Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Anyone Wanna Swap?...The life and garden of the seed saver.

Are you bad at cutting off spent flower heads?  Has this task been on the bottom of your “needs to be done” list all summer and now you are staring at dead flower heads everywhere.  Take heart!  I’m here with good news!

Enula, my Enulam I have so forsaken thee!

It has been one of those years for me too, but I’m not going to sing the blues about it, NOPE not this gardener!  There is a blessing in those tatty looking flower heads.  You see the truth is this, they little seed factories…and I love seeds because they grow into more plants!

I don't know about you, but I would like some more of that Kale please.

If you are completely OCD about clipping off every spent flower head and yanking out every leafy vegetable before they run to flower, and if you hate to see any plant go to its final resting place…and I’m not talking the compost heap here, then you will not be able to collect seeds from your own garden.  All of this seeming tatty-ness that many of us classify as visual unseemliness is very necessary if our plants are to be allowed to go to seed.  I know, I know; that wasn’t what you wanted to hear, but it is the truth!  Honestly it’s not all that bad once you get used to it.

Go ahead...I dare ya.  Tell me what is not to love about this seed head?

Being a seed saver I’ve learned the value of living with a little “tatty” in the garden.  Personally it has help me, a type-A, “gotta have it show-ready” type of gardener, to actually relax and enjoy the seasonal progress that God intended in the garden and know that I will still live even if I am not “in control” of every leaf and flower.   The other amazing thing I have discovered is that most people, as in 99.9% of people, who visit the garden, really don’t see all the “tatty” that I do.  How that happens I have no clue, but they seem to see right past the tatty and on into the beauty.  I absolutely love that others are blind to what my critiquing eye sees and what a revelation that was for me the first time I experienced it.

Do you see what I see?  Do you see what I see?  A weed, spent blooms, ruining my view, oh I wish I could see like you.

When those spent flowers that never got cut off  completely died and are allowed to finish doing what they are designed to do, they will produce those seeds I keep talking about.

Astrantia major with the promise of...MORE ASTRANTIA MAJOR PLANTS!  WOO HOO!


Some plants will produce a lot of seed, others not so much.  Flowers are the most prolific.  So what you say?  Free plants I say!  And now you ask what happens if you save all that seed?  What on earth are you supposed to do with it if you do not have acreage to plant all that seed on?  WHY SWAP THEM OF COURSE!

Oh, just a few thousand seeds I gathered in yesterday.


Seed swapping has been going on for centuries all over the world.  For some reason we sometimes get the idea that it is new thing...but it is not.  Maybe I’ll write about that sometime but lets get back to business here.  We gardeners swap our seed bounty with each other, hold seed swapping parties, trade through online seed swapping groups and even hand them off to the cashier at the grocery store and total strangers if they’ll take them.

Preparing for a seed swapping party can be a lot of fun!

Honestly, we don’t care as long as someone wants to try growing them and hopefully will be happy with the plants once they are grown.  Now that makes us about as happy as a gardener can get.  This affords us bragging rights that the plants they are growing because...they came from “our” seed that "we" collected.  Oh its not what you think, we are just proud to have sown plants we love into the lives and gardens of others. 

Don't touch that lettuce!  Someone you know might love to have some of that seed!

We learn a lot about plants as we grow new plants from seed. We talk to gardeners who have grown the plants the seed came from and who give us tips that will help in our success in growing it.  This same information we will pass along to the folks we will also share seeds with from these plants.  Another thing, we get to show off what we have accomplished and most all the time, share the lineage of where that plant or plants came from…so and round and round it goes.

Some for me and some for you and some for, oh...whomever.

Basically I guess you could say that we gardeners are a somewhat out of control bunch; a mutual appreciation/admiration society, with a bent towards enabling our gardening addicted friends to continue to practice our common interest while encouraging others to get on board and start gardening too. We are often generous to a fault with what we know, what we grow and love to share with others, especially with other gardeners who also have stuff to share, like all those seeds that they have more of than they can or will ever use.  Most of us are a little bit compulsive about not wasting the seed or maybe its just that we cannot bear to see good seed go to waste, whatever the reason there is a whole lot of seed swapping going on.  How about you, wanna swap?




