Toiling with the Land: Getting Rid of Tomato Worms

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;  Cursed is the ground because of you;  In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  Genesis 3:17-18

THANKS A LOT, ADAM!!!

Part of the reason for my lack of blog posts the past few weeks is a serious case of Genesis 3:17-18.  We have been infested with worms at the community garden, and they just reared their ugly heads in the front yard too!!!   What's funny, is they are a type of worm we've never even seen in our garden before...EVER! 

"Project Rid the Garden of Worms" started during our Spring Break week.  The first day, I boiled me up a heapin' pot of garlic and hot pepper tea.  I just boiled up a pot of water, smashed about 7-8 heads of garlic with the back side of my knife, threw them in the pot (skins and all), dumped about a cup of dried, ground, hot peppers (we had some habaneros we had grown last year) and let it boil.  Once it boils, turn the water off and let it steep for up to 24 hours.  Strain it and spray it all over the leaves of the plants. 

Side Note:  WEAR GLOVES!!!!  If you a little on the slow side like me, :), you might be tempted to not heed that warning.  Believe me, it's a mistake you don't want to make.  I was holding the leaves of the plants in my hands while spraying them and not even thinking about the strength of the hot peppers in my concoction.   Lord have mercy, my hands burned so bad for an entire day straight, I was completely dysfunctional!!  It about drove me to the brink of insanity!!  The only thing that finally took the burn away (and believe me, I tried EVERYTHING)  was soaking my hands in rubbing alcohol until the burn got so intense that I thought I was going to pass out.  This is coming from a girl who actually gave birth with no drugs and still swears it didn't hurt that bad.  The moral of the story...wear gloves!!

Next step...hand pick, and pick, and pick and pick some more.   Most worms only come out in the cool weather (which means evenings and into the morning until the sun starts getting too hot for them).  So, if you're looking to get rid of the little boogers, the early bird gets the worm. 

Then, a dose of our now must-have microbial organisms gave the plants some extra fighting strength. 

With those methods, we were able to mostly rid the garden of the leave munching nuisances, but some were just as persistent as can be, so we had to hit it with a round of thuricide.  I really don't like using thuricide because of the controversial reports on it, so it is only an ABSOLUTELY, HAVE-TO thing for us. Thuricide is a liquid bacteria that messes with the worm's digestive system and makes them not want to eat.  They starve in a few days after eating a leaf sprayed with the bacteria.

After two straight weeks of work, the good news...the plants are thriving, producing and doing well...yey!!!

Through all the frustration and sweat, the whole process was an amazing reminder that we live in a fallen world, and there's nothing that we can do about it.  Believe me, those worms will be back.  The best news...Jesus has already taken care of it for us (worms and all)!!!   Even as we will toil with the soil here on earth, He is preparing a place for us where there is no worms eating your tomatoes, no diseases destroying your body, no sadness and no pain. 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:1-6

Easter may be over until next year, but Christ is still risen, He will always be the only way, and He is coming back one day to take us to the place He has prepared for us.   So, when the worms have got you down, praise God for Hope!!

Happy Wednesday!!

A Reflection

I was digging through some old bible study paperwork yesterday and came across the lyrics to Casting Crown's song "American Dream".  One of my past bible study teachers had handed out a copy.  From the looks of it, I folded it in half, wrote some prayer requests on the back and stuck it in a folder.  I know I prayed the prayers, but must have never opened it back up again to read the lyrics.  Funny...had I read it back then, I probably wouldn't have given it a second glimpse.  I might have even turned my nose up to it.  After some serious refining from God over the past few years, it could almost be an anthem for our family.  It was a sweet reminder to me that this simpler life He has given us works so much better than the old one we tried to create for ourselves.  Thank you Lord for opening our hearts to your plan for us and saving us from our...

 "American Dream"

All work no play may have made Jack a dull boy
But all work no God has left Jack with a lost soul
But he's moving on full steam
He's chasing the American dream
And he's gonna give his family the finer things

Not this time son I've no time to waste
Maybe tomorrow we'll have time to play
And then he slips into his new BMW
And drives farther and farther and farther away

So He works all day and tries to sleep at night
He says things will get better;
Better in time

And he works and he builds with his own two hands
And he pours all he has in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are comin' crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands

His American Dream is beginning to seem
More and more like a nightmare
With every passing day
"Daddy, can you come to my game?"
"Oh Baby, please don't work late."
Another wasted weekend
And they are slipping away

'Cause he works all day and lies awake at night
He tells them things will get better
It'll just take a little more time

