Proverbs 31:16 & Our Garden

- Pro 31:16 -		Proverbs 31:16 "She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard." (ESV) The small, raised garden bed that my husband Chase and I constructed with the help of our dear friends Molly Duncan and George Sleezer is no vineyard. It's about 32 square feet. A certain number of seeds were planted in each square foot with particular spacing according to the advice of the Square Foot Gardening guru Mel Bartholomew.  We are newbies, and this garden is highly experimental.  Chase and I had the chance to visit with a gardener that gave us some great advice. She said, "If you want to become a better gardener, write down everything you do with your garden this summer - what you planted and when, the type of seed, when it germinated - everything. Take pictures! Then you'll remember what worked and what didn't."  Thus, a blog.  I chose to write a blog rather than keep a notebook because: a) I cannot misplace it. b) I can keep my pictures and scribblings in one place. c) Other gardeners that happen upon it (you, perhaps?) might have experience and advice to share with this humble beginner.  d) Molly has since moved, and I want her to be able to see updates in picture form. :) In the beginning, this garden was a means of developing an inexpensive way to eat more produce and cut down on our grocery bill. After a good dose of reading and research, we finally planted our first garden together. It's been a really fun, common interest that's added to our marriage. No more than a week after planting the garden, I met up with a good friend from church, Mary Kraft, with whom I study Proverbs 31. For those of you that may be unfamiliar with Proverbs 31, it is a chapter of the Bible in which a mother tells her son what to look for in a wife. The woman she describes is a model of how a daughter of Christ should live as a wife, mother and selfless servant of our Father in Heaven. The particular verses that Mary and I discussed that day were Provers 31:16 and 17 (verse 16 is quoted above). The verses go hand-in-hand to describe the work ethic by which this woman lives in order to provide and care for her family. The example used here is her investment in a plot of land (most likely in close proximity to her home) and the planting of a vineyard - a lifelong investment that, if properly cared for, will produce an abundant harvest year after year. What a wise woman! To spend money (the verse indicates that it's the money she has earned on the side and saved up) on an investment that will benefit the good of her family rather than just elevate her on a personal level. It was so eye-opening to study this verse after having just planted a garden. My hope is that through recording what we learn on this blog and continued practice, we can use gardening as a means of bettering and providing for our family. Look for updates!