A time to Plant

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted...

So I said I would be updating the garden story and the season is almost over so here goes, in a series of posts.


First, our black soil is wonderful...and nasty. It is very thick, heavy clay, sometimes called gumbo. If you try to dig in it when it is wet, you will spend as much time scraping the mud off the shovel as you do digging. If you walk on it when it is wet it will stick to your shoes and you will grow taller and taller as you walk. If you let it get dry in the Texas summer heat, it gets great cracks in the soil, wide enough for a child's foot/leg to fall into, and it gets as hard as brick. There is about a 4 hour window that the moisture content is just perfect for working.

Every year we add organic material to the soil. We've used compost, horse, rabbit and chicken manure, rotted hay, pete moss, etc. Our land used to be a cotton farm, and for all it's foibles, it is very fertile.

As we had left the garden to rest for the previous two years, it takes lots of digging to prepare for a crop. Here Jordan tills the soil the old fashioned way, with some help from mom.

Notice the pan of potatoes that we planted. The red variety don't seem to grow as well but we sure do like them. Nothing like Red 'new potatoes' for supper.

I know sports teaches the concept of teamwork, but there is something different about family teamwork...there just is. One of the neat things about this project was that every day we worked in the garden was just another "take you kid to work day" for us. They get to see, touch, smell, and taste (literally) what they hear us say about hard work and it paying off.

After a few hours work, Jacob is ready to plant the Broccoli. He learned how to dig the hole, mix in compost, and gently pack the soil around the roots. You can tell by the jackets that is was a bit chilly that afternoon in North Texas. Do you think he'll sleep well tonight?

As you can see we got to spend some quality time together digging in the dirt...

Do you think anything will grow?