I Harvest an Abundance of Potatoes
I Harvest an Abundance of Potatoes
Ecclesiastes 3 v 2 "A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;"
I live in south Georgia, and I always plant a garden every year. One of the vegetables I plant is red Irish potatoes. In late January, I prepare the soil by plowing it with my tractor. After the seedbed is finished, I go down to Dan Bennett's, our Blackshear garden seed center, and buy my potato seed. I take this 50 pound burlap sack of seed, cut the eyes from the potatoes, and let them dry for a couple of days. Meanwhile, I prepare the rows for planting. Mind you, all this preparation is hard but fun work, and I do get my hands dirty. The fresh plowed dirt is a scent that I always remember...a blessing from the Lord.
I then plant the potatoes in the open row. I lay them gently in the row, placing each seed about 18 inches apart. After I do this, I fertilize them, and then cover them up with dirt. I did my part, and then I wait on the Lord to give the increase. After three or four weeks of patiently waiting, I see some green shoots poking up through the soil and look on with wonder. It is always a wonder to me to see things grow, to know I had a part in it, and to meditate on the amazing providence of God. He sent the sun to warm the earth, the rain to water it, and man to till it.
I carefully watch my plants that sprung forth from the seed I planted because I know that the potato plant has an enemy...it is called a potato bug. This little critter has alternate black and yellow stripes and if you see one there are more. Sure enough, after my potato plants were about six inches high, I spotted one, then another. I hooked up my sprayer, mixed together some insecticide, and then thoroughly sprayed my tender plants. In a couple of days, I inspected my potato plants, and the enemy was gone. The Lord sent some more rain and sunshine, and one day I fertilized the potatoes once more, and plowed them for the last time. I then had to patiently wait for the harvest.
Saturday, April 29, 2006 was the big day...the harvest day I had been anticipating since that long ago (it seemed to me) January day when I had planted those potato seeds. I decided to plow the potatoes up with my Farmall Super A instead of my Ford 3000 tractor. I hooked up the plow, and as Nancy, a friend of mine looked on, plowed up that first row. Low and behold, there were fresh red Irish potatoes everywhere! Nancy and I picked them up and took them to the barn, washed them off, and put them in five and 10 pound mesh bags. I estimated that I had a harvest of 250 pounds from the 50 pound sack of seed I had planted. It was worth the wait to see this blessing from the Lord. Small red potatoes cooked up in some green beans is sure a tasty treat.
After the potatoes were harvested, I raked up the now useless plants, and throwed them in my burn pile. I then took my Ford tractor and plowed up the ground where they grew. I will plant something else (maybe okra and Indian corn) where those plants lived and died. Over the past 19 years of planting, cultivating and harvesting a garden, the cycle of life of a plant reminds me of what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes..."there is a time and a purpose for everything under heaven".
Everytime I plant seed I am reminded of the parable of the seed in Luke chapter eight verses five through 15. I particularly like verse 11: "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God." Over my many years of being a "seed-sower" for the Lord, I have planted many spiritual seeds. I have seen the enemy destroy some of these seeds, I have seen some fruit from these seeds, and I am still waiting for the harvest from other seeds. I know that my labor (yes seed sowing is hard work) for the Lord has not been in vain, and I will reap what I have sown.
Galatians 6 v 9: "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
Irvin L. Rozier, aka walkin2e
Ecclesiastes 3 v 2 "A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;"
I live in south Georgia, and I always plant a garden every year. One of the vegetables I plant is red Irish potatoes. In late January, I prepare the soil by plowing it with my tractor. After the seedbed is finished, I go down to Dan Bennett's, our Blackshear garden seed center, and buy my potato seed. I take this 50 pound burlap sack of seed, cut the eyes from the potatoes, and let them dry for a couple of days. Meanwhile, I prepare the rows for planting. Mind you, all this preparation is hard but fun work, and I do get my hands dirty. The fresh plowed dirt is a scent that I always remember...a blessing from the Lord.
I then plant the potatoes in the open row. I lay them gently in the row, placing each seed about 18 inches apart. After I do this, I fertilize them, and then cover them up with dirt. I did my part, and then I wait on the Lord to give the increase. After three or four weeks of patiently waiting, I see some green shoots poking up through the soil and look on with wonder. It is always a wonder to me to see things grow, to know I had a part in it, and to meditate on the amazing providence of God. He sent the sun to warm the earth, the rain to water it, and man to till it.
I carefully watch my plants that sprung forth from the seed I planted because I know that the potato plant has an enemy...it is called a potato bug. This little critter has alternate black and yellow stripes and if you see one there are more. Sure enough, after my potato plants were about six inches high, I spotted one, then another. I hooked up my sprayer, mixed together some insecticide, and then thoroughly sprayed my tender plants. In a couple of days, I inspected my potato plants, and the enemy was gone. The Lord sent some more rain and sunshine, and one day I fertilized the potatoes once more, and plowed them for the last time. I then had to patiently wait for the harvest.
Saturday, April 29, 2006 was the big day...the harvest day I had been anticipating since that long ago (it seemed to me) January day when I had planted those potato seeds. I decided to plow the potatoes up with my Farmall Super A instead of my Ford 3000 tractor. I hooked up the plow, and as Nancy, a friend of mine looked on, plowed up that first row. Low and behold, there were fresh red Irish potatoes everywhere! Nancy and I picked them up and took them to the barn, washed them off, and put them in five and 10 pound mesh bags. I estimated that I had a harvest of 250 pounds from the 50 pound sack of seed I had planted. It was worth the wait to see this blessing from the Lord. Small red potatoes cooked up in some green beans is sure a tasty treat.
After the potatoes were harvested, I raked up the now useless plants, and throwed them in my burn pile. I then took my Ford tractor and plowed up the ground where they grew. I will plant something else (maybe okra and Indian corn) where those plants lived and died. Over the past 19 years of planting, cultivating and harvesting a garden, the cycle of life of a plant reminds me of what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes..."there is a time and a purpose for everything under heaven".
Everytime I plant seed I am reminded of the parable of the seed in Luke chapter eight verses five through 15. I particularly like verse 11: "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God." Over my many years of being a "seed-sower" for the Lord, I have planted many spiritual seeds. I have seen the enemy destroy some of these seeds, I have seen some fruit from these seeds, and I am still waiting for the harvest from other seeds. I know that my labor (yes seed sowing is hard work) for the Lord has not been in vain, and I will reap what I have sown.
Galatians 6 v 9: "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
Irvin L. Rozier, aka walkin2e
posted by walkin2e @ 11:16 AM
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