Please encourage me

I'm not a great gardener but like anything there is plenty of information about it such that if you like reading you can learn how to do it. It does take a lot of work and research if you are picky about what you want or you can simply go to a local nursery and ask questions of the experts there that can point you towards what will thrive in your climate and soil and the sunlight you have available.

I'm not a gardener, but my one friend started a garden last year and he absolutely loves it! And it seems this year he's going to expand even more. He says its mentally relaxing and a great time to spend with God. Just think about the parable of the sower while you garden.

As Sophrosyne said, reach out to your local experts.

You got this!

Dendy said:

Hey everyone. I love to try to garden but I could use some encouragement. I'm 61 years old and I've suffered severe OCD my entire life. Is there anyone else out there who is my age or older and maybe tell me what all you do and that might encourage me and make me believe I can do it to. We have about 7 acres of land and I love flowers and vegetables. Thanks so much!

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The internet can also be very helpful. Lots of videos to learn things. I enjoy watching videos to learn things.

Dendy said:

Hey everyone. I love to try to garden but I could use some encouragement. I'm 61 years old and I've suffered severe OCD my entire life. Is there anyone else out there who is my age or older and maybe tell me what all you do and that might encourage me and make me believe I can do it to. We have about 7 acres of land and I love flowers and vegetables. Thanks so much!

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Hello Dendy,
Glad to know that you love gardening.
God loves His garden, too.
He is the true vine and we are the branches.
Surely, the Lord can nourish us too.

Let His words accompany us as we go through our day.

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, -Isaiah 55:10

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. -2 Corinthians 9:10

Let us do all things that please Him, even in gardening or suffering. Let us love the Lord’s grace.
God be with us all.

Christians are supposed to be gardeners... but we are to plant seeds in peoples hearts and lives instead of growing plants in the ground.

Sophrosyne said:

Christians are supposed to be gardeners... but we are to plant seeds in peoples hearts and lives instead of growing plants in the ground.

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Dear Sophrosyne,
don’t worry about Christians gardeners !
For our Heavenly Father is a gardener.
He will teach us how to seed and multiply and make the increase of the harvest of our righteousness in Christ Jesus.

We just need to keep His commandments and abide in His love. We will be the garden of His love.

What we don’t understand in gardening. We can be assured because we are His children; our Heavenly Father will help.

We love that you have done your best to draw near God in His love.
Let us pick a flower of love that brings fragrance to your day. For God calls us to love one another.

In this, we will be basked with the light of His love.

God bless you.

Certainly the finished product is a wonderful sight to behold.
I haven't seen that for eons of years. I lost my touch but I would think if you can find the hardiest plant to grow that is where you should start. That gives you hope and energy to start on one more and then another.
Get starter plants like tomatoes etc. They grow like a weed. Peppers are also easy. The last thing I grew successfully was an artichoke and again I started with a plant not a seed. That was great, YEAH!
Good luck!

7 acres!

Well first plan for the critters. Where I lived before I was golden as a gardener. Whare I am now backs up to a park and I ahve a huge rabbit problem.

If you live where rabbits or dear can get in I strongly advise fencing a ratehr small area and plant there. Better a few plants that yeild fruit than an acre that looks beautiful until the critters eat things to teh ground.

In areas suited to it tomatoes are great. As a general rule the larger tomato the pickier the plant. So plant at least a few of the smaller varieties so you get some. And often the smaller types have better flavor anyway.

Marygolds are often advised as a companion plant for vegitables because their odor repels a lot of bad bugs and to a degree bigger pests. And they are pretty. So plant them freely.

Especially if you are in the North find a planting guide for your locality. I'm in SoCal and I can grow two rounds of corn if I push things. E.g. plant and harvest and then plant teh same patch again. In Colorado it was impossible to grow corn until about 30 years ago when they came up with short season corn.

