Holidays, Holy Days, and Preparation

We had a work day at Beth Am Messiah in preparation for Sukkot, a.k.a the Feast of Tabernacles.  While we were building a sukkah or booth (tabernacle), I put this young man to work cultivating the cabbages.  It seems the Holy Days have slowed down my blogging, so why not include them in the blog.

There are many things about the Feast of Tabernacles that have nothing to do with gardening.  Sukkot is a reminder that while the children of Israel travelled in the wilderness on their way to the promised land, they dwelt in tent like temporary shelters.  Today's sukkah is supposed to be an impermanent temporary dwelling through whose roof you can see the stars.  In the proper climates, people actually live in them during the 8 day holiday.  Even though there are those who brave the elements in our climate for a part of Sukkot, a home sukkah is used more for dining than anything else.  Our congregational service will be used for services from September 30 at 7:30 to a Congregational (Shemini Atzert/ending service) Harvest Potluck dinner on October 8 at 5:00 PM.



Tomatoes 9-16-12

Brocolli 9-16-12

That's where the garden comes in.  My hope was that we would have so much produce, that we could supply the entire meal or at least most of it from the garden.  Well hope is eternal and there's always next year.  However, we most certainly will have somethings made with cabbage, some things made with tomatoes and/peppers.  We will certainly have a small portion of red potato salad.  God willing we will also have some second crop radishes and lettuce. 


Root Parsely 9-16-12



Late Lettuce 9-11-12

You see the another side of Sukkot is one of its other names.  It is called "The Feast of In-gathering."  The in-gathering is of the harvest.  This biblical feast is upon what the pilgrims patterned Thanksgiving.  In Israel, this is the time of the latter rains, which fall in Autumn.  These point to the in gathering of souls to the Messiah in the end of time through the drenching of the rain of the Ruah/ Spirit of God.

So I invite you to ingather your own harvest and if you are in the area join us for Sukkot.  (But please let us know your coming so we can set another place.)

Puddleglumtoo





Dead Vine - Live Potatoes

Russet Potatoes 9-13-12

Red Potatoes 9-13-12

Potato Plant

I am back to my day job as a teacher and this blog as well as the garden has gotten a bit behind.  Last night with the four helpers we harvested potatoes.  As you can see (below) the vines had died back.  Actually about half the vines died off and we left the ones that were still green for later.  We had planted 3 types of potatoes:  a red, a yellow and Russets.  I had thought that these were the Russets.  If they were, then our Russets did not do so well.  In fact, we may have harvested less than we planted.  On the other hand, the red potatoes did much better - compare the bags.  We planted a total of about 12 and a half pounds of potatoes.  Last night we harvested about half of them.  It was about 11 pounds.  That's nothing to boast about, but since the reds did so well, perhaps we'll concentrate on them next year.



Helper 9-13-12

You know its kind of ironic that you dig up good potatoes from a dead vine.  I can show you a series of pictures of any of our plants, but I never did take the first picture.  The first picture would show the preparation of the seed for burial.  It sounds gruesome,but with potatoes it is even worse.  One guy was instructed to cut the potatoes up, leaving at least one eye in each piece.  This seems awful, but unless it is buried, there will be no plant.  Yeshiva compared our lives to the seed that is buried in the ground.  There is a cost to the seed.

Helpers 9-13-13

There is a cost involved in anything we do.  In gardening we recognize the cost of the seeds, the fertilizer, the stakes for tomatoes and the like, but in fact those are the small costs.  There are larger costs still.  A person can give up a lot of land. That limits the ability to use that land for anything else.  You cannot play Ultimate Frisbee over cucumbers.  Even this is not the largest cost.  Time is another issue, but as they say quality is always better than quantity .  Simply looking at the garden plot is not enough.  ,there are weeds to be pulled.  The garden may need watering.  You must care for a garden at all times.  Perhaps as the weather cools the tomatoes will have to be covered as protection from the frost.

Yeshua said in John 12: ²⁴ I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.  There is cost, but think of the gain. 
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Sharing spinach/chard with black eyed peas at the oneg
Sharing cherry tomatoe salad at the oneg
Peppers, Cucumbers 

*An oneg is a light fellowship meal after a worship service

Cycle of Life

There is a certain cycle of life in a garden.  Quite frankly, most people in these parts, Northeastern USA, tend to let their gardens go in about July.  Because our growing season is about from mid-May to mid-October most don't think that it is worth the effort to put anything more in.

lettuce 8-31-12

Although that has been my attitude in the past, it is not my attitude now.  We had early peas.  After they died off, we put in yellow summer and zucchini squash.  We are just getting the yellow squash now.  As the beets and carrots were pulled we added more plantings of beets.  When we pulled our first group of onions, we added radishes and lettuce.  If everything had worked out well, we would have had second plantings of cabbage and broccoli as well.  However,  we are still awaiting the heading of the broccoli and the complete recovery of both.

Harvested tomatoes and beans
8-31-12

Potato and cucumbers 8-31-12

Some people have been a little anxious about the potatoes.  Some well meaning people thought that we were planting them too late.  Now some of those same people already harvested their potatoes last month.  Well we haven't pulled any yet.  They have to die off at the tops before we dig out the tubers.  We are planning to have a digging "party" when the tops die off.  Just remember, the long they grow, the more and larger tubers will be produced.



Summer Squash
8-31-12

Ecclesiastes 3 says that there is a time for every purpose under heaven.  This blog is going out late because I was caught up in preparing for a Torah service.  Our lives get crowded and sometimes we have to let some things go.  The same is true in both life and a garden.  Currently we are (mostly) in the harvest time around the garden.  Yet, we have still been planting.  When we reach out to others about the Lord, we need to constantly plant seeds of love, grace, and the good news of Yeshua (Jesus).  The growing season is short.  So is life.  Let us be sure that we both sow and reap all that we are able, while we can.
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 Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Beans (for most), Basil, Dill