Planting a garden in the backyard

“For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.”

This verse of Scripture found in Psalm 128:2 (KJV) was the fundamental principle used by the blond-haired minister when he and his little family planted a vegetable garden in the backyard of their Cape Cod-style dwelling which was situated next to the colossal red-brick building with stained glass windows at the culmination of the academic term.

Growing up a preacher’s kid, Dad was constantly quoting the Word of God verbatim like a human robot for my siblings and me to demonstrate how each verse applied to our lives as followers of Jesus.

Planting a garden was no exception.

In fact, there was a double meaning for the sowing of seeds.

Just as it is necessary to fertilize the soil and look after crops until they are ripe for the harvest, it is also of vital importance for a Christian to faithfully read their Bible and pray without ceasing in order to have a thriving relationship with our heavenly Father.

The simple truth of cultivating our lives for Christ was practiced in my home on a daily basis.

As this high-spirited threesome sauntered home from Ewing Park upon completing beginner swimming lessons at Veterans Memorial Swimming Pool, they immediately spotted their parents and youngest sister milling about a small plot of land directly next to the two-car garage preparing for a hands-on lesson with the former while coming up the alley behind the church parsonage.

It looks like our kids followed their nose back to the house.

“Why didn’t you pick us up today,” queried Kathleen as she walked past the burn barrel carrying an oversized beach bag. “Since my brothers have much longer legs than me, I had to walk twice as fast just to keep up with them; so, I’m ready to lounge on the back porch with a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade.”

“You needed to find your way home,” divulged the tall clergyman after emptying a large bag of fertilizer into a wheelbarrow. “Considering I’m not a cab driver by trade, you’ll quickly realize that those little legs will become your best mode of transportation; because your mother and I will not be hauling you back and forth to the pool every day.”

If you’re thirsty, you may get a drink from the water hose.

Shortly after these newly certified swimmers displayed their achievement badges while touting the resident daredevil’s theatrics during the diving board challenge, they quickly hung damp towels and bathing suits over the clothesline before putting on a pair of gardening gloves to dive into the wonderful world of agriculture.

“I have a very important job for the boys,” revealed the Bible scholar prior to moving the two-handled cart with one wheel to the far corner of the makeshift farm field. “Using this wheelbarrow, I need you to spread the fertilizer across the entire garden plot; after which you’ll each have an opportunity to mix it into the soil with the rototiller.”

Is the fertilizer horse manure?

Since that stuff is for amateurs, I’ve been diverting our very own toilet water for the past month; so, what you’re looking at is most definitely home grown.

Eww!

While the father of four had a good chuckle by pulling the wool over our eyes about the origination of the soil supplement, the dark-haired brunette took her young daughters by the hand as they stepped into the cinderblock outbuilding to retrieve a plethora of wooden stakes which would be used to help a variety of garden vegetables to grow healthy and strong.

Once the freshly dug up dirt was thoroughly infused with the chemically enhanced nutrients, our close-knit family began planting a total of eight different fruits and vegetables – bell peppers, cantaloupe, carrots, corn, cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes and watermelon – all of which had three rows apiece with a little room leftover for a couple of Halloween pumpkins.

Do you know why we planted the fruits and veggies in this order?

“They are arranged from largest to smallest,” observed John upon listing each in the order which they were planted. “Since the cornstalks will grow the tallest, they are placed in the back of the garden with the smaller plants in descending order; so, we’ll be able to view all of our handiwork from the back porch.”

Someone’s been paying attention.

In addition, every single plant needs to be watered twice a day unless there’s rain in the weather forecast; so, I’m counting on both of my soon-to-be high schoolers to take turns using the water hose with its attached spray nozzle.

Putting up a fence around the outside perimeter of the garden was all that remained.

“Alright, my lonely little petunias in an onion patch,” commented Mom with a merry heart once the female members of my family put their gardening gloves inside the garage. “While the fellas complete the work in the garden, we’ll go have that tall glass of ice-cold lemonade; and then you can both help me set the dining room table for supper.”

My little sisters pranced up the sidewalk to the back porch happily singing the “onion patch” song.

Why is it important to put up a fence around the vegetable garden?

“A fence will keep out the rabbits and raccoons,” I professed with a great deal of enthusiasm while driving four-foot stakes every few feet along the fertilized patch of ground. “If we don’t put up a barrier around our fruits and veggies, they will gobble up every single thing that we planted; and we won’t have any food to eat at the end of the season.”

Plus, they’ll eat our Halloween pumpkins.

Directly after hammering all the wooden posts into the dirt, the freckle-faced athlete and I helped our father secure chicken wire along the outside edge of the miniature farm field before putting up a store-bought gate for us to get inside; whereupon we inspected our nifty handiwork.

Within the next few weeks our vegetable garden will come to life.