Spuds

I'll never look at potatoes the same.

Last evening I spent a little time in my garden. So far I've got potatoes, shallots and onions planted. The spuds went in about three weeks ago. I usually have a lot of fun planting my potatoes, since it's always seemed funny to me to be planting potatoes, instead of seeds, to grow potatoes. You plant real, whole potatoes. Well, not whole, but you get the idea.

In case you don't know anything about growing potatoes, let me elaborate.

The first thing you need to do is get your hands on some seed potatoes. These look and feel just like regular, every day, store-bought potatoes, but they're not. The store-bought spuds won’t work because they spray some chemical on them that stops the growth of the eyes. The eyes, as you may know, are the things from which the roots and such grow. You have to have them to grow new plants.

Once you get the seed potatoes, you cut them in quarters, making sure that each quarter has at least one eye. Then you wait for two days while the cut heals over. Once you get a little hard part on the cut, you throw them in the ground and cover them up.

In no time you'll have little plants pushing up through the ground.

The picture on the right gives you an idea of what these plants look like.

Keep an eye on these guys (pun intended) because every time you see them poking out of the earth, you cover them up with dirt. Yes, you completely cover the tender little plant with dirt. A couple of days later, it will poke it’s head up above the ground again, and you just throw more dirt on it. It’s called mounding. I've never really been given a good answer as to why you mound you potatoes, but I figure it’s so the potatoes have enough earth to grow in down below. Anyway, just remember, until you see flowers on the plant, just keep throwing dirt on them.

Last night, I stood in my garden thinking about this and the somewhat tough times we’re going through as a family right now. Jacob has a concussion and Hannah has a severely sprained ankle. Both of them are less than happy. Consequently the rest of us are clinging to the last nerve like it was a rope thrown to us in a turbulent sea.

People should be a lot more like potatoes. Potatoes don’t get discouraged every time you throw something new on top of them. They just keep growing. I think it's because the potatoes know that without a little bit of dirt thrown on them, they won't grow quite right. They welcome the dirt and use it as an opportunity to grow stronger.

I don’t think people should welcome difficult times, but I do think we should see them like potatoes do, as an opportunity for growth. After all, that is what they are. We are in the Lord’s garden. He knows how much dirt He can throw on top of us before we break or wither or wilt. He won’t throw that much on there. He loves His garden and tends it every single day. Without the dirt thrown on us, we don’t grow. We don’t sink our roots deep into the ground and bring forth new fruit. The Lord knows what He’s doing. When difficult times comes, and they will, take them as a sign that Heavenly Father loves you and wants you to grow.