There are so many faith related and and garden related resources available these days that it is impossible list all of them but I thought that you would enjoy a list to at least browse through and enjoy.
A few U.S. based blogs from a variety of faith perspectives:
My colleague, Andy Wade, posts regularly on the lessons he is learning from the garden. I particularly love what he has done in his own garden to create a sense of the sacredness of God.
- Sustainable traditions posts some excellent articles on Christian faith and gardening/environmentalism.
- Presbyterian Food & Faith Blog is a blog of the Presbyterian Hunger Program.
- Fran Sorin also has some very interesting articles on gardening.
- Morning Altars Art – a place to check out Day Schildkret’s beautiful earth art
- The Kids Should See This also has an array of beautiful garden art to look at.
- Serenity in the Garden is another excellent site with some great reflections on spirituality and gardening.
- Red dirt rambling is a site I discovered recently but have not had much opportunity to explore.
- Northwest Edible Life written by a very funny woman named Erica who lives in Edmonds WA.
More American Resources
For those living in the Pacific NW, Seattle Tilth is a must-contact organization. Their educational classes are superb. The Seattle Tilth garden hotline is also an excellent resource, there to answer your questions, and it is not just for those of us who live in this part of the world. Their advice and expertise can help visitors from around the world.
Seattle Public Utilities’ Natural Lawn and Garden Care website provides a variety of downloadable resources, including:
Others that are helpful:
- The American Community Garden Association provides a wealth of resources and is an entrance into a vast network of community gardeners.
- The American Horticultural Society provides many resources, programs, and events by region.
- For those interested in food, faith, and gardening in the Twin Cities (Minnesota, US), visit the Facebook page created by the Faith-based Edible Gardening Collaborative.
- City Farmer has a veritable treasure trove of information on all manner of urban agriculture information.
- Greenfaith is an interfaith coalition for the environment that was founded in 1992. It works with houses of worship, religious schools and people of all faiths to help them become better environmental stewards. They provide an excellent booklet Repairing Eden available for download.
I love this TED talk:
In Canada.
- The Vancouver Community Agriculture Network is an excellent community garden manual available on their website. It is a good, thorough guide to starting and running a community garden.
- The City of Vancouver Community Services Social Planning Department has a website with an extensive list of resources, links, etc. for community gardening.
- A Rocha’s Community Garden Network (based out of BC, Canada), has lots of resources as well.
Alternatives feeding citizenship has several worthwhile pdfs that you can download:
In the U.K
- The BBC garden site is a good place to start with an interactive map of how to find a community garden near you as well as advice on how to get started, garden with kids and much more.
- Garden organic also has information specific to the UK.
- And of course we cannot forget the Royal Horticultural Society
In Australia
- The Future of Food – a new resource from TEAR Australia
- Gardening Australia is the best place to start with lots of good help specific to the country.
- Sustainable Gardening Australia is another great site that I could spend hours exploring and I don’t even live in Australia any more.
- And here is a list of the Top 20 Australia gardening blogs and websites in 2021.
And just for fun…
- The Drag Queen Gardener has fun gardening content on instagram!
Most of these websites are listed in the resource Creating a Faith Based Community Garden though this is an updated list so enjoy.
This last week I have started getting ready for the garden season. I have just updated the resource Creating a Faith based Community Garden with much appreciated help from Heather Choate, Derek Farmer, Marlena Nip and Joy Geertsen who helped make sure that all the links work. Many of you have shared links to wonderful new resources too, so I hope that you will find this useful for your own personal or faith based gardening. For those of you who prefer the blog I will post some of the resources over the next couple of days.
What Seeds Will You Grow?
Here in the U.S. as so much of the country is still under a blanket of snow, we all like to think about spring and what we might be able to grow. This is a great time to curl up by the fire and drool over all those wonderful photos in the seed catalogues that in your saner moments you know won’t grow in your climate zone but which you just can’t resist when it is too cold to grow anything. This year I have done some research on who owns our seed companies and which we can trust to have organic non GM seed.
Unfortunately I discovered recently that many of my favourite seed companies are owned by Monsanto or Mars. This has meant
Seeds of Change – I love their seeds but someone told me recently that they are owned by MARS incorporated, one of the largest food conglomerates in the world. So though Seeds of Change itself provides ethical seed, non GM products, its parent company has a different philosophy. As Tim Stanton who alerted me to this commented: They present themselves as a warm, inviting, environmentally conscious company, but Seeds of Change has a money-hungry corporate core. Tim goes on to say:
Even though Seeds of Change signed the safe seeds pledge (pledging to not sell genetically modified seed), Mars. Inc. spent almost 400k to defeat Prop 37 (which would have required the simple labeling of GM food so PEOPLE could make informed choices). Seeds of Change had been a New Mexico based company since the beginning (since it started out small and independent) but Mars uprooted it from original place of operations in New Mexico and moved it to Los Angeles, leaving almost their entire faithful New Mexico crew jobless. They even abandoned their warehouse cats in the process –
So if you want to get away from any seed company that is associated with Monsanto, here is a very helpful list that documents some of the companies owned by Monsanto who may be using GM food. Unfortunately I notice some of my other favourites (including ones listed above) are on the list. It also contains a list of those that sell safe seed even though they have not signed the safe seed pledge.
