….And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies…” Rom.8:19-23

‘And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.  But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body…’ I Cor.15:37-8

“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” I Cor.15:49

Seedtime

I have in fact no new pictures this week, but seeing as it is time for the planting of seeds, I thought I would re-post a favorite set of pictures.  If you’re a green thumb and game to do some guessing, please take a stab at what’s what in my macro seed collection.  Pictures are greatly magnified thanks to my very handy husband.  Enjoy!

———————-

OK, so I think seeds are pretty cool. I save them every year in hopes of planting them come spring… pretty cool, but not really very pretty. Well, I had another look this week and Behold what wonders God hath wrought!!

What do you think this is?!

#1

P9295309

No, not a peppercorn. In fact it’s only the size of a pencil point…

Or consider this fleck:

#2

P9295319

A lizard toenail? Or a seed the size of a ground pepper flake?

#3

P9295316

Here we have same color, whole new shapeliness. Again, picture pepper…

Our next candidate may be more familiar–think sweet smelling fragrance but really only a fraction the size of a pea:

#4

P9295331

This one looks like a neighbor, only sleeker and smoother and found in the wild on a very rainy afternoon.

#5

P9295335

But these are getting boring. Now for something completely different, and no, it’s not a seashell!

#6

P9295329

In fact it’s only the size of a pencil eraser in diameter… Can you guess it?

Our next candidate re-seeds itself prolifically in my garden though I continue to save quantities of these pointy seeds just case. They are similar in size to a Grape Nut (or a grape seed for that matter)!

#7

P9295332

#8

P9295337

Here’s an innocuous little fellow, not an avocado though. Think tiny black speck again, like pepper. And it grows in the warmth of the greenhouse with the green peppers. Mmmm…. love the smell.

OK, here’s one I don’t even know. It may be a #2 that snuck it’s way into the wrong bucket but will have to remain a mystery till it shows its stuff… Pretty cool shape anyway.

#9

P9295311

But the scariest one is yet to come, are you ready?

#10

P9295339

Oooo, hairy too! I didn’t see the hairs till magnified. Good thing people grind these up before they eat them! Look carefully and you may recognize this one. It’s roughly the size of a peppercorn…

And last but not least, here’s the one that got us started on this macro-scopic journey. Who’d have known that such a seed, making such an exotic flower and such an ornate pod, would itself be so cool.

#11

P9295267

This one is also edible, seen on muffins, bagels and etc…

Here’s the pod it comes from:

poppy pod

And that’s the collection to date!

Care to guess what’s what? The possibilities (not in the correct order!)  are as follows:

a) Basil

b) Sweet Pea

c) Kale

d) Sweet William

e) Poppy

f) Yellow Lupine

g) Cilantro/Coriander

h) Hollyhock

i) a tall perennial with feathery spikes of purple flowers that I have yet to learn the name of!!

j) the mystery one I have to plant to see if it’s just another #2

k) Swiss Chard!

And just to encourage you to try, there will be a seedy reward for the grand winner who correctly matches the most seeds with their respective plants…

Submit your guesses in the Comment Box at your leisure.
Thanks for playing ( ;

–LS

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” (IICor.9:10,11)