Kitchen Garden
How are we in November already!?
Where has this year gone?
It feels just like yesterday when I was walking out in the cold, fresh spring air, seeing buds on trees and new plants springing to life in the hedgerows. I was so eager for the lush green countryside to be in the full swing of summer.
Now, all that lusciousness has faded away. We’re left with skeletons of trees, an abundance of berries, and dried stems in the hedgerows as a reminder of summer.
But not in the kitchen garden...
At this time of year, the kitchen garden is plentiful.
Call me strange, but I think the humble vegetable plot is one of the most beautiful sights to be found within our English countryside.
Maybe it’s my OCD and the fact that I love neat, straight lines, but there’s just something about a well-tended veg plot.
Dark green brassicas, leafy kale, and perfectly round sprouts. The bright colours of root vegetables poking out from the rich brown soil.
Fresh green and pearly white leeks, all stand to attention, and tall onions, with just a few allowed to go to seed.
Pumpkins and squashes sprawling everywhere—the only untamed plants in the whole plot.
Promising potatoes waiting patiently underground, and cloud-white cauliflowers hiding behind their green leafy shields.
To me, this is just quintessential of the English country garden.
Thoughtful preparation
The Kitchen Garden design is actually an interpretation of young seedlings in a vegetable garden—all sown in neat rows, ready for the winter harvest later in the year.
I suppose it resembles a time of preparation.
When you sow seeds, it is always done in the hope that they will grow into beautiful plants. It is hope for something in the future. Whether it’s a pretty flower or a tasty vegetable, both give joy.
Sowing seeds early in the year is the act of preparation for winter—to make sure that there is food throughout the hardest part of the year, when nothing really grows and the weather is hard hitting.
It’s easy not to think about preparation when it’s summertime, when everything is growing and bearing fruit. But every year, without fail, winter comes around once again.
This is a resemblance of our lives. You wouldn’t be living if you didn’t experience a season of winter—a time of sadness, anxiety, or hardship.
Planting seeds of hope
So, how do we prepare for winter in the summertime?
We plant seeds.
Seeds of hope.
Hope which carries us through the winter. Hope that sees us through to the summer.
Grandmother’s wisdom
My dear beloved grandmother always used to say in times of trouble, “This too will pass”—and she was always right.
Whatever trial we are facing, there will come a time when it comes to an end.
Scripture for strength
Practically speaking, how do we plant seeds of hope?
For everyone, it will be different.
All I can do is share with you how I plant seeds of hope in my own life.
I do it by having faith in Jesus Christ—by having something far bigger than me to put my faith and trust in.
Psalm 28:7 – The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps with joy, and I will thank him with a song.
Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
I don’t know the future, and sometimes I really can’t see the start of summer when I’m in the midst of winter. But I do have hope that winter will come to an end.
My faith in the Lord carries me through the winter periods of my life. He is my strength in times of trouble.
Join me by sowing seeds of hope in the summertime, in preparation for winter.
With love,
Megan x
