I keep several plastic cartons hanging in the shed to celebrate Mondays. Last spring, Mondays meant spending two glorious morning hours watering Weaver’s Hill. This spring will be different.
To facilitate deep watering, hence deep root growth, last year I dug out soak holes just uphill of each planted vine. It sounds weird but it works! Planted vines got one gallon once a week. Potted vines got half a gallon on Mondays and half a gallon on Wednesdays. I filled each precious carton from the hose, set them in the wheel barrow and lugged them to individual vines. My arms got stronger – Woo-Hoo!
Vines have basic needs: soil, water, air, and light. Resources must be managed to meet basic needs. Moisture management is just as important in relatively wet areas as it is in dry areas but requires a different strategy. Western Washington is world famous for moisture because of our rainfall and marine influence. Correct handling of moisture on this side of the mountains will nourish and stimulate vine growth as well as protect vines from mildew and other moisture related evil.
Here is what we have so far at Weaver’s Hill in inches. In January 2011 our monthly precipitation was 5.9. with averages of 7.5 for past years (-1.6) In February, area rainfall calculated below our average 6.8 coming in at 4.5 (-2.3) So far in March we have “enjoyed” almost 10 inches, exceeding the expected average of 5.9 (up almost 4) … and our rainy season isn’t over yet! These fluctuations interest me because I want to understand my part in all of it. I am responsible for vineyard care… at least in the eyes of my community.
Reality is that there are some resources beyond anyone’s ability to control. What happens when two managers — the human and the Devine –water Weaver’s Hill? Inevitably one must defer to the other. Since I cannot be master of the weather, I must accept the choices of the One who is…the One who can.
Last year, my decision was negated by God’s. Throughout spring and summer I managed water rations to each vine. The water wells, carefully positioned to accept this necessary offering, worked. Vines took what they needed of the water offered and the slope drained away the remainder. How wonderful it felt to manage this…to be the vineyard’s provider and be confident in both the quality and quantity of the provision – offering the maximum amount then letting the soil, slope and roots sort out the rest. Just when I stopped watering in late September, the rains began and Heaven watered Weaver’s Hill.
In my defense, I began a watering regimen to establish newly transplanted vines. I stopped watering vines so the shoots would have ample time to harden off before winter and be healthy for the next season of growth. I chose the timing based on advice to cease water one month before frost. Would our vines suffer because of my choice? Should I have stopped watering sooner? Lack of knowledge, second guessing my choices, and the general state of not knowing what God was doing brought on serious anxiety because the outcome was and is extremely important to me.
A few days of heavy rain and I was suddenly donning jacket and garden tools to create deep, sloshy mud channels, effectively wrecking my cherished watering holes. Weaver’s Hill was under different management. Now was the time for me to prevent long soaking in the root zone where once loved water holes became potentially lethal cisterns, all the while thanking God that our vineyard is on a slope, however slight, so that this seasonal adjustment could be made.
Is this negating a trust in God? No. Is this a test of my resolve? Perhaps. Is God teaching me to be a better manager? Absolutely!
In God’s vineyard management, heaven and earth work harmoniously with the vine to give it the water it needs. I can work harmoniously with God in this vineyard. All I need to do is to measure the water each vine receives from me, from heaven and from both of us then engage my mind, learning from what is recorded. I am looking forward to working with the LORD.
Peering through droplets decorating topsy-turvy glasses, looking from jeans splattered with mud to four rows of the stuff, a management lesson knocked me over with typhoon-like force; solutions that work with one’s environment are better choices. Every solution I come up with will change seasonally according to changing needs of the vine, the rise and the fall of light, soil conditions, air movement and yes, moisture accumulations.
Looking forward with readiness and calm assurance for each new season is essential to great management. (En regardant de l’avant avec la préparation et l’assurance de calme pour chaque nouvelle saison est essentielle à la gestion des grands.) To be confident in such a way I need to figure out what the Master Vineyard Manager is doing. He does not outline it for me or wait for me to understand before he makes his move. He just does it expecting me to just-do-it , just like him ( I get the picture of a four year old working the vineyard with his papa).
Measuring and observing the work of God is important so that I may learn from the Master Vinedresser how best to operate in the environment, the life, he has planted me in.
Dr. Jantz of the Center for counseling and health resources (www.aplaceforhope.com) maintains that humans have three basic needs: to be understood (listened to, not just heard), to be accepted (taken seriously for what they feel and perceive as a person) and to be affirmed (Genuinely needed to play an important contributing role in the lives of others). Just like the vine has four basic needs, I believe people have four as well. The one I add to Dr. Jantz’s list is truth. We all crave to know the truth even though what we choose to do with it is as varied as we are.
Jesus says, “I am the Vine. You are the branches” (John 15) Vines are vascular plants_ they accept and transform resources. At the root zone, water is one of those resources. We will call water, “Truth”. In Chapter 14, Jesus says, “ I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…” This analogy holds power all the way to the juice in ripe fruit at harvest and all the way to from birth to judgment day.
May we be watered well and water others well for the glory of the LORD, Maker of Heaven and Earth. Amen.
Adventures of Janey Grapeseed 