Give and It Shall Be Given Unto You

Chapter 4

My Blog title refers to the scripture

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. KJV 

This verse goes hand in hand with the one I referenced in Chapter 1, that if you cast your bread upon the water, it will return to you. God's principle, said in many different ways through out the Word, is the same. Giving something, including money away, means there will be something of equal or greater value come back to you.  And sometimes we don't see how it is metered out, and I for one, sadly jump first to think it means extra money.  Either something that cuts into your budget until you can't afford to buy food, or the strict giving of tithes to a church, or some other sacrificial donation.  It can mean those things. I have known times God blessed when we were faithful in those things.  Sometimes giving when I didn't know where the food would come from, but being obedient anyway.  But, often it isn't quite that simple.  But is far less impractical.  Often it fits exactly within the budget, or the balance of things we already have, money and other things included.

It is often said of gardeners that they don't grow too much food and have to give it away, as much as they grow too much food because they hope to be able to give some of it away.  Once you understand the multiplicity of growing things, you almost feel guilty for throwing trimmings in the compost, because if you stick them in the dirt, they often root and make more.  Is it worth the time, if you don't need it? It is if you can give it away, but not if it takes away from being reasonable.  So yesterday as I put the summer bounty into the "white house" before the upcoming freeze,  it really bothered me to toss the trimmings. They were so healthy, I know they would have rooted.  But I would need a bigger greenhouse and more DIRT to make it feasible.  Sometimes you must be wise.  So their value was to toss them into the compost.  Guess what, they will break down into DIRT, and will bless me with their nutrients next year, to grow the things I really do need. And besides....their will be more trimmings by Spring. It's that principle at work in a practical sense.

One of the first things I did when I needed dirt though was make compost. With my free lumber, one of the things Jimmy helped me build was my two bin composter. But it was only enough dirt in the end to fill a few planters when combined with potting soil.  Far from enough to fill the raised beds.

Screens in the bottom allow me to filter broken down
compost into fine dirt, but it is work. Hours of work.  But in one season, from
kitchen scraps alone, I was able to fill 2 outdoor size garbage pails,
reserved for dirt only.

 

 

Before I could even build my raised beds there was sooo much to do. So I looked around and prayed, "I am assuming, Lord, that you want me to get ready for your blessing, so I am going to put in the work, to prepare this place for all that dirt. And when it's done, I am going to start looking for DIRT.  I am going be a Noah here, and build it, solely on faith, expecting DIRT TO COME. Just like he expected rain to come.  And you need to let me know if I am out of line here.  If I am acting on my own volition. I can only believe that you wouldn't give me so much other stuff free, dump it in my lap, when I didn't even know I wanted or needed it, if you didn't have an end plan. To provide.  So here is what I did:

I liked the neatness of the pine straw border, and how it kept the weeds out.

 

1. A neighbor had large pine trees whose needles and cones destroyed any chance they had of having grass, and were tracked into their home any time they came from the yard.  Slowly, the winds broke them and made them a danger, much like our trees, but taking them down would cost a fortune.  So every year, she had her sons rake the pine straw and give it to neighbors for mulching.  I was on the list.  It just so happened that this year, they gave it away and there were over 20 wheelbarrows more she didn't know what to do with.  Little did they know I was wondering how I could get my hands on a whole lot of wheel barrow loads of pine straw, to put around my central flower bed, where the vines grew.  In order to prevent the vines from escaping the bed out into the yard, I had pulled up all the vines I could that had tendrils outside the border and put down roots.  It was a huge job and I couldn't do it every year.  So I had a thought. IF I could put down a thick layer of pine straw, the long vines couldn't root through it, and I could pull them up or cut them off easily each year until I could get it all under control.  So, you guessed it.  Her son brought over wheel barrow after wheelbarrow of pine straw and it completely surrounded my whole bed a pathway width wide! And about 4'' thick!  And it worked. No more vines growing past the borders of the central bed.

 

2. If you've read the first 3 chapters you know the story of the tree people. If not, suffice it to say that a number of trees removed from my yard left me with both large stumps which I already discussed I used to make a border along my back raised bed. But they also left a large pile of small logs.  I supposed we would use them for firewood, but Jimmy saved some and said the rest would rot before we could ever burn so much.  By now you must know me.  I was ready to use what the Lord gave me. Use what you have, and you will understand your real blessings.  It's how God has always dealt with me. He always tells my heart to look around and see what I have, and use it first!  I don't know if I got my Mom's sense of frugality, or I was just the penny pincher Jimmy says I am, or if I really know a blessing when I see it. But Jimmy is constantly wanting to throw something away that I am claiming I want to use in some way. 

 

In order to not be a hoarder, I try really hard to use stuff.  Sometimes, the law of multiplication blessing comes in, and I actually have more of what I was using up, than when I started. LOL  But, I started lining the logs up along the back side of my bed thinking there would never be enough to go all the way around.  Yet, just like everything else so far, there was more than enough.  They completely bordered the pine straw, and I had enough to also section it off so the rain wouldn't wash it away, every few feet.  Of course the Lord knew I needed the logs to keep the rain from washing it down hill. Of course! An added benefit of the pine and logs, was it kept the bottoms of my planters clean.  Rain didn't splash up on them and make them look nasty.