Oh if you do plant corn plant at least 4 rows at least 8 feet long. Corn is wind polinated less than that is apt to result in beautiful plants but few decent ears of corn. Another corn hint. When the silk starts to turn brown put a couple of drops of baby oil where teh silk comes out. It kills corn earworm and is perfectly safe.

Dendy said:

Thank you. I tried to delete this thread but can't. I already have flower beds and a small vegetable garden. I was just hoping that someone would say - I'm in my 60s and I have an issue but I go out there and pulls weeds for hours or something like that. When you're down and out it's hard to even get dressed in the morning. I need to make myself get out there and do it because I do enjoy it when I do. I know that seeds are supposed to be planted in hearts but I know God does not mind if we plant seeds in the ground and Keith99, if you really are an atheist, please change before it's too late. I know God if real and His Son is real. Please, I beg you, believe!

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My mom gardened and got hurt and was in pain often till she passed away at 65 and I know it it hard to garden oudoors. One thing that could be done perhaps is if you have room set up a small area near windows that get decent sun during the day and grow plants in pots. You can even use grow lights on them and there is no weeding needed and you can water the plants in your jammies etc.

Dendy said:

Thank you. I tried to delete this thread but can't. I already have flower beds and a small vegetable garden. I was just hoping that someone would say - I'm in my 60s and I have an issue but I go out there and pulls weeds for hours or something like that. When you're down and out it's hard to even get dressed in the morning. I need to make myself get out there and do it because I do enjoy it when I do. I know that seeds are supposed to be planted in hearts but I know God does not mind if we plant seeds in the ground and Keith99, if you really are an atheist, please change before it's too late. I know God if real and His Son is real. Please, I beg you, believe!

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Dear Dendy,
I am glad that you have flower beds and small vegetable garden.

I am glad to know God’s seed is planted in your heart.

I am delighted that you reach out to atheist the way you know how. It is wonderful to know such love.

Your confession about the Father and His Son is wonderful.

your kind words do bring delight like a well watered garden. Hope to hear your life story with the Lord. Stay healthy and strong.
We love you in Christ Jesus.

I've struggled with fear throughout my life, it hasn't been quite as debilitating as needing help but I came across a scripture in the Bible that I quote to myself when I feel fear coming on trying to overwhelm me.

2 Timothy 1:7

New King James Version
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Once you realize God doesn't give spirits of fear, you realize that there ARE spirits of fear and these spirits are not of God and we need to resist them and the word of God is the best way to resist them. Since I started using this whenever I get fearful to the point my health starts to suffer I stop fear in its tracks but it does take sometimes an hour or two for the battle to be won.
As for the unforgiveable sin, the only unforgiveable sin is rejecting salvation all other sins can be forgiven if one doesn't totally reject God. Those who do reject God to the point that they are in unforgiveness aren't worried about sinning against him at all while those who have not passed that point are extremely fearful of God.
It is when you don't fear God that you are in one of two positions: 1) You are saved and he is your friend/ally/ruler 2)You reject God and he is not your friend/ally/especially ruler.
Those who their lives show a contempt for God's rules highlighted by love your neighbor as yourself and sin without any thought of guilt or condemnation.

As for your orange rose turning red, there is a practice that can explain that in that growers sometimes take other rose roots (red) and graft in branches from other colors of rose plants into those roots (orange). All the branches will sprout roses of their original plants colors. What can happen is root systems will on occasion burrow underground and pop up new shoots and those shoot are the root rose colors and will bloom that color. Often people who don't want those colors of roses will have to dig up and eradicate those shoots in a way they won't regrow as they do take nourishment from the roots that will compete with the other grafts.
There is biblical reference to grafting in the Bible that is interesting and often people who don't know about grafting get the wrong idea of what is meant.

Dendy said:

Thank you both for your kind replies. I would like to share one part of my story.

