Five Minute Friday: Garden

(It's really not Friday anymore...) but I still want to write and publish this post...

It's Friday which means Five Minute Friday! and after 3 days of sitting around "snowbound," I'm extremely tired for all this sitting around and doing nothing... although I did actually make a snow angel and did a little sledding today(Friday) with my kids.

We of the #fmfparty crew sometimes get the prompt late on Thursday night. and Lisa-Jo poured out her heart about falling in love with 250 kids in Africa. And how a blogging community could come together and fund a community center for a community in Africa, starting with a "garden."

I tried writing my Five Minute Friday post last night and it just wouldn't come... So I went to bed and then I had two different ideas pop in my head regarding "Garden" so I'm going to see if I can combine them (and maybe take more than 5 minutes) :)

and then life interrupted and I didn't even write for five minutes... and now it's Tuesday night and the "garden" has been fully funded and they are moving on to the next stage, but I still want to write about Gardens...

Last year, I finally attempted a garden, which is funny if you know me, because I really don't like to get my hands dirty. But we went with it... My hubby bought me a book on Square Foot Gardening, he set me up a few boxes and I even bought the special soil mix to make weeds a rare occurrence.

And then I wanted to grow it all! I wanted to grow peppers and green beans and zucchini and lettuce, snap peas and carrots, radishes and even tomatoes... But when you have a square foot garden and you are just getting started and you aren't sure how committed you are going to be, doing it all isn't such a good idea. Nobody liked the radishes, the zucchini took over and killed one of my pepper plants, NONE of my snap peas grew, and I never got around to carrots. The tomatoes were harvested and canned, and we even attempted strawberries that produced a handful of sweet mini bites. And I learned a few new creative ways to use zucchini and I learned that a garden can't really produce well if you take a 2 week leave of absence.

When you want to get involved in serving others and you see all the great ideas and ministries and opportunities, you might be tempted to "do it all" as well. I know that I have been. I feel a pull to donate to this worthy cause and that new cause and this third world country and that big name ministry. I want to do it all. I want to plant everything. I want to give to (almost) every need I see or hear about.

But the truth of the matter is, I can't. I am just one person and I am a part of just one family living on just one income. So maybe I can't respond to each plea by Compassion or World Vision and sponsor children across the globe, and maybe I can't give to every great cause that my blogger friends support and promote.

But I can be a voice and I can pass on the opportunities, and while I missed out on joining the "garden phase" of this giving opportunity, there is still time for YOU to consider supporting this South African Community and joining Lisa-Jo Baker as she uses the gifts God has blessed her with to bless her home town in South Africa.



Would you consider being a part?

Behind the Scenes: My Garden

So, I may be cheating just a little bit in today's Behind the Scenes, but I just have to add more than one photo... Please take note: these are the garden items that are producing, because I can't "SHOW" you the failures, I just have to tell you about them! :)

I am a first year gardener! This is a big deal because I am a girly girl and don't like getting my hands dirty. The biggest thing that has held me back from having a garden is dirt... and weeds! I don't want to have to deal with them. Enter my garden gloves (I used them profusely for the one year we had chickens). I also am kinda lazy, not really a fan of hard work... but when you have four kids, work is a given, so God's working on me in this area.

But back to my garden... some of my successful items are tomatoes and zucchini... but can't just about anybody grow those?  I told my husband the other day that zucchini were a best bet when starting a garden because you just can't kill them, they just keep multiplying! To which he replied, "Doesn't that make them a WEED?" ... isn't he funny?



And tomatoes, I have soo many, but not many red ones!





But in reality, I have no idea what I'm doing. My dear husband bought me the book Square Foot Gardening, and I have been trying to follow that method for the most part. It was a huge investment in dirt and set up, but the good news is there is hardly any weeds!! Even when the garden went unattended during the first 2 weeks of July when my life followed God's plan instead of my plan.

Another tiny success in my garden is the strawberries... they are supposed to be "ever-producing" or something like that! My daughter, who has been begging for a garden for some time now (years) also begged for strawberries, so these were planted for her.  But the behind the scenes is the birds that I love so much were caught picking at them the other day! I'm not sure how much fruit WE will enjoy from this plant, but it was still fun... and I *think* they come back every year, so who knows!



And then, Watermelon... also one of those, "I doubt they will work, but we will try it" plants! and they are growing and there are at least 4 of them already and lots more flowers, so I might even have some to give away!!



What I'm not showing you are the pea plants that never happened, the green beans that have maybe THREE beans hanging, the lettuce that bolted, and the pepper plant that is being crowded by the weeds... I mean, zucchini! I also have some pathetic looking grape tomato plants that I'm still holding out hope for!!

By the way, since I took these photos last week, the watermelon has almost tripled in size, I found 2 tomatoes actually turning red and fresh strawberries that have NOT been pecked... yet!

Community Conversation: Do you have a garden? What are your favorite plants? Any gardening advice for this newbie? 

This Moment: Grilled Veggies

{this moment}

A Friday ritual (on Saturday). A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

inspired by Soule Mama

Community Conversation: How does your garden grow? Do you have a garden? What veggies do you like to grill?