Amateur Corn

In the Blue Hymnal, hymn 493:

“Sing to the Lord of harvest, Sing songs of love and praise; With joyful hearts and voices, Your alleluias raise. By him the rolling season, In fruitful order move; Sing to the Lord of harvest, A joyous song of love.”

I like to garden. I’m not particularly good at it, but I like it. We are just beginning to get a few tomatoes and cucumbers and have baby pumpkins that are preparing to grow all summer. Every year, though, it seems I have a surprise crop of something. Planted by birds or kids, we never know what to expect. Last year we had okra that we presume the birds planted. By the end of the summer, we’d picked enough of just a few plants to fill a gallon size plastic bag. This year one wheat plant showed up by our air conditioner and the children have quite a corn crop coming along.

We buy dried corn on the cob to feed the birds and squirrels during the winter. We had some leftovers this spring and the kids were shelling out the corn on the front steps. It made a huge mess, so I made them pick it all up and they threw it out into the yard. Who knew it would sprout so well?

We also have a single corn plant in front of our basketball goal that will surely meet its demise, as well as several by their swing set.

The funny thing is that their corn patches seem to be growing better than the corn I planted on purpose, in rows, in the back yard.

No one is more excited than the kids to see their corn growing. They make me look at every single plant they find and know right where they planted it. Mine is in three short rows near my lawn chair. They are amazed by their corn’s growth. I am content to sit with my back to mine. The corn in the front yard is almost as tall as they are now. My corn is barely knee high.

Perhaps my corn is suffering from a lack of enthusiasm. Or perhaps God is planting a seed for a love of gardening in my children. Either way, there will probably be plenty of ears for us and the birds this year!

“For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.” Deuteronomy 16:15