Seeds Like Dust – February 2021
I tried something today that I’ve never done before - winter sowing - strawberry seeds. After having amazing results last summer from the 4” plants we purchased from the nursery, it seemed reasonable enough to try starting from seed. Buying mature plants can often add up quickly and seeds aren’t that daunting.
The instructions on the sowing packet read that in order to aid in germination, seeds should be stored in the freezer for 3-4 weeks prior to sowing. In one of my latest gardening classes, I was introduced to the concept of winter sowing - essentially bypassing the need for using the freezer method by direct sowing and immediately storing the containers outside.
We’ve just had three snow storms in a row here - one dumping almost thirty inches of snow in a thirty-six hour period. Sowing and heading outdoors with my seeds in water jugs just defies the perfect box on how I think gardening should take place.
I rewatched the youtube video laying out the precise steps at least five times and continued watching while I moved through the process. I felt confident. I slit the jugs down the center, poking holes underneath for proper drainage, mixed the soil and amendments as instructed, and packed the soil into the jugs making slight divots for the seeds to rest.
And then I opened my seed packets…
To be perfectly honest, I really could not be sure that the $25 I spent on these prize winning varieties were actually seeds - because even with my glasses on - they truly looked more like dust particles! It was at this point that my confidence level in this experiment dropped to just above zero. The divots I had made for the seeds looked more like steep canyons rather than gentle nesting spots for “winter germination.”
Even while the professional gardener confidently chatted away via youtube - I just shook my head with disbelief. How would this dust ever form luscious fruit? I couldn’t find the spray bottle with which to gently water in the seeds before sealing up the mini-greenhouses. My husband suggested I improvise - so out came the salt shaker. - This slight deviation from the prescribed method only further reduced my overall confidence.
I sealed the jugs shut as instructed, labeled each variety, and then came the final step. "Take the jugs outside to a south facing area - preferably not against the house so your plants don’t dry up - and place them in an area where they will receive the maximum amount of sunlight."
Due north on our property isn’t even an option as it is currently under 24” of snow, so I headed south - out the front door to the entrance walkway. And there in the full February sun, while snowflakes were still falling against a backdrop of ice and snow, I placed my eight strawberry greenhouses.
As I returned to the warmth of the house, I received an alert for bitterly cold temperatures moving into our area over the next few days. I just shook my head at the absurdity of this endeavor.
...And aren’t there so many things like this in life? Especially right now when our world seems as though changes are sweeping left and right across our globe… impacting each of us at both a micro and macro level.
How much confidence do we have that these sweeping changes will result in good?
How many times have we embarked on a journey - education, marriage, parenting, community work, etc… and we find that while we were attracted to the end fruit - yet the process often just looks more like mounds of dirt and dust. Sometimes, especially right in the middle, we wonder if we were completely wrong to set off on this course. The beginning looked right and good, but the current state looks like lost spray bottles and piles of dirt high and low. And our confidence is clocking in just above zero...
But perhaps, if we were to honestly dig deep within ourselves, we might discover that in some places, our confidence may have shifted out of place?
In the middle, we must remember… Unshakable confidence is found in a person - not a program. He is called Truth. He is called Hope.
Long long ago, at the beginning of time, our Creator God swept His hands across the foundations of the earth and gathered dust within His grasp… He breathed across that dust the "Breath of Life" and man became a living being.
And He said that it was good... And His confidence in us was high.
He created us in His own image, gave us a name and a purpose… choice and free will.
And when we fast forward two-thousand years to today, we can see many parts of this place we call home far from that place called good. We see a world full of broken promises, broken systems, broken families, broken people.
We search for meaning, purpose, direction… We seek for all to be well.
We search for HOPE.
But HOPE begins with a person. The same Father Creator who breathed LIFE into the dust...
Yes, our confidence in current day affairs might be dramatically high or low. Our confidence might wax and wane as leaders and programs come or leave power. Our confidence might waver as we face unknown, unrest, instability in our homes and in our hearts…
But faith roots us to the Cross.
Our FAITH in a person holds us fast. From the beginning of time, His confidence in us was always high. He has never wavered in this. We take confidence in His promise that the good work He began in us - will someday be complete… regardless of how absurd or pleasant our current circumstances might be.
This winter sowing still finds me a bit mystified and puzzled. With my water jugs buried against the backdrop of snow and frigid temperatures fast approaching - I really don’t have much confidence in this latest gardening experiment.
But my soul… my soul is well.
Because HOPE breathes into my dust-filled humanity the Breath of Life - I can confidently say, “It is well… It is well… It is well with my soul.”
