Carrots Love Tomatoes

I have been doing a lot of gardening lately, but not much blogging.  In fact it has been weeks since I have written about my newest adventure.  Since my last post, many seeds have sprouted, plants have been set in the ground and many, many, many weeds have been pulled. What was once a patch of dirt is now a neighborhood of tomatoes, carrots, onions, okra, eggplant, peppers, beans, cucumbers and squash.  The corn is sprouting and the potato plants are blooming.  A diversity of vegetables has quickly emerged from the rich, brown earth.  My garden is its own little community!

I learned when I was planning out the rows of my garden that plants are like companions.  Certain plants assist each other to grow well by discouraging pests and diseases.  Likewise, some plants are antagonized by the proximity of others.  Beans benefit most everything but onions.  Eggplant and okra are supposed to promote one another’s growth, although the eggplant in my garden have been afflicted by flea beetles. Carrots love tomatoes, however cabbage and tomatoes do not get along well with one another.  In fact, tomatoes dislike peppers and corn, too!  I have read that wild plants (aka weeds) play a vital role in the community.  When I cannot spend enough time in the garden to remove them all, it helps to know that some have properties, known as green manure, that contribute to the condition of the soil.  I find it interesting that even in the plant world, diversity is marked with beauty and challenge.  

This week, as I read the Creation Story in Genesis, I am reminded that “God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’  And it was so.  The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with seed in it.  And God saw that it was good.”  (Genesis 1:11-12, NRSV) This summer I am privileged to watch the growing cycle and the continuation of God’s good, creative activity; the earth bringing forth vegetation from the soil in the little patch where my vegetables grow. As I tend the garden...weeding and watering, staking and mulching...when I am on my hands and knees...with the bees buzzing in my ears...I am humbled to care for God’s creation and grateful for its yield.

(Harvest Report: We have been eating the first crop of radishes for a few weeks now in salads and on sandwiches. Yesterday I harvested the arugula.  Arugula with fresh blackberries and crumbled blue cheese with a fig vinaigrette is on the menu tonight.  Tomorrow, I think it will get tossed with roasted tomatoes, garlic and pasta...)