The Tended Ground

There is something about fall that makes me think about harvest.

We spend the summer planting, watering, waiting, pruning, and watching. Then fall arrives and we get to see what all that tending produced.

Except this year, my garden didn’t produce what I expected.

My cucumbers produced a little. My tomatoes were disappointing. My watermelon never came up at all.

And I was disappointed.

I had been intentional. I planted carefully. I watered. I even added compost that I had made myself because I thought I was giving my garden the best of what it needed to thrive.

And still, some things just didn’t grow.

Then there was my herb garden.

I had planted more herbs than I ever had because I believed God had placed something on my heart about The Tended Ground. I imagined tea blends, seasonal products, writing, sharing my garden and using my gifts to connect with people.

Then I discovered that Maryland’s cottage-food regulations meant I couldn’t simply grow and dry my own herbs for commercial sale the way I had imagined.

I felt halted.

And honestly, I wondered, God, did I hear You wrong?

But as I sat with that disappointment, I realized something:

Maybe it wasn’t really about the cucumbers.

The garden had become a symbol for something much deeper—the things I had planted, prayed over, nurtured and expected to produce in my own life.

Marriage.

Motherhood.

Being chosen.

Maybe what hurt wasn’t that my garden didn’t produce the harvest I expected.

Maybe what hurt was that once again, I was looking at something I had tended carefully and once again found myself asking, “Why didn’t this grow?”

Lamentations 3 reminds us that hope can be something we deliberately call back to mind in the middle of suffering. The writer doesn’t deny the pain before remembering God’s faithfulness.

So this fall, I’m asking myself:

What disappointment in my life have I made symbolic of something deeper?

How can God and HIS word move me from disappointment to peace?

That is where the harvest begins.

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🌿 Tended Ground Harvest Salt

A savory, herb-forward finishing salt made from the herbs that actually flourished in your summer garden.

The blend

This makes approximately 1 cup of Harvest Salt.

• ¾ cup coarse sea salt or kosher salt
• 2 TBSP dried basil
• 2 TBSP dried parsley
• 1 TBSP dried thyme
• 1 TBSP dried oregano

Optional: ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Stir thoroughly until the herbs are evenly distributed throughout the salt. For a more integrated seasoning, put the entire mixture into a food processor or spice grinder and pulse 2–4 times. Put the finished salt into a clean, completely dry airtight glass jar.