On our gardening bulletin board: just in time for winter reading! Curl up on a chilly winter鈥檚 evening with a wonderful collection of 鈥淭he Prairie Garden鈥� books, from 1977 to 2018 (only missing 1984). This collection is available if you are interested. Visit the Yorkton Horticultural Society website at www.yorktonhort.ca and please leave your name and number if you would like to acquire some of these fine gardening books for your collection.
And if you are interested in heirloom seeds, you鈥檒l be interested in this! Beans, Beans, Beans! Are you interested in growing and exchanging heirloom beans? You don鈥檛 have to trade a cow for a handful of beans like Jack did, just visit our hort website and leave your contact information!
A dear friend of ours once baked a 鈥淏ible Cake鈥�, with the ingredients and their measurements found in various Biblical passages. I wondered if we could do something similar with our gardens.
Here鈥檚 an interesting factoid: there are over 120 different kinds of plants listed in the Bible, and these plants cover every aspect of daily life from food, shelter, clothing, fragrance, and beauty. God鈥檚 first family lived in a beautiful garden, and while we can鈥檛 imagine the beauty of this wondrous place, we know some of the plants that existed there. 聽
Song of Solomon 7:12 says 鈥渓et us go out early to the vineyards, and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom.鈥澛� 鈥淭he mandrakes give forth fragrance, and over our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old.鈥� 聽
For transportation, Kings 1 5:10 says that 鈥淗iram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, while Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for this household.鈥� Clothing was made from 鈥渇ine-twined linen鈥� (Exodus35:25); perfume and fragrance were made from aloes and cinnamon (Proverbs 7:17) and final preparations at death included 鈥渕yrrh and aloes鈥� and 鈥渟pices鈥� (John 19: 39-40).
Here鈥檚 a biblical inspiration for gardeners: Genesis 1:12. Wondering what to plant? Isaiah 28:25.聽 Be sure to plant the right plant in the right place: Job 8:11. Planning for next spring? Ezekiel 17:5. And if you鈥檙e tired at the end of a long gardening day, Isaiah 40;29.
Rudyard Kipling wrote poem 鈥淭he Glory Of The Garden鈥�, and the final stanza goes like this:
鈥淥h, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees, That half a proper gardener鈥檚 work is done upon his knees. So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray,
For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away! And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away!鈥�
As gardeners we know that some of what we plant will outlast us, and that indeed is a special and beautiful living legacy!
Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca and see what鈥檚 new. Have a great week!
