And the Lord Planted a Garden...Gen. 2:8

Favorite Gardening Quotes

Life begins the day you start a garden.  ~Chinese Proverb

How hard would you work to defend your spirit?  Nourish with prayer, scriptures, etc. so your testimony grows.  The most important things that ever happened in the world, happened in a garden:  The Garden of Eden; The Garden of Gethsemane; and the Garden Tomb.

To grow a testimony, you don't have to look much further than the Bible, The Book of Mormon, and the Back Yard. 

To grow your testimony, sometimes you have to weed your brain.  Why put weeds in your spiritual garden when there's so much good out there that we'll never even have time to get to.  Why would we put weeds in our spiritual garden?  If you want good things in your heart, you've got to put them there.  Weeds on the other hand will come out of nowhere spontaneously.  Some folks keep weeding, other's won't, Some folks have testimonies, other's don't. ~Jon Bytheway

Gardens are heaven - gardens and churches have a lot in common.  ~Susan Branch

The farther we get away from the land, the greater our insecurity.  ~Henry Ford

Nature Nourishes

Grass--The fresh, rich scent, the tickle of blades, the jolt of vibrant green.  Grass fills your senses and transports you back to the carefree summer days of childhood.

Soil--"It's brimming with restorative powers," says Elizabeth Murray, author of Cultivating Sacred Space:  Gardening for the Soul (Pomegranate, 1997).  When you feel and smell soil, it connects you to the earth.  "That's what calms and refreshes you."

Water--"Moving water creates negative ions, which energize," says Murray.  Still water calms.  If invigoration is what you seek, sit near a waterfall or watch the rain from your porch.  If your spirit craves tranquility, relax by a pond or head outdoors after a downpour when water is at rest. (Family Circle Bonus, 5/11/99)

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ~Margaret Atwood

Gardening Tips

All year long, I keep a compost heap, which is simply a heap on the edge of my yard where all my kitchen scraps, leaves and grass clippings go.  I learned from Rachael Ray to keep a "garbage bowl" on my counter as I prepare food each day.  Fruit and veggie scraps are collected in the bowl and dumped on my compost heap daily.  


I also add egg shells to my compost heap.  Egg shells are a wonderful addition to bulb gardens.  Rinse the shells and store in the egg carton until full.  Then smash the shells with your hand and sprinkle over the bulb garden--or any garden really.  It provides calcium to the soil.  The herb garden pictured above has been a recipient of egg shells and the plants love them!

Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps, perennial pleasures, plants, and wholesome harvest reaps. ~Amos Bronson Alcott