Thu, Jul 20th - 2:11PM

New Article

I am elated. My newest article just got published on Reflections.  http://www.christian-writing-career.com/reflections071706.html    The title is Pray for Babylon. 

It's amazing how God can use the events of our lives to minister to other people.  I thank Him.

Alice

Sat, Jul 15th - 2:33PM

There is a purpose

To all you’re going through.

There is a purpose

That only He does know.

Friend, will you trust Him?

For He has planned the way.

To make you holy

Believe hisWord today.

There is a purpose

So let him have His way.

There is a purpose.

Rejoice and sing today.

Mon, Jul 10th - 10:01PM

Cooking up a Garden

Cooking up a Garden

How can you grow anything in Arizona soil?  That was my question when we first moved here from the Midwest. I had serious doubts that anything could possibly grow in gravel and clay with a hot sun beating down all day.   But since that was all I had to work with, I gave it a try.

I knew that raised bed gardening, like I did up north, would not be good here.  The elevated beds would dry out too fast, and the roots of the plants would get too hot to thrive.  So I devised a deep dish gardening method.

I laid out three  4’x10’ garden beds.  But  I couldn’t dig, because it was too rocky to sink the shovel in.   So I scraped out a shallow “dish”, about 1” deep.  I flooded that “dish” and let it soak in.  That helped to soften the soil for another inch .  After I scraped that out, I flooded my “dish” again.  Soon I had a dish 12” deep.  That was the beginning of my garden.  Into that “dish” went a layer of flattened cardboard boxes which I got from the grocery store.  That got topped with 1” of bagged cow manure, then a layer of whatever organic material I could get my hands on.  On top of that went an inch of the dirt I had scraped out earlier.  I layered up my “dish,” lasagna fashion,  till it was about 12” above the original surface of the soil. 

After thoroughly soaking it down and covering it with clear plastic,  I let it “cook” in the sun for a few weeks.   When It was done composting, I had a rich organic soil, that nobody from up north could rival. Earthworms had found their way into those beds, and were busy helping to turn the raw materials into black dirt.  What a joy to stick my fingers into that dirt I had cooked up.

I grew an amazing amount of vegetables in that small 120 sq. ft. garden.

Now we are moving to a new place.  I will have to do it all over again.  My plan this time is to expand the garden and cultivate 1000 sq. ft.  That may seem like a lot of work when you think of it in traditional gardening terms, but it really won’t be bad at all.  Once I had cooked up the soil for my little 120 sq ft garden and installed the automatic watering system, there was very little work left to do other than enjoy the produce.