Spring Planting

Spring Planting
by Louise Bergmann DuMont

My mother never threw out any fruit or vegetable scraps. Potato peels, apple cores and coffee grounds were all recycled long before our municipalities mandated recycling aluminum cans and newspapers. We called our recycling program a compost pile.

A friend of mine was recently having some trouble with her outdoor plants and wanted me to accompany her on lunchtime jaunt to pick up a very high-end plant fertilizer.

“Why don’t just throw your coffee grounds around the base of those plants?” I asked.

My friend’s eyebrows flew upward and her mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Those plants need acidic soil and coffee grounds are acidic. It would do the job just as well as your expensive fertilizer. We used to do it all the time when I was a kid.”

“Really?”

“Trust me on this. Just wait until the coffee grounds cool – then toss them around the base of your plants. If you don’t like the look, mix the grounds with a little dirt before you water the plants. It works.”

A few weeks later I again ran into my friend. She was grinning from ear to ear and waving me to come toward her.

“I’ve got to talk to you. Will you let me buy you a cup of coffee?”

“Sure. I’m always up for a cup of coffee.”

Her grin spread as we walked toward the cafe. “Remember what you told me about the coffee grounds?”

“Yes.”

“It worked just like you said it would! The plants are growing like crazy. But how often should I give them the coffee grounds? Is it better to mix it with the soil or just put it on top of the ground? Is it OK if the grounds actually touch the plant stem? How much water should I give the plants when I put the coffee down?”

I held up my hands as if to ward off the questions. “Whoa, girl.”

After we slipped into a booth and ordered our cappuccinos, I responded to her questions.

“This is coffee we’re talking about not some scientifically-concocted mega-growth miracle formula. Just throw the cool grounds under the plants after you are done with your Saturday pot of coffee. Water them if you want… or wait for the rain. This isn’t rocket science.”

She laughed. “If you say so... but it sure seems like a miracle formula to me.”

On my drive home I marveled at my friend’s concern for her plants. My father was one of those people who could grow anything, anywhere. He actually grew a tropical Passion Plant in Maine – outdoors! I, on the other hand, usually grow weeds. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a compost pile and I don’t fertilize my plants the way my dad did. Everyone knows that “rich soil” is good for plants, but few people want to think about what goes into that soil to make it rich. People avoid garbage but that is the very thing that makes the plants stronger.

There is a parallel in the Christian life. My character would not be the same if God did not send a little refuse my way. Those carefully saved apple cores known as financial struggles, that heap of vegetable peels called physical pain, and that big scoop of coffee grounds christened difficult personality types combine to alter my stunted growth. God fertilizes my life so that it will mature and produce fruit. Once developed, my healthy character can provide nourishment for others and who knows… God might even allow my fruit to become fertilizer for someone else’s life.

“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
II Corinthians 9:11