Starting small

 What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

It isn't that I haven't been doing anything in the garden...it's that I haven't been writing about it. Among other things, we completely reworked the drip irrigation system this summer to what will hopefully be a more effective and water-efficient plan. We harvested massive quantities of tomatoes in the early part of the summer, and an amazing number of eggplant this fall from only one six-pack of transplants, and I've tried growing some things I've never tried before. I've put up some rather impressive amounts of our produce, and tried some interesting recipes. Although I've frequently thought about writing, I've managed to also find various excuses not to do so. Either I couldn't come up with a good philosophical observation relating life to gardening, or I couldn't think up a clever title for the post, or I was just plain lazy. So today I decided to start small, and post about what I did today, even if is rather mundane.

Today I decided to tackle a neglected part of the garden which has been overtaken by the Mexican primrose I planted as a drought-tolerant border along a fence well before we converted the backyard to raised beds. I wish I had never planted the stuff...it spreads by stolons, seeds, and runners, and is as impossible to eradicate as Bermuda grass...but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I pulled up plants and used a spading fork to turn over the soil in an area of about five square feet, and pulled out as many of the roots and stolens as I could. Now I'm considering what to plant there.

Only a small thing....but small things add up over time. So it's a start.