Archive for July, 2008

Bonsai Christians

Published by
Fiona Veitch Smith
at 21 July 2008 in Christianity, Gardener's Gospel and Gardening. 6 Comments

A Gardener’s Gospel - Week 21

One of the most depressing experiences I ever had was going to a Bonsai exhibition. There were rows upon rows of ‘adult’ trees – maples, oaks, juniper, cypress, beech - no bigger than table-top Christmas decorations. I was horrified to discover that some of these trees were hundreds of years old, but unlike their free cousins in the wild, towering proudly over the earth with their branches stretched heavenwards, these stunted trees would never be allowed to reach their full potential.

Japanese Acer bonsai tree
Image courtesy of Nicola Whitaker Continue reading ‘Bonsai Christians’

Passing it on to the kids

Published by
Fiona Veitch Smith
at 2 July 2008 in Christianity, Gardener's Gospel, Gardening and Parenting. 2 Comments

A Gardener’s Gospel - Week 20

I learnt gardening from my dad. When I was three we moved into a newly built house, or, as they say in these days of poor grammar, a ‘new-build’. Like most new-builds, the patch of ground attached to the house was more a builder’s dump than a garden, with broken bricks, cement powder and general rubble thinly covered by a layer of poor quality top-soil. Undeterred, or at least that’s how it appeared to my three-year-old mind, my dad set about turning the wasteland into a place where flowers could grow.

Continue reading ‘Passing it on to the kids’