This is How Father Feeds the Birds in My Garden

 

I would have been sad to see the pomegranate in my garden last season had I not understood the ways of the Lord.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

 yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 

Are you not more valuable than they?

(Matthew 6:26)

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

Yet no one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

(Matthew 10:29)

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Freshness From the Local Market and From My Garden

Saturday is market day for me and my dear husband. We take 3 of this bag to carry all fresh produce home from the local market nearest us. It's a lot cheaper to buy from the market than from the grocery shops. There are many choices, too. Aside from that, it's a good way of helping the local farmers and sellers.

One good thing about living in this big city is that we get to have access to affordable fresh produce from the nearby provinces. I've live in many cities and this city has the cheapest local market (excluding the ones in China).

One can't get this freshness from the freezers of big supermarkets.

Once they get to the air-conditioned shelves, their prices are doubled.

Don't you love these greens?

Speaking of green, I would like to show you my little compost bucket that made my vegetable garden green.

It's usually used as a garbage bin but we made holes around the sides and made it our compost bin. Two weeks ago I cultivated my vegetable garden and added compost soil on top. In just couple of days, I saw how the leaves of my plants have become healthier. Here are some snapshots from 2 weeks ago.

Mongo beans, mint, lemon grass, spinach, grape vine and a yellow flower.

These are just few of what I have in my little garden. Each time I serve freshness on the table, especially the ones from my own garden, a sense of accomplishment is my worth reward. I'm sure it's more for those who are real farmers, dont' you think so?

Fresh basil straight from our garden to our table...made our lunch more delicious.

Wise words bring many benefits, and hard work brings rewards.

Proverbs 12:14

Oh, To Be Close To Nature....

I was amused watching my girls doing their school work in our garden this morning. They're so like their mom! We should call ourselves The Garden Girls :-)

Me, with a dear friend.

One of the things close to my heart is to be with nature. That's why I love gardening, digging dirt. I love being out there taking photos, or just be there. I'm more satisfied to be feeding fish and birds than shopping in malls.

So are my children. When they were little, they would be attracted to wooden swing sets than to computer games.

They would rather climb a tree than watch tv.

 

So like their mommy!

So the verse that says "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters." in Proverbs 23:2 is such a beautiful invitation for me.

Our Pomegranate Tree

The past months, our pomegranate tree didn't do well. It was heavy with fruit but fruit you wouldn't want to eat.

Then, it lost all its leaves. It looked sick and ugly standing in front of our house. It's the nest on it that held me from cutting it down.

These days, it has come back to health (I hope). Few fruits left hanging for the birds but more healthy leaves are seen.

I'm sure the birds are happier to find a cooler place to rest as we are welcoming summer heat in this side of the world.

This little birdie is taking a break. Today, my daughter Zoe and I watched it rebuilding the nest. Noticed the fresh straws on the nest? One by one, this little birdie put them all together. We wonder where it got those straws as we haven't seen such plant in our garden. It must have flown far to collect those, straw by straw, with its tiny bill. Hmmm...thinking about being hardworking, industrious, and diligent. This tiny creature taught me a big lesson today. So is my little garden. Here, I've learned  lots about patience, hope, respect of His creation, and the discipline and art of expectation.

"Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow."
~Unknown

On Waiting...

I would like to show you one flowering plant that I planted 5 months ago. I brought home a tiny cutting from my friend's farm and planted it in a small pot. I waited for quite some time and now it is full-grown and never stops flowering. I don't know it's name. I know there's a yellow variety of this which is more common than the red one.

I thought this would be a good encouragement to those who are in the waiting mode and those whose patience is tried.

 

Faith sees a beautiful blossom in a bulb, 

a lovely garden in a seed, 

and a giant oak in an acorn.

-William Arthur Ward

Musings In My Garden

I wonder what my neighbors think of me as they often see me in my little garden turning pots here and there, rearranging flowers and taking photos of them almost on daily basis. Probably they know by now that it's more than just a gardening chore for me. It's actually one of my green pastures where I feel rested and my soul restored. My garden is a tiny corner in my own rented place, nothing special but birds and butterflies do love to come by and even passers-by take a second look and smile. For me, it is where my prayers are lifted, dreams are made, and God's voice is heard.

There is a plan to add a bench or a round chair in one corner where I can do my reading and tea time.  I hope that happens soon before rainy season comes.

This morning, as I took more photos, it came to mind that a garden must be place where human beings are most at home. Wasn't the first man's home a garden?

God Almighty first planted a garden. 
And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.

-Francis Bacon 

Simply Hibiscus

I have five different colors of hibiscus in my garden. And I'm looking forward to adding more colors.

Yesterday, I saw another kind, and it instantly became my most favorite. I love the curls in its petals, and its pink color is so sweet. But it's not for sale....

I used to think that hibiscus is the simplest flower, but after seeing this showy kind, I've changed my mind.

