Gardening - A Simple Love by Jena Galifany

I love this time of year. I get to drop to my knees and get my hands into the dirt. I can spend hours working in my garden, planting seeds, installing seedlings, and watching things grow.

I have grown many things over the years. Zucchini, corn, tomatoes, carrots, and the occasional flowers. Bell peppers did particularly well one year. I was able to dig them up, put them into a large pot and bring them in for the winter. The next year, I put them back in the ground and they continued to produce.

 My father was an organic gardener. He taught me a lot of tricks and sent me his books when he became too old to get out there himself anymore. One thing he taught me is a simple recipe for keeping bugs off of your veggies. No chemicals and no harm to the veggies. In a blender, quarter an onion, add three or four cloves of garlic and a good sprinkling of Red Pepper (what you use on your pizza). Add two cups of water. Blend this well. Sieve the liquid through cheesecloth and put in a spray bottle. You can mist your veggies with this and the bugs will hate it. Once your crop is ripe, simply wash them off and enjoy as you normally would.

I've always wanted to have a large rose garden but that has never worked out as well as my veggies. This year, though, my renter bought me two rose bushes and they are blooming very well.

I would some day enjoy having a large flower garden but my practical side says to grow what I can eat. I even kept a Farmville farm going daily for almost three years. How's that for fanatical?

 If you have a small area or live in an apartment, container gardens can be fun, too. I've even taken a bag of potting soil, placed in on its side and cut slits in the bag. I've popped a few holes in the bottom of the bag for drainage, and planted seeds into the bag. Bush beans do well in containers as do tomatoes.

There is no end to the gardens you can design with a little imagination. Great things happen in the garden. I find that being on my knees, it's also a great time to spend with God.

On June 30, 2004, I was working in my garden. I'd just finished planting a bed of seeds and was watering the next bed when an evil bird landed and started digging up my seeds. When I tried to chase him off, I fell over a short wall and hit the cement walk way hands first. I damaged my left arm so much, I could not rotate it and was off work for a full month. That was when I wrote my first published book, ShadowsForge 1: Three Times a Hero. See, I told you great things happen in the garden.

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Cheers!