Friday, August 26, 2011

Eggplant Anxieties

Do you ever have anxiety over not being able to find out why something isn't working or looking the way its supposed to in your garden?  It seems every year there is something in my garden that does it for me.  This year it is the eggplant.  They are actually growing fine but when I went to harvest the ripe ones the other day here is what I discovered on one of them.  It had me stumped.

Cracked netted skin...what???  How did this happen?


If you find these kinds of things going on the smartest thing to do is to find out why.  There is always a reason why.  Sometimes its important, sometimes it's not a big deal.  This I found out was because of watering issues.  I'm not very good sometimes at being as disciplined as I need to.

I looked all the places I thought would have the answers...Master Gardener sites...University pages...etc and with no luck.   Finally I asked my good pals at the Gardenaholics Anonymous group on Facebook and of course they new exactly what it was explained what happened.  Honestly, it is a little frustrating for me when I can't find my answers on line when I do a search on my own...but that is why I keep my gardening pals close at hand...they are such a wealth of information.  (Thanks everybody!...You know who you are!)

It doesn't help that I have two plants in a container that I KNEW was going to be a challenge to keep watered.  I made my own grief on this one.  Well...as my momma always said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."  So now I am going to have to stay on top of the watering or figure out a way to get it planted in the ground without setting it back.  I think I'll cut my losses and just keep the hose primed.  Now if I can just remember to use it.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

It's So Unfair!

There is just no other way to say it; every year I work hard, I strive to water, feed and watch carefully.  And then look at what happens!

My only turnip...food for root maggots.

Now granted, I did not sow these seeds, at least I didn't that I remember, though I have been known to regularly toss old seeds out in the compost heap so in essence I guess I did.   There were originally two of them, one wasn't so hot looking but this one...oh I had high hopes for.  It was gorgeous!  The tops looked fabulous and my mouth was watering.  I couldn't stand it any longer and yesterday I pulled this beauty up and what I found, well it wasn't pretty.  The root maggots had beat me to it.

This is what they got.
This is what we got.  Sad isn't it?

Confession: This  is what I hate about gardening.  Most of gardening I like or at least will do because it is needed in order to get a certain result, but this kind of thing is discouraging.  I mean, I only had two turnips!  Couldn't the darn flies go lay their stupid eggs somewhere else.  Really guys, can' ya give me a break!

Dirty little scoundrel!

Now yer lookin' more like the maggot you are!!!

Normally you won't see me growing turnips, radishes and other crops that are affected by these insidious creatures.  I've tried and I hate that I never seem to get the row cover on at the right time or forget to put in on all together...or think, "Maybe this year I won't have to."...that never ends well.  In all honestly, I'd rather buy my root crops at the market and not have to fuss with the root maggots.  So all I can say about this whole turnip growing thing for this year...Oh well, it was worth a try.

Happy Gardening!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

When It Makes No Sense

Life makes no sense sometimes...probably more times than I want to admit, though most of the time what seems crazy doesn't really matter and is nothing more than a glitch or a bump in the road and life goes on without a hitch.  However, yesterday I received news in a phone call that shook me...news that I am still trying to process.

Like two colors of flowers on the same plant a lot of life seems to make no sense.

I was just getting ready to hit the door and do some grocery shopping when the pastor of my church called.  "Hi Patty" he said in his normal fashion.  "Hi John. What's up Pastor?" I replied.  "I am afraid I have some bad news." he said.  I was already imagining that one of our elder members had passed away and was prepared to hear the news, but what he said next sent my mind into a spiral and my heart broke in to shards like a glass jar cast onto a stone floor...."Hotaru took his own life Sunday evening" .  It hit me so hard I had to sit down.  To put how shocking this was to me into perspective for you, when my brother phoned to tell me my sixty nine year old father died I took the news standing up.  He was older, I was seemingly somewhat more prepared for that news, but this, this came out of nowhere.



Always loving to be in the picture, a life now lost


Hotaru was a young man, full of life and strength and spirit, who loved to sing and play is "giter" (guitar).  He was the kind of person who lit up a room with his smile.  We loved him, his passion, his ability to share his heart with us and his burden for his Japan, his silliness (yes it was a gift to us).  I can still hear his "Hello Pattyee!" as we greeted one another and his huge smile that it seems, too well hid the demons that haunted him.


