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posted by Michael on 05/13/08

Rosemary is a delightful herb best suited to warm dry climates and sandy soil. Our family has been impressed with the world of difference a little rosemary makes in our stew recipe. I know that there are many people who would like to grow rosemary but their climate is not favorable. Being on the edge of zones 5 and 6 in the mountains of West Virginia, our climate is the opposite: cold and damp with clay soil. Each winter the temperature drops below zero F once or twice. If I had known about others’ failures in attempting to grow rosemary in my kind of environment, I might not have attempted it. But since the family enjoys using rosemary so much, when I heard about a variety that was “hardy to zone 5” named ‘Madeline Hill’ I decided to give it a shot. It is important when trying something new to keep detailed records. Only then can all the factors be considered for helpful conclusions. I hope the details here will be helpful to someone.

I planted it in April ’06 in front of a small south-facing brick wall but the soil was heavy clay that had been amended with peat moss and gypsum. Because neither clay nor peat moss is recommended for Rosemary, I amended it further with sand. The wall is 7 feet from the outside wall of the house so I do not believe it receives any warmth from that source in the coldest days of winter. However, the eave of a porch roof helps keep the soil somewhat dry and that is a good thing for Rosemary.

It seemed to grow happily the first summer. The following winter I insulated the plant if the temperature threatened to go below 15 degrees. I did this by turning a crate over the plant and wrapping it thickly with burlap bags. “Thickly” means about 15 layers. Since a bag is two layers, that means a 7- or 8-bag thickness all the way around. In a 12-day period in February 2007 the temperature fell to single digits seven times, the coldest temperature being -2 degrees F. The temperature rose

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5 Comments » | posted in Possessing the Land

posted by Michael on 04/22/08

"For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the LORD God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." Is. 61:11

This has been a fascinating verse to think about at this  time of year as I see the buds opening and the seeds sprouting up after an unusually good spring. How is God like a garden? Just as in a garden plants receive the water,  nutrients, air, and light that they need to grow and produce, so those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God (Ps. 92:13). Like a thirsty deer, a dry seed is ready to instantly absorb life-giving water, and "so panteth my soul after thee, O God!" Jehovah is also my Light and my salvation (Ps. 97:1). Just as the garden provides nutrition, Jehovah is my saving health and the Living Bread. If you have eaten that bread (Jn. 6:51) and comprehended that light (Jn. 1:5), you know what I mean, for we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen (Jn. 3:11).

I advocate and practice sustainability, responsibility, and conservation, but a plant in the earth is only as secure as earth’s conditions allow. The light of the sun itself will not last forever. Droughts can render the richest soil useless and floods can wash it away. But unlike an earthly garden subject to the degeneracy of nature, a soul that is rooted and grounded in Love is as secure as the eternal God. "Although the fig tree shall not  blossom, neither shall the fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet will I rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Hab. 3:17-18) Indeed, you cannot receive Christ without giving up the world (Luke 14:33). What life is there in the Spirit without the flesh (nature) being reckoned dead? (Rom. 6:5-6, 11) We will not be eating of the tree of life in the new heaven and the new earth until the present earth and heaven have passed away (Rev. 21:1 and 22:1-4)

Yes, Jehovah will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. He has caused righteousness and praise to spring forth in my soul. At first it looked like death, but when out came life, there were no regrets!

3 Comments » | posted in Possessing the Land, Tidbits

posted by Michael on 12/23/07

I witnessed something new during hunting season this year. The tree stand I was hunting in one particular evening happened to be located in a stand of Bigtooth Aspen, also known as Large-toothed Poplar. A rather common tree on our land, Bigtooth Aspen is one tree that had me “wondering as I wander out under the sky”. It seemed to be a rather useless piece of creation. It holds no use as firewood or timber, it is insignificant as a wildlife food source, and its fall color is rather drab, unlike its “Quaker cousin”. Its bark is an entirely normal gray-brown. The wood is so soft and light that the life of a Bigtooth Aspen usually ends when the wind blows and the tree snaps in half, leaving a tall, ugly, ragged stump. Can it get any worse? The tree does provide some pollen to honeybees, but at the same time as countless other trees. To its merit, when you stand among its large trunks growing close together in the forest, they do give a wonderful sensation of being in a deeeep dark woodland. Other than that, what’s their use?

