Growing Hope

A garden is so appropriate for a place such as Hope House.  Women often come here when they have no place else to turn and sometimes all they have left is hope.  A garden is like that. When the ruins of the recent harvest are cleared away and all that's left is dirt, a few seeds bring the promise of a better harvest, yet to come.

The sudden plunge in temperature is making all our fall crops perky.  The collards and Brussels sprouts are loving it and the broccoli looks so happy.  We waited about as late as we could to plant because summer hung around extra long this year.  So, I hope the plants have enough time to give us a decent crop before a hard frost hits.  Of course, by tomorrow it will be back in the 80s so I don't know why I'm even worrying about this!

Shown here are our soy beans, or, as they are also known, edamame. Many people don't think about just eating soy beans, but they are good alone, in soups and stews and make excellent humus.  This is my first time growing them so I'm curious about how they'll do.

Thanks to the fine (and well-tooled) Citizens of Georgia Power!

The garden has also brought in some new partners for Hope House.  Yesterday, a group called Citizens of Georgia Power came bearing pansies for the children's garden and helped restore our beleagured blueberry bushes with fresh compost.  At the same time they brought trick-or-treat bags of candy for our little ones and one of the women involved brought pots and pans from yet others in her Sunday School class.

Yes, hope grows.