Hotaru was student, studying to become a pastor in who hopes of returning to his native Japan to serve as a pastor to the people he loved most.  My pastor and his family have known each other for many years and Hotaru was a part of our fellowship and we watched over him like a son.  We had seen him walk through some deep emotional times but always rise again to a place of hope and faith.  What we could not see that somewhere in the recesses of his mind despair had laid a foothold somehow but it seems we may never know what that was as he left us no parting note, no message to explain what he was thinking. 

Upon hearing the news I felt numb and shaken at the same time, my mind running at warp speed to try and wrap this up in some tidy understandable package...but there was no tidying this up, no understanding why; it made no sense! How were we to ever know when he did not appear to be in trouble but seemed to be doing well?  Over and over again I am looking at what he did that was so different this time from previous times that would have sent a signal that we somehow missed...that flag of help we missed.

His family is flying in from Japan and will be here for the next few days to gather their son and take him home.  They will be with us this Sunday and I long to see them, to let them know how I grieve with them and how I too loved their son.  O how my mother's heart grieves for his mother as I too have a son and cannot imagine such a thing happening.  I weep deeply for her, for her loss and with his entire family.  I weep for his father who had such hope for his son who was following in his footsteps willingly and passionately...and for his sister who has lost the companionship of her brother.  How painful this must be.

How are we to ever reconcile in our hearts and minds I don't fully know.  We may never be able to as there is no note and no clear clue left behind.  How does a mother, father, brothers or sisters, friends or others make sense of any of this?  For me personally I have only one thing I can cling to...that God is the only one besides Hotaru that knows what happened and why.  For me this is enough and is helping me to realize I cannot feel guilty for things hidden from my eyes.  That may sound rather cut and dried but it is the truth that I know that guards my heart from displacing guilt onto my shoulders when there is non for me to carry. 

Where is the sense in this thing?

The enemy of my faith would love to have me feel guilty, but I refuse to listen.  My sweet brother in Christ hid away from us all that which would make us otherwise accountable.  So I will instead stand with the psalmist David in trusting in my God whose ways are not like the ways of man...and who somehow brings good out of very ugly situations over and over again.  David writes in Psalm 27:13 "I would have despaired unless I had believed I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living."  A confession of faith in the One who never changes, who knows the number of our days, who sees all things hidden...who knows the true intention of the heart of a man and who will not share his glory with another.

So often blame is laid on God for things that bring us pain.  He may have foreknowledge of things that will happen but that does not mean it pleases him that they do happen.  He grieves for those lost, for the mother in her pain, the father as he casts his last glance upon the face of his beloved son.

His blessings are found in the midst of the storm

A few years ago I penned some lyrics in a song about life..."You see life isn't easy, you see life isn't fair"...this truly seems to be most unfair for those of us left behind.  However, I am reminded that God's economy is not like mine, like ours.  There is no "fair" as we define fairness in God's economy.  He does things his way, uses things we think impossibly horrid and produces immeasurable blessing in our lives.  I have seen it in my own life over and over and over again as I walked through things I never dreamed I would have to endure.

Laura Story wrote a song that has great comfort in its lyrics and become one of my favorites as it speaks so well of this love God has and His blessings wrought out of great trials.  We so often look at trials as anything but blessings when often they are God's greatest blessing to us causing us to draw us nearer to Him and what could be better than that?.  I pray this unimaginable thing we have born witness to will do the same for Hotaru's family and all who knew Hotaru, and for his Japan.

Rest in peace my Brother...I miss you.
Blessings, by Laura Story


Saturday, August 13, 2011

Orchid Mania and Ludisia discolor

Do you like Orchids?  If not, have you ever wondered why so many people do?  I had to ask myself that question a couple years ago and found some interesting reasons for my seeming disinterest in them.  When it came to Orchids, I confess, I was ignorant by choice and held to the attitude that they are hard to grow and people who like them are crazy.  I was being an all out plant snob about it and boy was I in for a surprise.


Now this is just wrong...blue dye?  I was having a hard enough time.

Orchids were a bit too prissy for my taste, all the big flowers that looked, well, gaudy. Other than the species that produces the vanilla bean they seemed to have no real value to me.  I was always poo pooing those who sang their praises, oblivious of what they saw, but again...I never bothered to look at what it was that made them fascinating to others.  To be honest, I think it was the whole mania thing that turned me off.  But then who was I to even think that? I am that way a little about herbs and growing veggies...seems we all have our weaknesses.