So as I sat there on my stand, I began to notice holes in the trees around me. Some of them were natural holes made when branches had fallen out while others had been deliberately carved. Then it struck me that all of the holes were in the aspen trees. Not a single one was in the nearby Red Maples or Tulip Trees, although both are known for soft wood. That was interesting. As it grew dark, I watched a Flicker land on one of the trees, hop down, and disappear into one of the holes. Soon a Pileated Woodpecker noisily swooped in and landed on a larger Aspen. It hopped around to the opposite side and into a bigger cavity. When it was almost dark another flicker flew in, looked into the same hole as the first had entered, but did not go in. It hopped to another hole and looked in, but would not go in there either. It flew to another tree and looked around. Finally it went to the top of yet another tree, looked in a hole, hopped in, looked out a few times, and then disappeared from sight. Before I left the stand I watched a Gray Squirrel scamper up another Aspen tree and crawl into another hole. There were several holes at which I had seen no activity, and began to wonder what cozy critters might be inside.

I trudged back to the house with a new appreciation for the Bigtooth Aspen. I knew of four other little creatures who might also be grateful. It strikes me that the weakness of the tree is its value. The extreme lightness of the wood, making it of little value for other purposes, is the very thing that makes it able to receive and shelter the animals. Does this remind you of something? Wasn’t it the big inns that were too full and busy to receive and shelter the baby Jesus, and the lowly stable that ended up welcoming the King of Kings? Wasn’t it the despised publican who was willing to repent of his sin and receive God’s mercy? “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to those that love Him?” If your heart is soft and you understand your weakness, you are exactly where you need to be to receive God’s greatest gift: “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world”. Now remember that the holes in the tree are not a comfortable thing for the tree. But they serve a higher purpose than the tree itself: higher forms of life. Neither is it a comfortable thing to “take up your cross” and follow Him. But our short, temporary lives were meant to serve a higher purpose, and “this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life”!

5 Comments » | posted in Family News, Possessing the Land

posted by Dad on 12/9/07

I had been hunting in ideal weather conditions but without success for six days. For three of these days there was not even a sighting of a deer. The strangest things seemed to happen on the days deer were in the area. On several occasions I had a deer in my sights, but it would have been an unsafe shot; either a sky shot or a shot into the open woods of a neighbor. I let a very small deer, probably born this year, walk past. Another deer came trotting, stopped directly behind a stand of trees, and scampered off into a thicket. Then there was the deer I spotted walking slowly toward my tree stand about 50 yards away. Somehow it literally disappeared from sight then reappeared 20 yards directly behind me. I was beginning to get a complex. However, I took last Friday off work to try again. The only problem was I could not get off to an early start because our son would be calling from Taiwan at 6:30 am. The Lord encouraged me to keep my priorities straight and I was eager to talk with Donald so I decided to just get out as soon as I could. However, God’s plan was for Donald’s call not to work out until 8:30 am. We had a nice long talk and I finally left for the woods at 10:00 am. The cold snow crunched under each step. When I reached the tree stand it started to sleet so I had to remove the crackling plastic from my vest to cover the gun while I climbed up to my seat to remove 6 inches of snow. As I scraped it off it fell 30 feet to the ground below. Scrape … splat; scrape … splat. Following a discussion on the walkie-talkie about the location of a book in our library that was needed for the day’s home education class it was 11:00 am and I was finally situated.

“This is useless,” I thought, “I’ll just consider this a preparation day for hunting again tomorrow.” But that is when God likes to show Himself strong; and He did! Only 1 hour later three large doe came grazing into a shooting lane. I got one and Michael got another. On a day like this I would never have guessed for success, but it will ever be a reminder to me that as long as I keep my priorities straight, God will take care of the rest - sometimes in mysterious ways.

3 Comments » | posted in Family News, Possessing the Land

posted by Michael on 11/8/07

The finishing of a project always takes longer than its basic construction. To help put up the soffet and facia Uncle Alan came again on July 12, and the same day we were also able to put up the plastic wrap and install the doors and windows. This went smoothly because we had bought the windows and doors before we built the shed, and had been able to make the openings just the right size.

The next step was to put up the cedar siding to match the house. Donald, Jonathan, and David had stained it ahead of time, and even though Dad and I worked together on it whenever we had time, it was over a month before that step was complete.

To make the shed useable, we needed plenty of shelf space. I came up with a plan for the shelves based on what they would be used for, and as it turned out some of our stored lumber worked perfectly. With other projects going on simultaneously, building the shelves took five weeks.                                                              .

For easy lawn mower access, we planned to make a ramp up to the door. But before building it, we made sure to install the underground drain pipes to carry the water from the gutters to the creek. Meanwhile we had poured a little concrete pad in front of the door as a landing for the ramp. It was into October before the ramp was built.

Lastly, on October 12 we put up the gutter and downspout. The shed is now fully functioning and things around here are becoming much more organized. The feeling of completion is amazing – but a combination of patience and determination is required to bring any project to the finish line.

Determination:

Purposing to accomplish God’s goals in God’s time regardless of the opposition.

6 Comments » | posted in Family News, Possessing the Land