The only problem with compost is it continues to compost.
It was great to build up and fill in initially, but
eventually you have to add DIRT!

3. I found 4 concrete blocks up til now, which I was able to  use to raise the black oval feed trough onto to get the height I wanted. I raised it up so I could fill in to that level with dirt, making a deep mound around it.  I discussed in another chapter the benefits of planting into a hill, and why I wanted this mound to be high,  but now I also need a larger compost area than my wooden bins.  So I began putting all my compost materials behind the area of the trough. then to keep materials from washing down into the ditch, I had no materials like rock to line the top of the bank.  Resolution - line up more of the wood scraps the tree people left behind.  We put every piece of cardboard we brought into the house there. It was great to cover the exposed food scraps to keep animals from disturbing it.  I found it to be more of a problem than I had expected, so I was thankful for cardboard.  But it also held in moisture. However, it broke down slowly, so turning the pile was a little difficult sometimes.  A two-edged sword, you might say.

It worked, and the materials were filling in the back of the bed a little along while I awaited my DIRT.  You can't plant into compost alone. It is too strong and not of proper nutrition for plants to grow and produce fruit.  Like the mulch from the ground up pine tree limbs and the pine straw, when used improperly, compost can kill rather than feed plants.  Pine straw can kill plants too, unless you use it around things which love acids.  So when I put it around my border like a path, it was intended to kill stuff, like weeds and vine roots and grass seeds.  But seeds of things  you put into your compost...they will germinate with gusto...so NO weeds, not ever.   And anything I wanted to not die around my large bed with the pine straw had to be planted in containers. Nothing goes it with bulbs or rhizomes either. Not into compost, but bulbs do well in the pine straw, usually.

4. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. II Tim. 3:16-17.

I love this verse. How curious that the image includes having furnishings to be able to do a good job. If God provides, he provides furniture too. So many people say, "I am not asking for anything, I am just thanking God for what I have."  Well, I thank God for what I have too, because, like I said earlier, he often says to my heart to look at what I have when I first find a need.  Sometimes a little creativity gets you a long way with what you have. And starting by thanking him for what I have, is a great element of praise, and a good beginning.  But this scripture comes from God through the Heart of Timothy, a very practical man. He indicates that to be completely able to do good works, we consider God's instruction, correction in our previous thinking, and principles for getting the best results within God's will.  It's like bringing in the furniture after building or renovating a home. The décor is the finishing touch, and makes our house a home.  Furnishings make things complete.

I use the word Prinked, which the dictionary defines as meaning - "dressed for show, preened"- as the Logo on many of the things I do. My pictures for instance are under the Prinked Logo.  It is a nod to the truth in this scripture that God allows the talent to bring things to completion, and consider the aesthetics and  beauty of it before considering it complete. In most things that God told the Israelites to make, to be a part of their worship services, he inspired the artisans to make it beautiful. Not because God is vain, or desires our wealth be tied up in the place of worship for glory's sake, although it might glorify him. Just to be present in a place where the amazing things he provided in the world, like silver and Gold are on display...wow.  It is because, in order to be like-minded to God, we must consider that when he called this world complete, he had made it an incredibly beautiful and well furnished place to live. `

It was no wonder therefore, that God allowed that I might have furniture in my garden, to make it complete.  I needed furnishings to protect my back, to have table height space to work, to put a little dirt in for planting, rather than dealing with huge bags, and to just plain make it satisfy my need for the artistic in order to be happy.  So next thing, I used the wood Jimmy collected and designed some furniture.  I love little vineyetts and groupings of color and repurposed things like you see in magazine pages.  So I envisioned making a piece of furniture to be the center of several little groupings. I found I liked them all together, and so I have a little outdoor room instead.  Painted in several colors as if layers of paint had unevenly worn away. There were many little dollar store finds to match the colors that I could plant into, with little expense.  These and a slowly growing collection of galvanized look planters all at remarkable deals. And some are very large.  For instance I found galvanized wash tub size, the big ones for $9 each.  Big enough to plant Squash, Peppers, Zucchini, and Eggplant in.  But again with the DIRT.  I know God has to figure out something great to fill all these things with Dirt.  What will my garden be with everything, prepared and no dirt?

I continued to prepare, drew up drawings, cleaned planters, replanted all the bulbs, and set up the block wall parts of the two beds  for which I still needed stone ends to make them complete.  I bought and put concrete block down to lift the other two feed troughs, and moved the the compost bin using it instead to organize and hold my dozens of gardening  pots.  Jimmy made a Pergola to train the Trumpet Vine onto, and one more raised bed which we placed where the compost bin had been at the back of the lot.  Slowly, we furnished our garden. And when it was complete....

 Well I was about to learn a valuable lesson on how you can give, and it will be given unto you. Even Dirt. Even if I had to follow God's lead to make it an investment expense, and even if it was so much dirt, that it took Almost 2 weeks to unload it all.  Yeah, that much DIRT.

Like any promise of God I was now ready and waiting to believe...Only the DIRT came between the furnished Garden and the promise of Abundant bloom...

Isaiah 35:2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.