Love me...love me...love me...

Another hurdle for me was that Orchids are houseplants and houseplants are not really my thing.  If you are a houseplant, you are pretty much on your own, so why would I ever want a fussy Orchid.  Besides they are expensive and I am a budget mined shopper...I have my standards when it comes to money and plants.  I was not going to pour my money down that rat hole for Orchids.

Then I began secretly wanting to try them, just to see if I could grow them...a true plant addicts weakness...but kept shying away because I did not see anything that really captured my interest enough to push me over the edge.  I was such a snob! I began looking for bonus buy plants on the clearance racks not wanting to dish out the real money for "them".  (Don't mock me...I know you do it too or your wouldn't be laughing right now!)

My first Orchid and I'm so proud!

As fate would have it I was destined to own an Orchid in spite of my resistance.  A GardenWeb forum pal, Travis, gifted me with my first Orchid at a plant swap I was hosting.   It was a start from his Ludisia discolor, an Orchid he assured me would be easy to grow.  When I saw it I didn't even recognize it as an Orchid.  I had no idea they could even look like this one did...all moody with dark green velvet leaves and stylish red pinstripes.  It really got to me and I realized I had been so snobbish I didn't really know what it means to be an Orchid.

Velvet green leaves with pinstripes and a budding stem emerging.  JOY JOY JOY!

Wow, was I hooked!  My stony heart melted into a puddle of Orchid addict goo and I couldn't take my eyes off of my new little plant.  I was in love and the last thing I ever imagined happening started to take root in me...I was becoming one of "them", an Orchid lover.  What a fabulous little plant, so unlike other Orchids I had seen.  It wasn't a fussy little pile of leaves in a pot.  It had a trailing habit and looked more like "Wandering Jew" houseplant.  That meant if no one asked I wouldn't have to tell what it either.  I was safe from ridicule of those, who like myself, were clueless as to what all the fuss was about!

I remember my first year as an Orchid mother.  I loved doting on my new baby, setting it up next to the kitchen sink where I would give it little drinks of water when I would get one for myself; making sure it was getting good diffused sunlight, talking to it...well more like cooing over it.  I even purchased two kinds of fertilizer, a pretty Orchid pot and Orchid bark to plant it in.

Travis had told me it probably wouldn't bloom that first year so I wasn't surprised when it did not.  But that second year when it did I was even more over the moon than ever before, even calling my garden gal pals to report the happy event. (I didn't have Facebook back then)

The flowers were surprisingly small and so delicate, so pure, so precious...so perfect; it was as if their goal and purpose for being was to draw me in, steal my heart and seal my fate as another fallen conquest, smitten by their beauty.  Such sneaky little flowers, evil little plant...look what they have done to me!  How does such a thing happen?  They somehow changed me and now I cannot look at an Orchid but what I long to be close to it!
Such sweet faces...sigh.

My mania for Orchids became painfully apparent when I worked for a local department store garden center the spring following my plant's first bloom.  Orchids really hit our flowering plant market here big time in Oregon that spring.  There was no way I could walk past the Orchids displayed at work without drooling over way too many of them.  It was pure unadulterated Orchid lust.  Even sitting here as I'm writing this I am thinking about the different ones I really liked and that if I get the chance to purchase them at a good price I will do it without blinking!  I have become pathetically enamored with them...and I am enjoying every minute of it.

Why the leaves have red pinstripes.

One of the reasons I think I've done so well with my little Ludisia discolor Orchid is that I have it right next to my kitchen sink where I see it all the time and won't forget about it like I do so many other houseplants. It gets sufficient humidity, bright diffused light all year long in this spot too and I can slip it a sip of water when I get a drink, a good thing since I am pathetically remiss at remembering to water plants indoors.  This kind of happy accident of the perfect plant and perfect location I have been thankful for since I received it...and thankful that I met Travis who was so generous as to share this little gem with me.

Perfect delicate little flowers in white and yellow to cheer my sunny window.

I have decided the first time it bloomed was just dumb luck for me as the next year it did nothing again.  And after that year's bust I determined to learn what it needed in order get a bloom.  I didn't follow the information I read to the letter but went a little more by feel on the watering and with a little fertilizer, it worked!  That was so easy and I'm so happy!

I think we need a different container here.  This little guy is really going crazy!

