In Psalm 107:37, we read, “They sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.”
October is a month of harvest. If you haven’t finished picking and pulling your garden plants, this month is the time to finish that task. Any crops left in fields get harvested during the month of October. Here in Wisconsin, if you don’t finish your harvesting before Halloween, it’s likely not to get harvested.
As I write this article, I am just about to pull my tomato plants and harvest the rest of my tomatoes. Oddly, this year my tomato plants produced fruit much later than normal. Usually I pull my tomato plants early in September, but not this year. Once I harvest the remaining tomatoes then I will have everything out of my garden except a few carrots.
For me, harvest is an exciting time. I get to take stock of what my little garden has produced. I don’t can anything, but I freeze a lot each year. This year I planted extra tomato plants because we ran out of frozen tomato juice which I use for making various soups throughout the year. As I finish harvesting all those tomatoes, I will turn them into juice, measuring it out in the amount I need for soup before I freeze it. I have already also chopped and frozen peppers for those same soup recipes. And I cooked the one squash I grew this year and froze that for future use.
I don’t have a very big garden. My garden is literally 2 feet by 18 feet right next to our garage, plus a raised planter next to the back porch. Still every year, I raise plenty to eat, plenty to freeze, and plenty to share. That makes me happy.
I think of the story of the mustard seed found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. If it’s in all three of those gospels, it must be important. The story reminds us that a tiny mustard seed when planted grows almost into the size of a small tree, and birds can lodge in its branches. Jesus then reminds his followers that lots of small items and actions and words can grow into something big. My little garden is much like that mustard seed.
There are many, many ways that the small things in our lives can become larger things. When we are kind and generous and loving and gracious, our actions touch many other people’s lives. So, share what you have, and your harvest will multiply.
Pastor Beth