So you may also want to check out this link to where you can research seed companies that have signed the Safe Seed Pledge,
Look for heritage seeds and organic seeds:
There are a growing number of organizations that specialize in heirloom and organic seeds. Here are a few that I have used and would recommend.
For more possibilities check out this list from Treehugger.com which was put together from reader suggestions.
Look for local companies:
The list of seed companies that have signed the safe seed pledge is a good place to start when looking for locally produced seeds.
Here in the Pacific N.W. my favorites are:
I also cannot resist a couple of big company catalogues like the English classic Thompson and Morgan and Burpee which have products I can’t seem to find anywhere else.
I realize not all of you live in the Pacific NW. What are your favourites and what region of the world are they most suited for?
Looking towards Deception Pass
Tom and I are heading off on one of our quarterly retreats this morning – taking the ferry across to Whidbey Island and then driving up through Coupeville and across Deception Pass to Anacortes. I am looking forward to a couple of days to rest and refresh my focus.
This is a season of transition for me and I am just starting to ask myself What do I want to become in the next couple of years? Hopefully in the next couple of years I will be able to hand over my role as Executive Director of MSA to someone else and focus more on the ministry that is my passion. But what should that look like?
Transitions are challenging times for all of us. Like the photo of Deception pass, taken on a previous trip, everything seems covered in mist, and the waters over which we need to pass are deceptive, sometimes treacherous.
As we go through transitions, there is a tendency to want to hang on to what is familiar, successful and secure. It gives us a sense of value. But that may not be what God wants for us. Even as I prepare for this retreat I am reminded that there came a point in Jesus life when he needed to turn towards Jerusalem and the cross, backing away from what was surely the most successful healing ministry in the history of the world. From the world’s perspective success to failure in one easy step. From God’s perspective the most successful thing he ever did.
Which direction should we take?
As I contemplate this I wonder What might God want me to turn my back on that seems successful but is not God’s intention for me for the future? Could it be this blog? writing books and prayers? holding retreats? photography? I don’t know and I suspect that this retreat will not tell me. Get ready for change is something that I already feel God is saying to me. And that means to learn to hold loosely to everything I am doing.
So what am I hoping for from this retreat? I want to focus on not: What do I want to become but What does God want me to become? hope for a stronger trust in God so that no matter what the future holds I am willing to walk the path God sets out for me and not try to hang onto what needs to be let go of. I pray for the a heart that wants to draw closer to God and to God’s purposes no matter what that means.
So as you look at your future what do you see? Are you caught up in your own dreams for a better future or are you allowing God to mold and shape your future? Do you trust that your life and future is in God’s hands no matter what that means?
Over the last few day I have spent time meditating on my images of Jesus and trying to reconcile these with the paintings, sculptures and icons I have seen. I am also trying to reconcile them with the images of God that we as Christ followers present to the world. So many of them look as though Jesus has had cosmetic surgery done. Beautiful wrinkle free faces that look as though Jesus does not have a care in the world. It’s no wonder we buy into the promise of health and wealth and wellbeing.
Agony in the garden Ambrogio_Bergognone_1501
I went looking for other images on the internet and came across lots about statues and icons that weep, but few paintings that really depict the agony of Christ and the scars of a God who loves and suffers with us.
Today I find myself imagining Jesus with tears channelling down his face. I can see the scars in hands and feet from the nails of the cross. I can see the wrinkles etched by pain and sorrow and the heartache of being rejected and spat upon.
Then I think Where do I see these images of Jesus in our world today? Perhaps in the homeless who are finding it increasingly difficult to live on the streets. Many of them have experienced violence and animosity just because of the way they live. Like Jesus “they have no place to lay their head.”Matthew 8:20 Or perhaps we see these images in victims of domestic abuse. They too are spat upon, their bones broken as Jesus’ were upon the cross.
I don’t think we realize how much our images of Jesus are shaped by the cultures in which we live. My question for you today therefore is: What are your images of Jesus? Perhaps this poem I am an African by African theologian Gabriel M. Setiloane will help.
Jesus whipped Kenya
“Tell us further, you African:
what of Jesus, the Christ,
Born in Bethlehem: Son of Man and Son of God
Do you believe in him?”
