What’s growing in your field?
It is canola season around here. The fields are waking up from their winter nap and turning a brilliant color of neon yellow. It is canola. You know, that stuff you buy in bottles at the grocery store, next to the shortening and olive oil.
Canola is a fairly new crop around here. For decades, all you ever saw in this part of NW Oklahoma was wheat. Hard winter wheat, to be exact. It was brought to this area about 150 years ago by Russian Mennonites who immigrated into Kansas and Oklahoma. They had developed this particular strain of wheat to withstand the hard Russian winters. It was perfect for the climate of these Southern Plains and served us well. It turned the fields from Texas to North Dakota into what is lovingly referred to as the Bread Basket of America.
But things started to change a few years ago. Farmers have always recognized the benefits of crop rotation. They will rotate what years they plant a crop in a particular year, or leave it barren all together, for a year so the soil can rest and replenish itself. For example, a farmer will plant a field of alfalfa several years and then plant turnips for a year. The deep taproots of the turnips drill down and break up the roots of the old alfalfa. In just the last few years, farmers have begun experimenting with canola as a good rotation crop, giving the soil a chance to replenish and also to be profitable at the same time. What has resulted is a brilliant show of yellow canola blooms that grace the landscape every April. Imagine a giant quilt made of bright green, rusty red and brilliant yellow squares. That is what you would see if you flew over NW Oklahoma right now.
Why am I giving you a course in Agriculture 101? Because the whole idea of crop rotation got me to thinking. Our hearts are supposed to be the fertile grounds of our faith, right? What we plant in our hearts nourishes our souls. But are we really getting the benefit if we continue to plant the same thing year after year? Are we getting all the good out of the fruits of our labors? Maybe it is time to think about planting something different for a season. Now, I’m not suggesting you venture off the path too far. Just maybe think out of the box a bit. Out of your comfort zone. Volunteer for a new project at church. Talk to your neighbors about Christ. Start a card ministry. Sew some new seeds today. You might be surprised what comes up in your field next spring.
April 14th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Susan, I love your analogy! You could go so many directions with it, too! We’re not all the same kind of soil and therefore, shouldn’t expect to grow the same crops as our sisters and without some variety (rotation) or rest (lying fallow), even good soil will eventually be depleted~
Blessings, Terri J