My little Orchid has done so well it is now in need of re-potting.  See all those little sprouts emerging out the sides of the orchid pot and those holes will eventually choke its little branches before they get large enough to bloom.  Looks like a good opportunity to take starts to give as gifts...more research needed here for the best timing on that one though.  I would hate to lose a good little plant like this Orchid.  Now who do I know that needs an Orchid?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Oregon Grape Harvest Time Is Here!

Unassuming native fruit, Oregon Grape (Mahonia nervousa)

Can you remember the first time you tasted wild fruit?  For me it is as if it happened an hour ago.  When we first moved to Oregon we lived just south of Portland near a swimming hole called "Wally's Dam"...a place my brother and I lived at during the warm summer months.  To get to Wally's, we had to walk across our neighbor's horse pasture and through the lush woods beyond, down into a hollow where the creek was and this beloved swimming hole. 

I always loved this walk through the woods and remember this one time in particular that Mom and Dad walked with my brother and I.  Mom stopped before we got to far into the woods and bent over to pick some fruit she saw and was wondering if it was edible.  Dad, who was a bit of a plant geek it seems, somewhere along the line had researched the plant and shared with us that it was Oregon Grape, our state flower and the fruit was edible.  He bent over and picked one for each of us to try.  That fruit was the most sour thing I had ever tasted and I quickly spit it out.  The next time I remember tasting it was a far different experience and at the county fair where someone had made some Oregon Grape jam for folks to try on crackers.  My curiosity got the best of me, I took one bite and was hooked for life.

Since that time, Oregon Grape has become one of my favorite berries for preserving, I think in part because it is unusual but also because it is really good.  Most of the people I know aren't even aware its edible...a good thing for those of us who do I suppose.  It also happens to be a very healthful thing to eat too as it is full of antioxidants.  Our regional Indian tribes have used it as medicine for centuries and that is probably where the settlers learned about it I imagine.

Native to our region, drought tolerant, disease and pest resistant and free fruit.  Gotta love it

Last year I was so disappointed when my dear, wonderful, and handy husband got in one of his tidying moods and cut down the plant (above) that grows along our fence line while it was in full bloom, ruining the prospects of harvesting for that year. What is with men and loppers anyway?  They seem to get them in their hands and loose all manner of common sense.  Enough of the ranting questions...where was I?

This year I watched our plant like a hawk and guarding it like a momma bear, threatening him with bodily harm if he even looked like he was thinking about pruning it.  He must have gotten the message because I heard him the other day telling our neighbor's four year old not to pick the fruit.  (Thank you Honey!)

Little points on those shiny leaves spell OUCH!

The fruit was ready to pick today finally.  I began to harvest it and was quickly reminded it is a good idea to wear gloves after getting pricked by the leaves a couple of times.  The leaves are similar to Holly (Ilex aquafolium) with pin-like points on the edges which are no fun to run into and worse if the leaves are crispy dry.  They are not quite as bad as Holly but still, its good to wear gloves.

These gloves are a little clunky in the fingertips but they protected my hands from getting poked by the leaves
Fruiting stems ringed the branches which are bend easily without breaking making harvesting very easy.


I decided to grab my grape scissors while I was at it so I could snip off the fruiting stems instead of trying to strip the fruit off of each one with chubby glove covered fingers...trying to strip stems of fruit with leather gloves on is only asking for frustration.  To harvest the fruit I bend the branches over so the fruit falls into a paper bag on the ground beneath.  This made the work go very quickly and in no time at all I was finished and headed back inside to finish up.

A nice little pile of fruit for my trouble


This fruit strips off the stem easily and the other nice thing is the little stems on each fruit also fall off easily making cleaning a breeze.  It only took a couple minutes to clean and wash the three cups I had gathered from our bush.

Treasured fruit

The Indians in the Pacific Northwest used the fruit of Oregon Grape as a medicine for colds and other ailments.  It actually is an antioxident powerhouse and is an herbal remedy even still today.  Even if that weren't so the fruit is worth processing and it makes a wonderful preserved product and goes well with wild game, pork and fish...especially salmon.

Washed and cleaned of debri, into a pot with 1 cup of water they go

To process them I just clean them of debris, rinsing them well in a collander, drain them and put them in a heavy bottomed sauce pan with 1 cup of water.  Bring this to a boil for about 10 minutes or so.


