I thought my summer at Hartland would be filled with boredom and drudgery. Was I ever wrong!
While most of my friends went home for the summer, I decided to stay and fulfill Hartland’s agriculture requirement. With the consolation that I would never have to do this again, I queasily slid into the most life-changing summer of my life.
Actually, I have nothing against gardening. I grew up on a farm, and I knew all the good reasons for growing a garden. I probably could have challenged the class, but for some reason, I felt compelled to take it. I didn’t really know what I was expecting, but it was along the lines of a stale peanut-butter and jelly sandwich. What I got was more like a juicy portabella mushroom on rye, with alfalfa sprouts on top (all organic and non-GMO, of course).
From the first day, with the fourteen of us gathered around our teacher, Bob Gregory, in the morning mist of the Virginia Piedmont, that portabella on rye just got better and better. Of course, it wasn’t always easy. My biggest challenge was getting up in time to be out in the garden at 5:30 – but it was worth it.
Since this was a class, the most obvious question is: “What did you learn?” I discovered how to plant, cultivate, and water, of course. I also learned why; why it is important to know how our food is grown; why organic and non-GMO produce are issues. Daily, I had the privilege of putting this knowledge into practice.
I also made a lot of friends. My class set a record – we are the first gardening class ever to start and finish the class with the same group of students. We formed a cohesive bond that, by God’s grace, will never be broken. However, the most important bond I formed this summer was with another Friend – the God who programmed the bean seed to drive upward through the soil to seek the sun. As a class, we had the privilege of spending five mornings a week for ten weeks inside the book of nature, and as our object lessons at the end of each class revealed, God was opening it to us.
This summer did change my life – but not just mine. All of us were moved by our experience in the garden. A fellow classmate said, “It was the biggest blessing I have had since I’ve been at Hartland.” I know that as we gathered the literal fruit from our plants, God was teaching us that we might bear spiritual fruit as well.
