Companion Planting
On the cusp of August, vegetable gardens are flourishing all over town. Tomatoes plump up and redden, green beans hang heavy, their tendrils curling fancifully. Peppers dangle like ornaments beneath pretty leaves, and zucchini, well, they just go wild. It brings tremendous satisfaction to carry an empty basket to the backyard, load it up with produce of every color, and rinse the haul off in the kitchen sink.
Or so I seem to remember. It’s been quite a few years since I planted an all-out, full-scale, season-spanning array of edibles from spring peas to autumn pumpkins. And while I’m in awe of the miraculous nature of how seeds sprout, grow, and eventually become dinner, I also know that effort coaxes along and sustains such miracles.
Take, for example, “companion planting.” Some plants like to grow with other plants. Some, not so much. Taking the time to understand which properties make which plants tick can lead to an abundantly diverse outcome. For example, tomatoes and basil grow harmoniously side-by-side, as do radishes and spinach, cucumbers and peas, carrots and leeks, broccoli and onions, and beets and garlic. Indigenous Americans have seemingly always known full well the potency of the “Three Sisters” and increased the value of ancient gardens by always planting corn, beans and squash together. Personally, I like to hem in my vegies with a brilliant border of orange nasturtiums and golden marigolds not only because it’s a beautiful addition, but because the flowers stave off the destructive forces of aphids and beetles.
Being attentive to diversity in the garden leads not only to healthier individual plants, but to the collective prosperity of the whole ecosystem.
If human society is an ecosystem, it feels like one that is combatant these days. It’s like what happens when cucumbers are planted close to potatoes—they bring out the worst in each other. Each plant creates pH levels that the other finds inhospitable. They fight each other for what sustains them, and they both end up withering. I don’t know that the cucumber blames the potato, or visa versa, but the result is devastating to both. A society that succumbs to its own Culture Wars will find itself equally devastated, I’m afraid.
The Watchword for the coming week from The Moravian Daily Texts says:
The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. Psalm 145:9
This reminds me that it is never God’s doing to pit cucumbers against potatoes. Neither is it God’s doing to pit Democrats against Republicans, or U.S. citizens against citizens of other nations, or light-skinned persons against dark-skinned persons, or anybody against anybody. God is good to ALL. God’s compassion is over ALL. God’s intention is that the whole garden should flourish. Anything short of that is not of God.
To be on God’s side is to be in favor of companion planting—discovering qualities in one another, nurturing those qualities along in positive ways, shooing away what eats at the chance for growth, encouraging effective partnerships, fostering beauty.
The reason I haven’t done a lot of intense gardening in recent years is because it’s easier not to. But, inevitably, I’m disappointed when there’s nothing delicious to harvest. Likewise, it’s easier to skip all the effort it takes to co-create a kinder, more just, more gracious and God-blessed world. It takes not only more effort, but more ingenuity, more creativity. More investment of self.
One summer, when I was a stay-at-home mom, I wanted to cultivate a garden and introduce our pre-schooler, Daniel, to all of its wonders. We had a beautiful back yard with enough space to accommodate a small plot, but it was graced by the shade of large maple trees and only spots of light that moved around the yard as the sun moved across the sky. How could we make this work? We sowed our cucumbers and green peppers in containers that we placed in a Little Tikes wagon. Then, every single day of the entire growing season, we would roll the wagon across the lawn every 2 or 3 hours, chasing down the sunbeams.
Favorite. Garden. Ever.
Cultivating Goodness and Chasing Down the Light of World,
Pastor Chris
+++++
Happening This Weekend…
Parking Lot Worship
Sunday Mornings, 10:00 a.m.
From the church parking lot and the safe bubble of your own vehicle, tune to 98.5 FM and listen to live worship being broadcast from inside the College Hill sanctuary! If you’d like to participate, please arrive in the parking lot no earlier than 9:30 a.m. for the 10:00 a.m. service. Follow the instructions from your Parking Attendants, and praise God from the safe bubble of your car.
Following worship, if this is of interest to you, stick around to purchase Grocery Gift Cards and support the church’s fundraising efforts. To do so, please remain in your car at the end of the service and Joe & Caroline will come to you with Giant, Weis, and Valley Farm cards. Please have your cash or checks ready.
Virtual Activities
Virtual Fellowship Time on Zoom – Sundays at 11:30 a.m.
This casual online gathering has taken root over the last few months and become a wonderful way to keep connected. Whether you’ve become a “regular” at these gatherings, or you’re thinking about dropping by for the very first time, please take note that the Zoom link has changed and a Password is now required. Please find the new information below. I expect to use the same link each week. (I’ve learned not to make too many promises during the pandemic, though!)
And if Zoom is new to you and you’d like to be coached on how to get started, please email me at moravianpastorchris@gmail.com or call me at 484-894-9077.
To join by computer, tablet or smart phone, please go to:
Passcode: 789162
To join by phone (no video), dial:
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
Meeting ID: 998 3134 7702
Zoom Prayers–Sundays at 6:30 p.m.
We are also continuing to offer Zoom Prayers on Sunday evenings at 6:30. We come together to share simply in intercessory prayer on behalf of our congregation, community, and world. We usually conclude by 7:00 p.m. All are welcome!
To join by computer, tablet, or smart phone, please go to:
Passcode: 073131
To join by phone (no video), dial:
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
Meeting ID: 919 6174 3369
Moravian Church Without Walls
Moravian Church Without Walls (MCWW) is observing a 2-week summer break.
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