Plump and juicy with skins sliding off...hope your arm is warmed up.


A whole lot of pressing going on and oh the goodness!

To strain the fruit and get the seeds out just place a wire colander over a sturdy bowl and pour cooked fruit into it.  Press the fruit with the back of a sturdy spoon, pushing the fruit through the mesh and leaving the seeds behind.  It helps to scrape the sides often.  The seeds are good sized, easy to see and won't push through the wire mesh.

It yielded about 3 cups of fruit with fine pulp.  Next I returned the fruity goodness to the sauce pan and add 2 cups (or more) of sugar and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to the fruit and bring it back to a boil to melt the sugar and reduce the liquid a bit.  At this point it can be made into syrup or jam or strained through a through cheese cloth got making into jelly.  The jelly and jam are wonderful on crackers with a little cream cheese.  However, we happen to like it best as syrup over pancakes or waffles...or ice cream so all I have to do is thicken it a bit when we are ready to use it.  Once the fruit cools I'll put it into cartons to freeze.  There now wasn't that easy?


Copyright © 2011 by Patty Hicks
All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All reviews must include author's name and a link back to this blog.


Friday, August 5, 2011

Gathering A Scarecrow

The other day I walked into a thrift shop to do some creative dreaming and was surprised to find so many things in one spot that I could use.

Bodice, hat and hands all at one store.

Antique tin light collars, a belt with a very cool buckle, sweet beads and pink lace.

It wasn't until today when I found this pink lace that the vision of this repurposed scarecrow really came into focus.  Then I found a whole roll of burlap!  I love burlap...

This will make a nice rustic statement with the lace.


Only a little bit more to find and she will be ready to great you.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

What's Next?

It is a busy season in my vegetable garden, a season of feasting and watching and waiting

As I was thinking about my garden this morning I was reminded how life is always in transition, just like the garden.  It is never static, always changing, things dying, things growing, doors opening, closing, no pauses, no rewinding.  What happens in the past affects the future trajectory of one's life, just as the work one does in the garden impacts it's future outcome each season.

I love that the earth uses what it has and the things that grow are a representation of that the particular climate and that particular soil in that particular spot and there is such great diversity.  Not all plants grow in compacted clay or sandy soils, not all plants appreciate hummus rich soil either and not all plants grow in cold or warm climates. Nor are the seasons alike from year to year. Every season in my working career is different, with new challenges providing that place that will bring out in me what I need for my future, just the way our gardens progress as they mature.

Each portion of this plant serves a purpose in its season, roots, leaves, flowers, fruit and finally seed.

Every job has it's unique atmosphere or climate to facilitate specific growth for that season.  Being able to recognize what that is exactly may not always be immediately evident and is almost impossible to see if we are bound up in holding on to what we need to let go of in order to grow.  Whether we are able to see it or not does not mean nothing is happening...actually that is when a lot is happening that will facilitate our prospering in our next big growth spurt.

In the garden in winter the roots are still alive, things are happening but we cannot see them, they are growing, extending deeper, wider to be able to take up more nutrients and to support a bigger plant next growing season.  When spring comes and new growth burst forth the plant with these stronger roots can now support the plant as it burgeons forth, flowers and produces fruit for the harvest.  Had we only been looking to what we could see we would miss blessings found only in winter of rest, contemplation, evaluation and planning for the next season.

A fruit for every season and I am waiting for this Trombocino (AKA Zuchetta) Squash to get big enough to eat.

If there is one thing gardening has taught me it is that patience is a most important quality trait for a gardener to have. I may not get to reap the harvest even though I am hungry for it now...but I can wait.  Being able to wait until it is just the right time before biting into that fruit we see on our tree will be far more satisfying than a little instant gratification now.  Those who are impatient do not gain the rich reward of eating the sweet fruit as it is for those who have learned it is far better to wait.  Which are you?

Every year there are containers of plants gone unplanted.  If I had properly discerned this future I now live I would have given them away.

For me another element that impacts what comes next is not what "I think" needs to be done next, but what God wants done next.  Until a few years ago I was constantly running headlong into trouble doing way too much and trusting God too little giving myself a really good case of burnout.  So today I welcome this season with open arms.


Copyright © 2011 by Patty Hicks
All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All reviews must include author's name and a link back to this blog.