Clearing

After making four passes across the garden area with the tiller, I spent the evenings of this past week raking the grass and weeds into piles to be moved to their future composting home. Raking is a pain but at the same time, there is something soothing about it was well. Using the tines of the garden rake, I would dig up weeds and grass left behind by the tiller and also separate the soil from the vegetation. It’s a slow process and thankfully there was cool weather and clear evenings to complete this task. In the area where the chicken coop will be built, I decided not to spend too much time trying to make it perfect. For the garden area, I just needed to clear most of the ground area in preparation for the surface to be covered with shredded cedar which will help keep weeds and grass at bay.

With so much raking, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander. Wandering into thoughts about how preparation is so important to grow a great garden. I thought about how my preparation had started many years ago with dreams and drawings, and now here I was actually removing weeds, reshaping the ground in certain areas, and preparing the area for the garden beds to be installed. Removing weeds is not easy work and as my mind wandered off, I had metaphorical thoughts about weeds and how they grow in our own lives. Sometimes life gets ripped up, roots and all. That’s a great time to examine ourselves and remove the weeds within us and to grow stronger. Weeds can be people, things, relationships, desires, among many other things. The piles were finished and I put my rake in the garage. Sitting down and admiring the day’s accomplishments, I thought about some of the weeds in my own life and how everyday, we need to do some raking and weed pulling in order to be the best person we were created to be.