The church according to dirt

Black gold

Team Garden planted today in our backyard. In their honor, I'm re-posting this reflection about their work to grow food and reap satisfaction.

I know most people think of Iowa as a monolithic cornfield, a state full of dirt. But we live in a mid-size metropolitan area, the capital city of Des Moines. We hardly ever venture into the countryside. Our home is inside the city limits yet it’s an old farm house that survived suburban sprawl. Our yard is one-full-acre in size, a bumpy, horse pasture remnant that perseveres whilst landscaped, chemically treated lawns surround it for miles in each direction. Six years ago when the real estate agent showed us this place, my husband, Bob, and I had different points of view:

Being from the Midwest, I said, “That’s a lot of work.”

Being from New York City, Bob said, “That’s a lot of freedom.”

Freedom won out on this marital difference.

In addition to the large yard came an industrial-sized driveway, which better resembles a parking lot, topped off with two (2) garages that fit in total five (5) vehicles counting the tractor lawn mower. This property was custom-made for Bob, who had been deprived this magnitude of motor storage capacity his whole previous life. >>read more

This was originally posted at Living Lutheran, with thanks to my generous editor, Jan Rizzo, and her talented team.