Blackberries, Mother's Day and Gardens

I found these luscious blackberries at Giant Eagle Friday night. Didn't they photograph nicely? These lovely jewels became homemade blackberry ice cream yesterday. Yum!

My Mother's Day was very relaxing. After church we came home and had a snack on the deck, then I worked on the church newsletter and made ice cream. Hubby grilled lemon chicken and we feasted on that, pasta salad and tomato/mozzarella/basil salad. It was all wonderful. The weather was so pleasant that we were able to eat on the deck.

About mid-afternoon our son called to wish me a happy Mother's Day. He has taken a sudden interest in gardening, which makes me very happy. I love to garden and have missed our big garden in Illinois. I wish we lived close enough for me to be a help to him. But, I'm sure he'll do just fine. 75% of good gardening is desire. The other 25% is talking to experienced gardeners and learning through trial & error.

My favorite gardening story is the time our neighbor Jake, an elderly man, was having trouble keeping a pesky rabbit from nibbling on his green beans. He tried everything, but that rabbit was relentless. Poor Jake was at the end of his rope. Then, one early morning, I heard the sound of a shotgun blast. I ran out to the back porch to see what was going on and lo and behold! Jake had rendered the final solution and the green beans flourished once more. Personally, I recommend the spreading of blood meal around plants that attract rabbits. It's always worked for me. Besides, I'm not fond of rabbit stew.

I would imagine Adam and Eve had little trouble with rabbits in their garden or anything else prior to The Fall.

"Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

I imagine them strolling through the garden with the Lord, commenting on the beautiful tomatoes the size of softballs and the sweet red raspberries without any stickers. No wonder it was called "Paradise".