I planted some herbs and veggies in my garden this year and I also wanted to collect some wild plants. And now I need to get really busy harvesting! It takes more time than I thought to collect and process everything. I wanted to make strawberry jam and elderberry syrup and tea. I wanted to dry chives, collect nettle tea for my histamine intolerance, and also produce some sage-, peppermint- and lemon balm- tea. All that wants to be harvested now. Everything seems to be ripe at the same time and calls me to act. But it´s not only about harvesting. You have to knot the tea leaves nicely with a thread so that you can hang them to dry. And where do I put all the green stuff? The kitchen is too moist. The first load of peppermint got moldy when drying there. So now there are green garlands hanging in every other room of the house! Such sustainable projects produce more work than I thought! It takes time and effort and I wonder how herbs and teas can be sold at such low prices. Is it even worth, doing it yourself? But it would be a pity to not use the herbs now and let everything wither. Harvesting is work. But that's the point of all this, to use, enjoy, process and preserve the harvest. To bring it to an end and to its purpose and not just plant and watch how it grows.
I´m sure there are easier ways of drying tea leaves than how I do it, but it´s a learning process. And I wonder once again whether there are parallels in my life. Do I finish my work and stick with it till the end? Do I take the time to harvest? And even better: Do I take the time to enjoy the fruits of my labor?
Sometimes I forget what grows in my garden and cook with what I have always used. Buy products without seeing the alternatives waiting to be picked in my garden or in the forest. Right now, I have a glass of water on my desk with a torn peppermint leaf floating in it. It tastes good! Without sugar, just plain peppermint water. I only needed to pick it and enjoy it. See what's there and use it.
Summer is a great chance to consciously enjoy and savor. Creation is in its fullness, and it would be a pity to miss the time to really see and enjoy everything. Same with my life and relationships: I want to see and enjoy what is. (If it's too much, of course it's hard. Too many appointments, too many clothes, too much peppermint... Too much of anything overwhelms us and drains our enjoyment!)
Where are things ripe for harvest in my life and should come to an end? Make room for something new? Be consumed?
I'm almost done editing my first book. The suggestions for improvement from the publisher were very helpful and good. Next year it will be time for harvesting and put it on sale! I'm looking forward to it! Although it's also a bit strange to have it finished and release it into the world. Almost scary.
And I think that my heart, too, is a garden where I have to work the soil so that God's good seeds can grow in it. Soften the paths that have been hardened. Remove stones. Tear out thistles and weeds. So that there can be a good harvest. My spiritual life needs attention and care. And fortunately, dangling in the hammock and looking into the sky is also part of it!
Let's take time to enjoy what God lets grow in our lives!
Words satisfy the mind as much as a fruit does the stomach;
good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.
Proverbs 18:20
I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you are joined with me and I with you, the relationship intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Make yourselves at home with me and my words. You will produce grapes and mature as my disciples.
from John 15:5-8