When I was a child, my family lived on a farm. It was not our farm and we did not work there. We just lived there. So, it was normal that my siblings and I played with the kids of the owner. They had a big barn with hay and straw. I could sometimes join the farmer when he was driving his tractor or the combine harvester. So, I think I was inspired there for the first time in my life.
After some years, my family moved to another village into our own house with our own garden.
So, I asked my parents if I could have just a small space in our garden just for me. My parents told me, that it is much work and they are not sure about my idea but I was a bit stubborn because I just wanted to grow some vegetables and flowers. At the same time, now and then, we visited my grandparents. You need to know that my grandpa was a pastor and a real gardener. He loved every kind of plants. He had many flowers in his garden and also vegetables, bushes and trees. He had joy to be outside in nature and when my siblings and I were there, we joined him with more or less joy. I mean, as a kid you would like to play more than to weed in the garden. But I loved the the feeling of freedom and peace that I had there. At the mealtime we also got the vegetables from the garden and that was much better than from the supermarket. So, I decided to have also a garden for me.
At home, my own space in the garden became bigger and bigger. My grandpa helped me then to build up a small greenhouse and showed me how to grow there tomatoes and cucumbers. I made my own experiences at this time and I had success. At this time I did not realise that I started reading in the great book of nature written by God.
„So far as possible, let the child from his earliest years be placed where this wonderful lesson book shall be open before him. Let him behold the glorious scenes painted by the great Master Artist upon the shifting canvas of the heavens, let him become acquainted with the wonders of earth and sea, let him watch the unfolding mysteries of the changing seasons, and, in all His works, learn of the Creator.“ (Ellen G. White, Education, p.100.3).
After a few years we moved again but this time it was a big distance, namely from Germany to Austria. It was not so easy because it was in winter and in the middle of the school year. So, it was the question where I should go to school now. It was a school for farming in the nearest town (such a town would have been considered in Germany a bigger village.) and we decided that I can go there. So, I went there for half a year without being graded. I needed this time because German is not German. I mean they speak here in Austria German as well but I could not understand them because of the dialect. "What did you say?“, "Can you say it again?“ were normal sentences at this time. I should mention that my parents bought a little farm where we still live. So, that was also a reason to visit this school because I wanted to be a farmer. I visited this school for three years and started after that with working at home. I never had an unemployed day since then and I am very thankful to God for that.
Over the years I gained more and more knowledge and learned many things about gardening, farming, plants, animals, how to fix things and many other topics. I also learned more and more to see how great and wonderful our Creator is and I am still learning and reading the wonderful book of nature.
Have you ever thought about the question why God put Adam and Eve into a garden? In my studies I realised that it is important for the health of our body, mind and spirit to be outside in nature and this has also been shown in several studies. When we take a look to the writings of Ellen White we can see that she wrote about these things many years ago. Especially for education it is good to be outside in nature. Furthermore there are many reasons to grow your own vegetables, for example to be independent of systems and to know what you are eating. But just to have the knowledge what you should do is not enough, you must apply it! And then you will see many fruits, especially such which you did not expect.
I think a good way to start gardening is to focus on a few cultures or vegetables. In the following I would like to present my three favourites and also the reason why.
My first culture are potatoes.
Potatoes are not vegetable. Potatoes are potatoes and belong to the group of nightshade family. I like potatoes because you can eat them in many ways and you do not need much of them to be full. So, how can I grow potatoes? And what is important?
Potatoes are easy to grow because they grow nearly everywhere. The soil should be prepared in autumn of the last year with manure. You should take 200 kg/ar (1 ar = 100m²) of manure and plow it then so that the manure can rot during the winter. I know that many people say: “Do not plow, it is bad for the soil.” Yes and No. You should plow the heavy soil more than the light soil. (The categories of soil are an extra topic - here is not so much space for that). Ellen White is writing also that the soil should be plowed. See Christ Object lessons, p. 88.
In March you choose the potatoes you want to plant and take them to a warmer place so that they can germinate. For 1 ar you need 400 potatoes. In April, when it is getting warmer and the soil is drying out, you can cultivate the soil, so that it is fine crumbled and flat. Now it is also time to add some of your compost. Here you can take also 200 kg/ar. When the temperature and the weather is warm enough, you can plant the potatoes. It is important not to plant them too deep or too flat. Something around 12 to 15cm is the optimum. When the plants are grown a bit, you can cover it with some mulch. Here is the best mulch a mixture out of forage rye and vetch. The coat should be 10cm. Now, you can wait till the harvest. Maybe it is important to water them a bit or to collect some Colorado beetles. The potatoes can be harvested when the plants are dried out.
My second culture is cabbage.
Cabbage is a real vegetable. A German without Sauerkraut is not a German. Sauerkraut is a good source for Vitamin C and is also very good for the digestion. Cabbage belongs to the family of cruciferous plants. They are a bit more difficult to grow but it is possible.
The preparation for cabbage is nearly the same as for the potatoes. Here you also take 200 kg/ar of manure and plow it in autumn of the last year. In spring you cultivate the soil in the same way and also add compost 200kg/ar.
You start seeding at the end of March and, if it is possible, in a greenhouse which is heated. At this time, it is important that the temperature is higher than 17°C, otherwise the cabbage can shoot later. Many say that you need for sowing a soil with less nutrients, but my experience is that the plants are growing better when you take sieved compost and hotbed earth. For 1 ar you need 300 plants. Sow the seeds 2cm deep.
The planting is at the end of April/ beginning of May. I take some sheep wool into the planting hole. An ancient wisdom says: “Horn and hair fertilizes for seven years”. It is very important to water the plants well because they need much water. When they have grown a bit, you can cover them also with mulch. Here you can use the same mixture as you took for potatoes. It is also very important to cover the plants with a culture safety net against some pests. The cabbage is ready to harvest when you can see many bald heads.
My third culture are bush beans.
They are also vegetables and belong to the group of papilionaceous plants. It is very interesting that they store nitrogen from the air in the soil. The reason why I chose them as one of the three favourites is that the have many proteins and are easy to grow.
You take some compost in the beginning of spring, just 75 kg/ar and cultivate the soil so that it is fine crumbled. At the end of April, you can start seeding directly in the bed, when the frost is over. Here you need 1 kg/ar. Here you sow the beans 3 to 4cm deep. Water them when the soil is dry and when the plants have grown a bit, you can cover the soil with mulch. Here you can take normal gras or something else. It is important, that the gras is cut before it gets seeds. After two months you can start to harvest the beans, depending on the type, when they are 10 to 12cm long.
Well then, I wish you joyful and blessed gardening!
Hendrik Wewerke is a farmer in Austria. He is doing all kind of farming like growing vegetables, fruits, breeding sheep, chicken and bees. His hobbies are being outside in nature on a hiking trip, being active by bike, baking and working with wood. The greatest joy he has is when he can understand the Bible better through reading in the book of nature.
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