what will our gardens grow?

We replenish our garden plot -- two nice raised beds my husband built, plus one narrow bed we added this spring -- each spring with our own compost. This makes for some monstrously huge tomato plants; it also results in a wide variety of "volunteer" plants of undetermined lineage. Spring being a busy time of year, I am not always to monitor the seedlings on a daily basis, so I generally decide that if a volunteer reaches a certain size before I notice it and isn't planting itself anywhere too inconvenient, it has earned the right to live.

Last year, this resulted primarily in lettuce and a significant quantity of extremely fast-growing, green summer squash of mysterious ancestry, as I have no recollection of planting or purchasing anything remotely similar to them the year before.

This year, the seemingly innocuous-looking little squash and/or melon sprouts I allowed to grow appear to be pumpkins. They're HUGE. I am looking forward to seeing what comes of them, but it's turning into a full-time job redirecting them away from my poor little pepper plants, which despite their zesty flavor are not exactly scene-stealers in the growth and foliage departments.

My surprise garden is a wonderful illustration of something I am forever attempting to come to terms with, and that is the reality that no matter how much I plan and plot, the reality of my life is always going to resemble something a little--and possibly a great deal--different from what I had in mind. God's plan is not my plan, in earthly existences or in vegetable gardens. I am not helpless; I can plant the seeds and water the garden (or make the 5-year-old do it), weed around the edges and make plans for tomato sauce over the winter. But I cannot predict with certainty what else God will decide needs to grow, and what will fail. Those kale seeds that have always sprouted so readily? Not so successful this year. But man, are we going to have pumpkins (I think).

"The human mind plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps."--Proverbs 16:9