Beulah Acres …and the Lord God planted a garden.

“Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you–the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month” (Joel 2:23).

Starting last Tuesday evening, we received six inches of rain within 36 hours in the Israel Prayer Garden.  By Wednesday afternoon, the Canada geese thought the garden was a lake.  God is good, and we receive this precious gift from His hand with rejoicing.  By the time I took these photographs, the water had already started to percolate into the thirsty ground on Thursday morning.  Enjoy the show!

Ecclesiastes 3 says, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”  For gardeners, winter is the time for the chores suited to colder temperatures and the dormancy of plants.  Like sleeping dogs and children, we leave the plants alone during their sleepy time, just checking to make sure they’re still breathing from time to time!  While the sun is forgiving and the weeds are taking a welcome break, we focus on jobs that might be more challenging during the eager planting of spring or the oppressive heat of summer.  Now is the time to build a new potting shed, crank up the chipper, and prepare new beds for planting.  Now is the time to rebuild the compost windrow in anticipation of the need for soil amendments.  And here in north Texas, now is the time to start vegetable seedlings inside, plant onions and potatoes outside, and place one more order for those hard-to-find transplants from the plant catalog.  Spring will be here in a moment.  We want to be ready!

Shalom, y’all!

On this chilly, rainy day, I decided to review my photographs from the past year in the Israel Prayer Garden.  It’s hard to believe that the garden we now enjoy was an overgrown, neglected piece of earth just ten months ago.  I have done my best to select some before and after photos of the garden for you to enjoy.  Of course, you can always go back to the beginning of this blog if you want to review what God accomplished in the garden in such a short amount of time.  And I’ll enjoy listening to the rain on my roof!

One of the lovely things about living in Texas is the winter.  Yes, it does get cold–sometimes.  And, yes, ice and snow can wreak havoc, as we discovered last year during the Super Bowl.  But while our friends up north are shoveling snow and pulling on the long underwear, we are enjoying stretches of spring-like weather and skies so blue it makes you cry!  Last week was one of those stretches.  As we took down the lights and restored the garden to its unadorned state, we were blessed with chilly mornings followed by warm afternoons.  Flocks of robins descended on the garden in all their cheerful chirpiness, woodpeckers crept up the bare trunks of the oak trees in search of lunch, and the bluebirds flashed through the leafless trees.  We know that cold weather will return, but when the sky is so blue and the air is warm enough for a short-sleeved shirt, it’s easy to imagine spring!  While we wait, we continue to plant trees and prepare for the arrival of grapevines for Asher.

Shabbat Shalom!