One of the most difficult things an OCD patient fears is fear of the unforgivable sin. It has made me so terrified that I actually saw blackness. I'm a small person but it made my blood pressure high. It has caused me to be vomiting. In 2009 I had an episode of this fear that was so bad I was screaming banging my head in the seat of the couch. My husband had to rush me for medical treatment and I was in such bad shape they had to use a drug used for seizures to calm me down. I couldn't function. I laid in the floor and begged God to help me. Several things began to happen and this is one of them:

Thirteen years earlier my husband had given me a rose bush. I really didn't like it. It was a light orange color. I've never liked the color orange and I dreaded it when it was time for it to bloom but for 13 years it bloomed it's ugly orange roses. In 2009 when I was praying for help, that rose bush bloomed a deep red (a color that I love). It is a color that reminded me of Jesus shedding blood for me. Every year since it has been a real beauty with lots and lots of the deep red roses.

If you just think of how perfectly the human body is made. One example is our teeth to chew with and how spit happens to be there in the place it needs to be. There is absolutely no way that could have come from some ameba.

I have been thru a time in my life when I felt like I was in a ditch and had lost everything. I was so suicidal in 1985 that I was committed to a state mental institution and lost custody of my precious little girl because I was so sick. She was the only child I ever had. I lost my job, my apartment. Many acts of God have happened since that time to give me what I needed to make it this far and to Him be the Glory for ever and ever and to His Son Jesus because all I have to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God to be saved and because of that I no longer need to worry that I could have committed the unforgivable sin.

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Dear Dendy,
I am thankful to God through Christ that He gave you the strength to overcome fear.

I am glad that the steadfast love of the Lord is plentiful for you. Your husband and others must be there for you ; must be a real comfort for you in your afflictions.

Jesus’ power of redemption is working mightily in you. How beautiful memory of red rose will bring you to the Lord’s shedding His blood for you.

Dear Dendy, even when we are on the end of the earth, the Lord shows grace to us. This is what we have heard:

By awesome deeds You answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; -Psalms 65:5

I desire that every bitter things that you have experienced turn to sweet, Dendy.

Let us continue love the Lord when we don’t understand how He helps. For our Lord always help. Let us not waver at the goodness of His love.

Dendy said:

Hey everyone. I love to try to garden but I could use some encouragement. I'm 61 years old and I've suffered severe OCD my entire life. Is there anyone else out there who is my age or older and maybe tell me what all you do and that might encourage me and make me believe I can do it to. We have about 7 acres of land and I love flowers and vegetables. Thanks so much!

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I'm not in your age bracket but I do not see age as a concern and never have. I have had friends much older and much younger and I have always seen them as just friends, nothing more or less.

I have done gardening many times and enjoyed it. At present I've just started planting some seeds. I"he planted basil, bell peppers, 2 different varieties of tomatoes, one small sweet one and one standard one, cayenne peppers, rocket and lettuce. These have been in a heated propagator and some have broken through the soil already.

When I had a larger garden in a previous property I had fruit trees. Two apples, one plum, cherry and pear. I also had a herb patch, strawberry patch and a smaller gooseberry patch. I have also grown walnut and cobnut(hazelnut) trees.

Nothing better than growing your own food, you can search out and grow varieties that you would never get anywhere.

You could also grow fruit trees and grapevines to make your own wine.

7 acres would be amazing.

Start off growing things you enjoy to eat and drink. You meet some great people growing too and you can become part of a community.

Peace be with all those in the Body of Christ.

@public hermit is quite the green thumb! Maybe he can chime in.

Here’s a few helpful articles on gardening for seniors and a book for your reference. I haven’t read it but I looked through it in the past.

• Easier Gardening for Seniors
• Gardens for Senior Citizens: Creating an Easy Care Senior Garden
• Growing Older, Growing Smarter
• Elderly Gardening, Grow Gracefully Into Your Golden Years

Yours in His Service,

~bella

Dendy said:

I love to try to garden but I could use some encouragement. I'm 61 years old and I've suffered severe OCD my entire life. Is there anyone else out there who is my age or older and maybe tell me what all you do and that might encourage me and make me believe I can do it to. We have about 7 acres of land and I love flowers and vegetables

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I absolutely think you can garden! Anyone can. Dirt, seeds, water, and sunlight.

