Mysteries of the Garden

I knew going into this gardening thing that I couldn't control all aspects of the garden at all times. Plants grow and plants die. I was even prepared for plants to be eaten by animals or bugs. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining when I write this but some parts of my garden have been monkeyed with which has created a mystery for me that I can't solve. That nibbles at me a bit but I'm working on the whole 'let go and let God' thing so I'm trying to let it go.

Some of the mysteries are not really mysteries. For instance, some of my garden plots don't have enough buffer space between them and the grass. So when the man comes to mow the lawn, sometimes my plants get caught in the blades along with the grass. I understand that and I can remedy the situation by widening the buffer space and putting in bricks or some other border around the beds.

Other mysteries are slightly more baffling. The other day I planted some catnip that I had in my home as a houseplant. But it wasn't enjoying the air conditioned great indoors so I figured I would plant it in the kitchen garden. The plant was doing fine and seemed to be adapting well to being transplanted. However, I went to water the catnip yesterday and it was gone. It looks like something ate the catnip down to the ground. None of the other herbs around it were disturbed. My heart would just sink if it were a person who did this so I prefer to imagine a hungry deer sauntering over and nibbling it down to a nub.

The second baffling mystery is in the children's garden. My mom bought this cute little humming bird with wings on springs so they flap up and down. It's on a long metal rod so you can stick him in the garden so that's what I did. Some days when I came to water the garden I would find it with a marigold on its beak. Other days I would find it moved to other parts of the children's garden. I didn't mind any of this because to me it meant that the kids were enjoying the humming bird which was the point of it. But again, the other day I go in to water the plants and the bird is on the ground and the rod is nowhere to be found. I thought one of the kids might have played with the rod and dropped it somewhere on the playground (which is concerning since kids shouldn't play with long metal rods). But, I couldn't find the rod anywhere. So the poor bird is now perched on top one of the topsy turvey planters.

I don't know what to make of it all. I know lots of people use the church. I also know a vast majority of the people really enjoy the gardens. So I'm not going to throw in the towel or anything and I'm not going to give up on planting new herbs or improving the children's garden. Actually I was just thinking that I should put signs in the children's garden identifying what is planted there. I think through understanding and education that perhaps we can come to a mutual respect for the plants and ornaments in the garden.

There's nothing I can do about the deer though. I decided when I started gardening at the church that I would really prefer not to use chemicals or deterrents. I think if the deer ate everything, I would consider using a humane form of deterrent. However, that hasn't been an issue yet. One catnip plant isn't the whole garden. So time will tell I guess and nature will be nature (and people will be people). And as my friends keep telling me about mysteries 'more will be revealed.' If it isn't than I am okay with that too. But, perhaps part of the revelation is learning to just let it go.