And the answer is:
“For ages He eluded us, this Jesus of Bethlehem, Son of Man;
Going first to Asia and to Europe, and the western sphere . . . .
“Later on, He came, this Son of man;
Like a child delayed He came to us.
The White Man brought Him.
He was pale, and not the Sunburnt Son of the Desert.
As a child He came.
“A wee little babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Ah, if only He had been like little Moses, lying
Sun-scorched on the banks of the River of God
We would have recognized Him.
He eludes us still, this Jesus, Son of Man.
His words: Ah, they taste so good
as sweet and refreshing as the sap of the palm raised and nourished on African soil,
The Truths of his words are for all men, for all time.
“And yet for us it is when He is on the cross,
This Jesus of Nazareth, with holed hands
and open side, like a beast at a sacrifice;
When He is stripped naked like us,
Browned and sweating water and blood in the heat of the sun,
Yet silent,
That we cannot resist Him.
“How like us He is, this Jesus of Nazareth,
Beaten, tortured, imprisoned, spat upon, truncheoned,
Denied by His own, and chased like a thief in the night,
Despised , and rejected like a dog that has fleas,
for NO REASON.
“No reason, but that He was Son of his Father,
OR . . . Was there a reason?
There was indeed . . .
As in that sheep or goat we offer in sacrifice,
Quiet and uncomplaining.
Its blood falling to the ground to cleanse it, as us:
And making peace between us and our fathers long passed away.
He is that LAMB!
His blood cleanses,
not only us,
not only the clan,
not only the tribe,
But all, all MANKIND:
Black and White and Brown and Red,
All Mankind!
“HO! . . . Jesus, Lord, Son of Man and Son of God,
Make peace with your blood and sweat and suffering,
With God, UVELINGQAKI, UNKULUNKULU,
For the sins of Mankind, our fathers and us,
That standing in the same Sonship with all mankind and you,
Together with you, we can pray to Him above:
FATHER FORGIVE.”
icicles on seeds
The northeast coast of the U.S. is battened down in preparation for an epic storm. Its not just the humans that need to be prepared either. Even the trees have work to do in preparation for the winter blasts.
Here in Seattle the days are exceptionally warm for January – yesterday it was over 60F. It is probable that we will have cherry blossoms and daffodils early this year. And I am keeping my fingers crossed that we do not get a late freeze. If we do it could kill our fruit trees because this warm weather has lulled them into believing that spring is already here and they have become vulnerable to any more winter blasts.
Have you ever wondered about how trees survive wintery blasts or why an early warm spell followed by freezing temperatures can kill trees that survive far colder temperatures in a usual winter.
The answers are astounding with powerful implications for our faith.
…trees are large, tall, and immovable. They have no choice but to face everything winter can throw at them. And yet, as you travel north throughout the world one thing is ubiquitous: forests… (read the entire article)
Find a comfortable place in which to sit. Cut out as many distractions as possible. Focus on your breathing. Take a deep slow breath in from the depths of your abdomen and hold it for a moment. Then breathe out slowly. Relax your body and your mind.
Read the prayer above imagining the presence of God surrounding you. Read it again and visualize Christ walking beside you as a friend, guiding and comforting you.
What is Your Response?
How aware are you of the surrounding presence of God? How do you respond to the idea of God as companion and friend?
Iona cross with Bishop’s house in distance
The photos above were taken on the island of Iona off the West Coast of Scotland, where Columba established a monastery in the 6th century. My husband I are very attracted to this stream of Christianity which believed that all things were under the lordship of Christ, and all aspects of life were ways to share in God’s purposes.
Belief that the One who called them to conduct the affairs of the kingdom was actually with them and enfolding them as Father, Son and Spirit kept them from dividing life into sacred and secular realms. Spiritual and material, heaven and earth were seen as so interpenetrating that Celts embraced a unique sense of time. Eternity was always present in some way and invited people’s awareness, gratitude and praise. Time itself was seen as God’s creation and gift, so that ordinary moments could share in the rhythms of God’s reign (Drinking from the Wells of New Creation, Kerry Dearborn, 126)
What Is Your Response?
Read through this quote several times. What glimpses of God’s eternal world have you caught sight of today? Sit quietly in the presence of that gift. Offer prayers of gratitude and praise to God. Write down your response.
Finish your time of reflection by watching this following Celtic blessing by John O’Donohue.
A couple of days ago the sunrise out our front window was absolutely breathtaking. I rarely notice it because my office where I spend most of my time during the day, faces west. However at this time of the year, the sun is usually emerging when we sit down for breakfast. I take so many photos of sunsets that it is wonderful to be reminded that the beginning of the day is just as breathtaking. I thought it would make a perfect background for this prayer which is my favourite from the week. After all the sky and the changing light of the sun is one way that God speaks to me.
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