I can't speak to flowers, but I keep a vegetable garden every year.

It's a good idea to start planning soon. I usually plan what I want to grow, start gathering seeds, and planning the lay out of the garden, according to how much sunlight each plant needs.

Raised beds are sometimes easier. The higher the bed, the less you have to bend over. With 7 acres, you should be able to find a nice spot with sunlight and water access.

Do you have a tiller? Or perhaps, a friend who can break ground? Again, if you do raised beds, you don't have to break ground, but you will have to make the bed and find good fill dirt. Just some thoughts. There are a lot of good resources online, like Bella linked.

Gardening is very satisfying and rewarding. There's nothing quite like having a dinner composed entirely of food you have grown! Yum!

Dendy said:

Hey everyone. I love to try to garden but I could use some encouragement. I'm 61 years old and I've suffered severe OCD my entire life. Is there anyone else out there who is my age or older and maybe tell me what all you do and that might encourage me and make me believe I can do it to. We have about 7 acres of land and I love flowers and vegetables. Thanks so much!

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JS: I’m turning sixty this year and am an avid gardener though our soil is full of shale and clay and heavily forested (about 90 acres). So I grow herbs and build shade gardens. They grow easily in poor soil.

Shade keeps down weeds and once in, the garden needs little care. I’m very mobile, so bending no trouble but a friend who has trouble bending built raised beds high enough so she can garden standing up.

If mobility is not an issue, to create a shade gardens: collect cardboard or newspaper while its still cold and while still planning your garden. When spring comes and the snow melts line the tree with the cardboard or newspaper you collected. Make it thick so it suppresses weeds.

Now pour 3 to four inches of soil over the cardboard barrier and when warm enough, plant in shade (north and north eastern sides) and partial shade (south and south western side) plants (and shade loving flowers) into the soil (reverse for southern hemisphere). Mulch well. Keep it watered if it gets too dry in the summer and plants start wilting. Come fall, rake leaves over plants to bed them down.

Here are some pictures of the plants growing in my shade garden:









These garden are also good for some forms of OCD. For example hosta and sea form or sun tolerant ferns work well together and can be fitted geometrically using bee like hexagonal patterns to fit them into the bed.

By next year you have a functional mostly hands off garden. I usually only have to weed the edges using a hoe and I sometimes add cardboard and soil to expand the gardens. This is an simple starter garden that is easy to make and gives large returns.

Two other good gardens are herb which are also forgiving, as are local wild flowers and both draw bees and butterflies. They can be grown in many different kinds of beds including geometric or pattern ones. I prefer the wild look but you likely would prefer a more manicured look. Still there is a herb garden pattern that fits every person’s issues. Here are some examples:







Also many vegetables can be grown in pots taking the work out of them then that soil goes into shade gardens or raised beds, or even compost, in the spring after it’s used up. You can get prepotted tomatoes and even grown smaller versions of melons, or small pumpkins in a half barrel. I do this as well. They need to be regularly water and a little fertilizer once a month depending on vegetable plant and the different sized pots can be set into interesting patterns on a step.

Still, I’m old enough I’ve given up on huge square gardens with a lot of maintenance. I like gardens I can walk through and build and take down easily. I leave those big monsters for the younger generation and the local farmers. Still, little by little we are changing the part of the land we mow to low maintenance gardens and reducing the areas we need to mow and allowing some wild areas for nature.

I also planted many seed bearing and small fruit bearing bushes and trees to draw in song birds. These need watering the first few years (trees) or only first year or two (bush). They can also be put easily into patterns if that is your form of your OCD. Planning and caring for gardens works well for the other form I suspect.

All four garden types I describe are easy and adaptable, and I manged all of them with a busy scheduled as well.

Hope this helps.

Get up have a cup of coffee amble on outside...and attack those weeds. Pray a little. My mind attacks me too. Weed with the Lord.