Food for thought
COLUMN GARDENING
Food for thought
The reality is not just an illusion
Milanie Vosloo
Are the times that we look forward to so much , just illusions ? Dreams which we cling to in order to get through the difficult times ? Or can we have expectations ?
We experience it every year : We look forward to holidays , to being with family over December , to a special occasion , to ... and then ? Often it is not as wonderful as we imagined it would be . The times that we looked forward to are often , due to various reasons , not as good as we hoped for . Or the special moment passes and we find that life and its problems have merely been on " hold " for a short period of time . Everything is business as usual and people are just people . It makes you wonder : Is this really what life is all about ? Probably yes and no . Yes , often circumstances will not change and we have no control over it . Yes , we remain broken people , who often rub one another up the wrong way , despite our best attempts , and yes , life is and never will be easy .
But fortunately there is also a “ no ”! No , we do not have to go to pieces and accept our fate . There will always be another solution , a better way of doing things or a different road to follow . Although we , as humans , struggle to change , we do not have to focus on each other ’ s negative characteristics . There is something good inside each one of us - something beautiful buried beneath the brokenness . No , the life that we experience is not the only life . While we stare ourselves blind against a one-dimensional physical realm around us , a totally different situation exists in the spiritual realm ... the Spirit is busy working in ways which we cannot even imagine or which we will only recognise in many years to come .
May we live with the deep knowledge every day that there is so much more in and around us because of a God who looks at the world differently and who acts differently and who loves
differently to what we do . Then reality is not an illusion , but a learning curve for the ultimate home-coming which we are heading for . Father , help me to remember that , while I am struggling in my small world , You are busy with so much more , better and more beautiful . Help me to see that reality !
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63 | Winter and spring gardens
trees and shrubs . Prepare a hole by adding compost with the soil , one part of soil and two parts of compost . It is also good to add bone meal . Holes should be square instead of round in order to encourage outward root growth .
� All summer flowers which have stopped flowering should be removed .
� Mulch in flowerbeds control soil temperature , particularly during our cold winters .
� It is now the time to sow your seed for the winter and spring garden - it includes pansies , African daisies , winter bulbs , California poppies , mesembryonthemus , virginia stocks , calendula , pink peas and felicia . Also vegetables such as peas , carrots , beetroot , onion ( Texas Grano ), the total cabbage family and lettuce .
It is also the right time to make cuttings . For hardwood cuttings make sure that the branch is grafted and cut just below the nodule ( where the leaf emerges ). The ends can be dipped in a hormone powder or in a weak solution of honey and water .
Plant in soil which drains well and keep moist . The following plants fall in this category : hibiscus , abelia , hydrangea .
Cuttings of begonias , impatience , irescene , colias , etcetera can be left in water to develop roots . Pests are still present , so be aware of the presence of pest , aphids , snails , leaf miner and scale insects .
The best poisons to use are plant protectors , Snailban , Snail Flow Eco Insect Control , Malasol and Oleum .
Ants bring a lot of pests to your garden and one of the large varieties of ant poison should be used . Control the ant population in your garden and limit damage done by pests in your garden .
Be productive over the next period of time and reap the benefits in winter and spring .
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SENWES SCENARIO | AUTUMN 2018