Still, it remains my favorite.

I'm linking this post to the following beautiful memes:

Playing Silly With My Sili (Chili)

 I gave a bowl of chili from my garden to my neighbor yesterday. I should have taken a photo of it to show how beautiful and healthy they were.

I kept the odd-shaped ones for our own use.

I felt good to have shared the produce from my tiniest garden. 

While basking on that good feeling, I found myself playing with the chilies that were left.

 The local people here love chili and they use it in almost all of local dishes. You can imagine how happy the old lady was when I went to her door and handed her the bowl. "Oh, dheng, dheng mahk!" (Oh, so red!)

Today, I gave a bunch of basil (3 kinds) to another lady who came by my fence to appreciate my blooming orchids.

The joy of sharing is the farmgirl's reward.

Gardening Tip:

Instead of throwing your egg shells into the garbage bin, you can crush them and sprinkle them on your garden soil. Egg shells are rich with calcium which is needed by plants to build stronger stem.

Butterflies In The House

 In my homeschool blog, I posted about the butterflies we farmed. (If you are curious on the process of butterfly transformation, you should check this link.)

Most pupae are now hatched and we have butterflies in the house. We were excited to see the first one, then the next two. We saw 6 of them in 3 days. But now that the homeschoolers are familiar with the process, we let go of the pupae out of the box and place them in a safe spot in the garden.

 Our garden has now transformed into a real butterfly garden.

Our garden is very small yet there's so much excitement going there. 

Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable,

butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life.  

And everyone deserves a little sunshine. 

~Jeffrey Glassberg

Our Garden Story

When we moved in to our rental house more than 2 years ago, the yard was all weeds and with few fruit trees. All green; no signs of fruit or blossoms. We cleaned the yard, and started planting flowers and pruned the trees.

I spent my first hour of most of my mornings in the yard. I had a picture in mind.

 This is exactly what I wanted to see! A mosaic of sights that I see everyday.

Our butterfly garden is not yet complete but it is already attracting beautiful butterflies.

More than the happy butterflies fluttering about, I'm amused to see my girls and their friend having tea in the garden. 

Sometimes, my garden is brought inside the house. It's flowers don't only fill my vase but also adorn my chocolate cake.

Three weeks from now, we'll be leaving our unfinished garden behind, and in our new house, we'll start a new one.

"God almighty first planted a garden.
And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures."

- Francis Bacon

Tending My Yard and My Heart

For many years, I lived in different high-rise apartments and I only had potted plants to enjoy in my balcony. But even with limited space, I managed to have grown vegetables indoor even during winter. In those years I wished to have real grounds to till.

Now, I am blessed to have a yard large enough for me to enjoy daily gardening. It such a blessing to do a bit of farming activities while living in a big city.

I was pruning our mango tree to let more sunshine on the corner where we wanted our butterfly garden to be.

In my previous posts, I mentioned about our latest project which is the butterfly garden in one corner of our front yard.  It's been a month since we started it and I'm excited to share the progress. But that will be in another post. You can have a peek in my front yard here.

For some time, I've busied myself tending the front yard more than the back where I used to have my vegetable garden. Recently, I'm reminded that I should care for both. It also spoke  of my heart's journey where I put more effort on taking care of what is seen than the inner self. So, as I'm back tending my backyard, I am also looking into my heart. How is the plight of my heart?

My backyard is prone to flooding during heavy rain so I decided to do pot-gardening. My heart is prone to despair when heavily pressured and stressed so I'm taking things bit by bit, one day at a time.  As I said in my garden blog, when I work in my garden, I'm also gardening in my heart. I plant seeds of faith. Uproot weeds of doubts.

This time I planted more herbs and spices. I have different kinds of basil and chilies, pandan, lemon grass, rosemary, lime, malunggay, bell pepper, turmeric, and spring onions. The banana tree is also  bearing fruit and so is the rose apple.

Gardening is a hard work. Although I enjoy doing it but I admit that sometimes I wish I live back in those high rise apartments so I only have potted plants to care for.

For sure, the spaghetti for our lunch today tasted better with fresh basil from our garden.

But then,every time I put on the table food fresh from my garden, my being a farm girl at heart is again revived.

  

Tea Invitation

Let's have some tea in my garden someday. :-) 

From The Garden

I just came back from a 2-day holiday in my friend's farm. I had delightful moments in the garden, enjoying the beauty of flowers and butterflies...basking in the wonderfulness of His creation. 

It lingered a while..long enough for me to take delight on this moment.

 I paused, closed my eyes, took a deep breath... and thanked God for a time of rest.

The butterfly counts not months but moments, 

and has time enough. 

~Rabindranath Tagore

Read more..

 

Update: Pomegranates In My Garden

  A month ago I posted about my pomegranate tree when these fruits where just blooms.

Now, they're turning yellow!

I am the vine; you are the branches. 

If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; 

apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5