Last summer was my first attempt at building a garden and growing something worth eating out of it. About mid-way through December, though, I realised I had made a big mistake.
Samuel Pullenger
My tomato plants had nothing to climb on. I quickly wrangled together a makeshift rack, made of a leftover piece of trellis which, again I realised, was not tall or strong enough to hold the weight of the plants. They ended up pulling the trellis over and growing out over some ferns I had beside the garden. Although it looked terrible and I had to search under layers of vines to try and find tomatoes, it worked out enough to give me something to have on my toast in the mornings.
This year I decided to put a bit more effort in. I built a scaffold over the whole garden, tying up strings which lead down to each off-shoot. Now, I have this mass of green climbing up towards the deck and we get to watch as the yellow flowers quickly turn into big green fruit. Hopefully soon, it will become a crop worthy of my morning toast.
Growing food in the garden, even if it is as simple as one tomato plant, is beneficial in many different ways. Though I get to enjoy the end product, there is a fulfilment, a sense of pride and expectation that you get as you care for the garden, watering and weeding. For a Christian, we believe that we were created to be stewards of God’s creation. In the creation story, right at the beginning of the Bible we read of a God who takes what is chaotic and moulds it into something ordered. God splits the waters from the below and above, forms the earth and carefully places creatures on it. Finally, God creates humans in God’s image and instructs them to care for all that God has created. This picture offers us a framework within which to view the world. We are created to be in relationship with God, ourselves, other people and the rest of creation. Within these four relationships we are called to care and empower all things to flourish. Jesus becomes the ultimate fulfilment of this purpose, showing us that through him we can flourish in all four areas.
As I look at my garden, then, I am encouraged to do something with it. Having already found fulfilment in the growing of these crops, I wonder how these can be used to care for others as well. Here in Te Awamutu we have several different ways that we can do this. We have the recently rebuilt Sharing Shed where we can offer the extras that we have to whoever needs it.
We also have a Crop Swap which is being run out of the Anglican Church’s Hall off George street. The next will on January 25. This is a great place to share what you have grown and enjoy what others have grown too. Finally, we can simply look over the fence to our neighbour and possibly build a new friendship through the offering of fresh food.
