Seed Starting

I think I received about 10 garden catalogues so far for 2010.  I love paging through these to see all the beautiful plants.  It is so difficult to decide just which seeds to select each year.  It is fun to try new varieties and see how well they do in my location.

Let me know which garden catalogues you receive and which ones are your favorites.  And...why are they your favorites?  What new varieties of plants to you plan to try this year?

For some great ideas on how to start your seeds this year, read my column in The Community Connection called "The Garden Wayfarer".  I will be posting that in my next blog.

Saving in the New Year

     The beginning of a new year is the time we like to think of new resolutions.  What will we do differently?  What will we try to do better?  The way things are in this economy we all like to think about saving money.  Gardening can help you with that.  If you grow your own fruits and vegetables you can save money on food, not to mention that they taste delicious when you pick them straight off the vine.
     You can purchase many, many varieties of plants in a nursery.  But you can save even more money by starting your own seeds.  It's easy to do and you can use recycled items to get you started.  We'll talk about this some more in my next blog.

The Garden Wayfarer: PAGC Holiday House Tour - Community Connection - Berksmont News

The Garden Wayfarer: PAGC Holiday House Tour - Community Connection - Berksmont News

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Hanukkah

Hanukkah

John 10:22 NLT    It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. 

     Nine lights on the hanukkyah shine in the darkness.  As I gaze at the flickering flame I think of Jesus and all He taught us as He walked on earth.  Jesus was Jewish and he celebrated the Festival of Dedication also known as the Festival of Lights.  On the Jewish calendar the date of Hanukkah is Kislev 25.  I sit and wonder if that is why Christian leaders of ages past selected December 25 to celebrate Christmas.

      This festival was first celebrated in 164 BC when Jewish people of that day rededicated their temple which had been ransacked and desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes, an evil ruler of Syria.  As the story goes the Jews could only find one cruse of sacred oil to use to burn the eternal flame.  That cruse would only last one day.  But a miracle happened: the oil lasted 8 days, just long enough for them to prepare more of the sacred oil.  Now the dedication of the temple was complete and they could worship God in all that he had commanded them to do.

     As a Christian I contemplate what God could be telling me with those Hanukkah lights.  Those eight lights represent God’s light in us and the ninth light represents Jesus our Messiah.  He is the servant candle.  The Shamash.  All the other candles are lighted by using the Shamash.  In John 8:12 Jesus said “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”   

     When we follow Jesus he sends the Holy Spirit to place his light within us.  Phil 2:15  tells us to  “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.”  He calls us to be dedicated to Him.  As you celebrate Christmas this year remember that Jesus came to be the light of the world.  Ask him to put his light in you so that you can be a light that shines in a dark and needy world.

fall harvest recipe

Let’s try some homemade Hearty Fall Soup

    Fall is the perfect time to make a delicious homemade soup for your family.  My daughter passed on this recipe to me from a friend of hers, so I’m not sure who to give credit to for the original recipe (I changed it a little bit), but I know you will heartily enjoy this delicious concoction.

     Start by putting together this dry soup mix which you can store in an airtight container and use for a couple more batches of soup:

Dry Soup Mix

Equal parts of the following:

Split peas (yellow or green)

Barley  (this is a Bible plant)

Lentils  (also mentioned in the Bible!)

Orzo or alphabet macaroni

Brown rice

Hearty Fall Soup

½ cup dry soup mix (see above)

4 chicken or beef cubes in 4 cups of water

½ stalk of celery

1 onion chopped

Bring above to boil and simmer 1 ½ hours.  Cook the following and add to soup:

½ lb. meat (I used ground turkey)

3 sliced carrots

1 cup each: frozen broccoli/cauliflower

(I used zucchini and sweet peppers and extra celery instead of the broccoli and cauliflower)

Add to pot and heat:

1 can chopped tomatoes

16 oz tomato sauce

1 cup frozen corn

As soup is near finishing add your fresh or dried herbs:  basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, dried fennel seed, and pepper.  Yumm!

Wicked

     On a recent day trip I happened upon a quaint little craft sale. Beautiful fall arrangements, signs, and harvest decorations were on display with a line of people anxious to purchase their favorite item. I didn’t make a full inspection of everything available as, this time, I didn’t feel inclined to make a purchase. But a few things caught my eye and set me to thinking.

     A cute little pig was hugging his blankey and holding a sign which said “Give Thanks”. I don’t know if he was thankful that Turkeys are a favorite food for Thanksgiving rather than Ham or if he was thankful for his tattered, comforting blankey. Or maybe he was telling me that we Americans are piggies and we should be thankful we have plenty to eat!      Another decoration with pumpkins, squash, and hay had a sign that said “Wicked welcome”. I couldn’t help but think how mixed up the world is today. In current slang I guess “wicked” means something good, something kids want to be; whereas in my years as a teen “wicked” meant you might be thrown into a juvenile detention center.

     But as my mind continued to return to that “wicked” sign another thought came to me. As distasteful as being “wicked” is to me, that is what we all are before Jesus rescues us from the power of Satan. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” That means me…My heart is wicked. Or, my heart WAS wicked. But something happened to change me. That something was receiving Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

     He welcomed me to his arms even when I was “wicked” and he died to save me from my sins. He can do the same thing for you. We don’t have the power to change ourselves. But when we respond to God's call on our lives to receive Jesus; when we ask for His forgiveness and accept His sacrificial death and resurrection as our means to becoming a child of God, Jesus makes us a new creature and He removes the power of Satan from keeping us in the kingdom of darkness. Then we have something to be truly thankful for. I give thanks unto you Father, King of the Universe.
Colossians 1:12-14 KJV Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

Lancaster County

A drive in Lancaster County makes a great day trip for the fall. Dad wanted to visit his brother, Uncle George, in Ephrata. Charlie and I decided to enjoy taking Dad out for the day. On the way to see Uncle George we stopped at a couple of farm stands and on the way home we stopped for a walk in Nolde Forest. The wonder of God's handiwork cries out to us in the beauty of the day. It was a drink for the eyes to behold as we viewed the beautiful golden and orange colors surrounding us. As we walked in the forest we could listen to the creek tumbling over the rocks calling us deeper and deeper into the stillness of the woods. I thought about how God wants us to come away with Him and spend time with Him each day. As we feed on His Word and go deeper and deeper into the stillness of His presence our hearts are calmed from the pressures of this world. He calls us to "...be still and know that I am God". That day my reply was "Here I am Lord, I hear you calling me."