End-of-the Month SURPRISES

Enter the "not-so-Secret Garden."

Baby squash seeking light...

Exotic bromeliads graced with lacey webs...

Fuzzy upo (summer squash) backlit with 7 pm summer light...

Parda (Filipino peas) blooms swaying UPwards...

Sayote (chayote) after man-made shower...

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits...

(Psalm 103:2)

REAPing the SOWN

Then GOD said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind,

whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. (Genesis 1:11)

And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind,

and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And GOD saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)

You will always reap what you sow! (Galatians 6:7b)

BUMPER Crop

Wow...even the bush farm in Lagiloa did not produce a bumper crop like this one!

Summer squash...the waiting is over! Mom has been sauteeing upo with shrimp, or chicken, or pork...with lots of garlic.

Norma's favorite -- chilis -- but so far, lacking fire...

This season's upo out-produced last summer's crop...

Here and there...blushing tomatoes signal ripeness.

It took me a very long time -- and many, many life lessons -- to finally understand Galatians 6:7, A man reaps what he sows. "What goes around comes around," someone in Italy once told me. "For every action, there's an equal re-action" is one of the laws of physics.

So when we planted tomato seeds, of course we expected to harvest tomatoes. It just took me a (long!) while to transfer this practical knowledge into the spiritual realm on an experiential level. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the SPIRIT, from the SPIRIT will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8, NIV)

MOVING Pictures

Instead of using photos for the write up as usual, i used my Nikon Coolpix's video mode and shot this video -- or "moving pictures" as they used to be called in the VERY old days! This is an "up closeR and MORE personal" My Backyard...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW0DTJ1Iqm4

Half the credit for this bountiful, heart-pleasing backyard is Rosita. And the other gardener and fishpond "engineer" is Ricardo.


This photo touches my heart each time i see it...

i know death is always knocking at the door, no matter the age of the one chosen to go to the "other side." But when parents get up there in age and they begin to show the aging process...it makes me see them as truly precious... More than ever, i'm reminded to love them more...not just in word, but in action. True love is agape love, as exemplified by CHRIST JESUS.

MYSTERY GUEST FrontYARD

i was driving to Henry's to buy some fruits, still in my sweaty clothes from doing an hour of Alicia Chudy's TKB, when at a stop sign, i saw this!

Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel's pastures and the plain of Sharon. There the LORD will display His glory, the splendor of our GOD. (Isaiah 35:2)

i parked the car, got my camera...and had a field day! (Even the sidewalk offered up colorful and fragrant blooms.)

GOD blessed the whole GODventurez with the gardeners being present -- doing their thing. Buenos dias, senor! Puedo tomar fotos? And Vicente welcomed me...a sweaty, smelly stranger with her camera in tow. (My little Spanish sure came in handy!)

This vaseful of sunflowers just came from the garden...no Michael's silk flowers here -- they're all real!

These delicate white blooms in stark contrast with this cold, wire fence... (Rosa gently let them out of their confinement.)

Peach trees, chilis...with much sunflowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the Word of our GOD stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

Everywhere i turned my head, i saw "eye candy." And my trigger-happy finger clicked away -- while the gardeners smiled at my oohs and aahs.

Nopales... Senor Vicente asked me if i've ever had cactus salad... si!

The flowers are springing up, and the time of singing birds has come, even the cooing of turtledoves. (Song of Solomon 2:12)

Edible, when sun-dried or oven roasted... (This is the center of a sun-scorched sunflower with its gazillion seeds.)

These delicately shaded flowers were in long stalks, shooting towards GOD's blue skies... And if GOD cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't He more surely care for you? You have so little faith! (Luke 12:28)

The variety of GOD's creation is seen here with these other-worldly cactus shapes.

Sun-lit sunflowers...the attention-grabbing focus of this garden.

Tree stump surrounded with blooms... i like the wildness of this garden. i prefer it over the manicured, clipped-to-the nth-degree Japanese or English garden.

Red bell pepper... ready to eat.

Vicente and Rosa have creatively packed their yard with so many kinds of beautiful flowering plants. They've even thought to put this old wheelbarrow to good use -- charming...que precioso!

Yellows and purples always go together well... (Actually, GOD's rainbow of colors ALLways go well together!)

Easter lilies still producing in June...

The sideyard fenced with platano trees...

Platanos -- the fat variety!

Bringing the garden indoors...

Vicente and Rosa... blessed indeed with green thumbs and a love for each other.

So if you're in Chula Vista (San Diego), stop by and appreciate this sunflower garden, created with much hard work and tended with much TLC. Vicente and Rosa are warm-hearted, hospitable and down-to-earth. Maybe Rosa will also offer you glass of jorchata juice!

READY To EAT Garden Produce

Summer squash, Upo, almost ready...

Chayote...ready!

Ready tomorrow...

Uncle Ric with one upo ready to go...

Bearing GOOD FRUIT

Chinese peas, ready to eat...

Crispy and raw...perfect for salad fixin's...

Green fried tomatoes...?

Chili not yet hot chili...

Fuzzy new-born summer squash...
the bloom but a withered part of the process.

Baby eggplant...
with still lots of growin' to go!



Chayote...not quite ready.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30)

Every tree is known by its own fruit. (Luke 6:44)

In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2)