i like your face.: The Garden (and a few thoughts on "Creation care")

These last couple of months have been difficult and draining, and I have intended to write about some of those hard things here in this space, but I haven't been able to find the strength, much less a quiet moment to sit down and put thoughts into words. We lost Mimi, and then Grandad, and in between, the Pierces lost Janet (a long time family friend). The due date of our miscarriage has come and gone, and that was a significantly harder time than I expected. Death is hard, and it's meant to be hard because we were not created to experience it.

All that is to say, perhaps I am going to just do an easy post on something that is bringing our home a lot of joy these days: our garden! The church that we have been visiting recently had a sermon series on the believer's response to the resurrection (now, how should we live as believers since Jesus was raised from the dead on Easter?)... I am so encouraged to hear some fresh truth from the scriptures at All Saints! The Gospel is core and central, but things like caring for refugees and orphans and the Earth are important for believers to participate in, not just liberal crazies who want to save the whales (believers, too, should want to save the whales!).

One Sunday was spent teaching on what the pastor called "Creation care," and how we ought to be interacting with God's creation and being the stewards that God calls us to be. It has sparked a lot of dialogue in our house! Stuart even mentioned buying an electric car in a few years when our little Civic dies (something he NEVER would have thought about before)! But one simple way that we can interact with God's creation is by cultivating... gardening! - just growing something! It is so true, because I definitely have a sense of peace and joy and rest in the Lord when I spend time in creation, and the fact that we get to be little creators (in His image) is such a gift to me, and He is glorified in it. So, we (the littles and I) have continued to invest a lot in our garden this year, growing and expanding in fun ways.

(Also, sorry - not a lot of photos of the boys here, but more of those coming soon as I ease back into sharing in this space!)

First - I LOVE that Sam still has his little baby roles and pudge. I'll be sad when it's gone... Now, on the garden: our deck garden with two cherry tomatoes, lots of herbs, a big pot of strawberries and a couple of geraniums to attract the loveliest of pollinators... see below.

Herb garden off the deck with rosemary, pineapple sage, basil, chives, oregano, thyme and lots of marigolds (and you can see our new compost barrel there hidden by the deck!)

A new rose bush, planted on the due date of our miscarriage to remember our baby who isn't with us.

Zucchini plant plopped in the middle of some irises and hostas - I've been reading up on "polyculture" and forming little mini ecosystems within your garden... So, thought I would try something new by growing some useful food next to our landscaping :)

New bed by the front fence this year - zinnias in the back, hot banana pepper and red bell peppers in the middle, delicata squash on the left, heirloom zucchini in the middle, and a tiny little heirloom cantaloupe on the right - these squash and melon seeds came (free!) from the community heirloom seed collection at our public library. Fun!

Blueberry bush!

3 blueberry bushes in fact (2 little ones on the right) with our fig tree from last summer on the left, marigolds and parsley planted underneath as companion plants

Kale has finally been successful for us! We have had bumper crops and loved it... Still could not figure out how to get spinach to grow, but who needs it with so much kale!

With peas... those will be pulled up soon and beans planted in their place for the summer. The boys have LOVED picking peas right off the vine and eating raw in the yard.