When I was a child I believe it was our great Aunt-Auntie, as she was known who gave my siblings and me a “dime book” for either Christmas or birthdays. She would place some “starter dimes” in it and we were supposed to gradually fill the other empty slots until we filled the book-$5.00, then deposit the book into our savings account at the bank.
I can remember even as a little boy having that little “passbook savings account” where every little deposit like those $5.00 dime books would get recorded by hand at the teller’s window. The bank teller would also record interest earned in that little book even if it was less than one dollar. The first time I had enough saved to earn over $1.00 of interest-I was so excited I showed my father! He calmly said: “Always remember, interest is the hardest money you’ll ever pay but the easiest money you’ll ever earn.”
Seems like there’s many types of investments nowadays; but today I want to tell you about the outcome of an “investment” Ruth and I “grew” right here on our little farm in northern Indiana. Many of you might know that we have a few large gardens, but this past spring I wasn’t able to help at all in planting because of my accident that broke my legs. So, Ruth and a good friend of ours planted our regular big plot of popcorn as well as a smaller plot that we started using about 4 years ago.
The large plot has beautiful rich loamy soil-but it took many years to build that soil! Half of that plot is in popcorn, and the other half is in cover crops where next year’s popcorn will be. The first cover crop planted in spring where last year’s corn was, is annual rye, as soon as that starts to form seed heads it gets tilled into the soil. Within two weeks the next cover crop planted is buckwheat. When that is flowering it gets tilled under.
By mid to late August after working the soil for the last time, we plant oats and that will be the last cover crop and stay on right through the winter until spring when we will till and start next year’s popcorn crop.
The reason we plant three different cover crops each year and till 2 of them under is so that we can grow popcorn every year. The cover crops pull nutrients up from the subsoil and the plant itself breaks down, adding organic matter to the soil. By doing it this way, we have turned our average garden soil into some rich, chemical free soil, that grows beautiful vegetables without having to add fertilizers.
If you noticed in the picture of the popcorn at the beginning of this blog it showed 3 ears from one seed-one kernel, which means one stalk of popcorn! Now, if we compare that to the small plot with the soil that has had only cover crops for about 3 years? Well, most stalks had only one ear…if they did produce 2, the ears were very small. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SOIL!
Jesus spoke about the good soil of our “hearts” and He says it best! “The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of 30, 60, or even 100 times as much as had been planted!” Matthew 13:23 (NLT)
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
So, we also need good “heart soil” for God through the Holy Spirit to produce the different kinds of “fruit” in our lives. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SOIL!…Whether in the garden or our “hearts”…
Till Next Time…..
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