He used to say, "Whoever dies with the most toys wins"
But if he loses his soul, what has he gained in the end
I'll take a shack on the rock
Over a castle in the sand
Now he works all day and cries alone at night
It's not getting any better
Looks like he's running out of time
'Cause he worked and he built with his own two hands
And he poured all he had in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are coming crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands

All they really wanted was You
All they really wanted was You
All they really wanted was You

What the Bible Says About Food

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A friend of mine just gave me an excellent book written by Dr. Rex Russell called "What the Bible Says About Healthy Living"--you rock, Amy!!  This book has been stuck in my hands for a day straight, except when life calls (practically every other second) and, I have to put it down to tend to the non-stop chores, so I'm only on chapter three.  In those three little chapters, there has been enough information for me to chew on for a month...have I mentioned, I LOVE this book!?!?!


Speaking of chewing, did you know that food is mentioned all over the bible?   The bible is given to us to guide us spiritually, but, we forget, it's a User's Manual.  God gave us all we need to know about the body and soul He created us with right there in plain black and white! 

Before I get into the food part, here are a few fun facts Dr. Russell threw out there to kick off the book. 

In the mid-1800's, a hospital in Vienna was having a problem--new mothers were dying at a rate of one in six.  Turned out doctors who had just examined the dead were walking right over to the maternity wards and examining the expectant mothers without washing their hands.  Had they read up on God's Word, they would have known that "whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days" Numbers 19:11

Or-

It is routine to circumcise babies within three days of birth.  Dr. Russell had a patient who's circumcision just would not seem to clot.  No harm was done, but the stress on mom and doctor's could have been avoided had God's Word been followed.  "For the generations to come every male amoung you who is eight days old must be circumcised" Genesis 17:12.  Why?  Because Vitamin K is our natural clotting agent.  God designed the infant body to produce a supply of Vitamin K after 5-7 days of breast feeding.  How do we know this?  Because modern science has proven it through research. 

I thought those were really cool little tid-bits!


Back to the food...

That seminar I went to a few weeks ago revolved a lot around this book.  Sue Becker from Bread Beckers was the speaker.  She's been sharing information about bible based eating for the past 20 years through her company and speaking engagements.  One of the verses she discussed was Proverbs 23

 ¹ When you sit to dine with a ruler,
note well what is before you,
² and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to gluttony.
³ Do not crave his delicacies,
for that food is deceptive.

⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
do not trust your own cleverness.
⁵ Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
for they will surely sprout wings
and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
  
⁶ Do not eat the food of a begrudging host,
do not crave his delicacies;
⁷ for he is the kind of person
who is always thinking about the cost.^[b]
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
⁸ You will vomit up the little you have eaten
and will have wasted your compliments.

Most diseases we face today are nothing new.   What's new about them, is that they have never been as common as they are now.  History shows that up until the last six or so decades, diseases like heart disease and diabetes were reserved for royalty...lucky them.  Just kidding, the rich were the only ones that could afford refined flours and sugars.  Funny how the tables have turned, and, now, that's the cheap stuff.  When God spoke of dainties and delacacies, he was refering to those light, fluffy pastries and breads made from white flour and sugar. 

God says not to crave these foods because they are deceptive and you might as well put a knife to your throat instead of indulging in them.  They are deceptive, because they look like food and taste like food, but they are dead food.  Not only dead food, but food that messes with the way God intended for our bodies to run--smoothly. 

He says not to worry about getting rich--sounds like a less stressful way of life to me.  Strange how He stuck that in the middle of two proverbs about food.  Do you see the correlation?

Then, he says not to eat the food of a host who is resistant to share his expensive delicacies (I'm thinking this is the guy who's keeping up with the Jones', wants to look rich,  and is racking up debt just to serve a fancy meal), because you will vomit them up.  I am loving these verses about vomit...gross, God!!  What He's saying here is these foods are not good for your body, and it will reject it--been there. 

Sue also pointed out a verse from Isaiah.

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 
Isaiah 55:2

God tells us not to waste our labor or money on fake food. 

What is fake food??

It's all the processed junk I've been talking about in the Pantry Raids that we find on the grocery store shelves.   It's food with additives, color enhancers, scientifically manipulated, homogenized, ultra-pasterized, pureed, pulverized and has every ounce of life sucked out of it!


How can we feed life with food that has no life??

We can't!  That is why we are facing chronic fatigue, chronic diseases, obesity, rising health care costs and all the other yuck that goes along with our lack of knowledge of just what is in (or not in) our food.   

This book has me so hyped up (if you can't tell), that I am thinking there's a need for a second weekly series of posts focusing on what God has to say about food.  Let's consider this post #1 :)

Happy Wednesday!!