The Power of One

Last year we received a squash from my brother-in-law. It was perfectly formed and had great flavor, so I decided to save some of the seeds.

This past spring I planted one (1) squash seed in a little grow cup. It came up in just a few days. Now I had a dilemma. Our garden is quite small. It sits against the foundation of the house and is bordered by a row of rose bushes, the patio and a raised bed garden. We hardly had room for a few herbs and vegetables, and certainly no space for the fledgling squash.

Then our neighbor stopped by to give us some onion sets, and I had a bright idea. He likes squash. Maybe he’d like the little plant!

He reluctantly accepted the squash. Perhaps he had a foreboding about it? But he’s a kind man, so he dutifully planted it in one of his two raised garden beds.

The squash survived the transplant and began to grow. And grow. Leaves as big as plates. Blossoms like saucers. It crept over the side of the bed and through the other raised bed. Another part of the vine sneaked to the ground and traveled around the corner of the house.

Our neighbor seemed a bit disgruntled. The squash had overtaken the green beans and cukes he’d been waiting for all year. I felt guilty. Perhaps I’d broken some kind of good-neighbor code by insisting he take the plant. I volunteered to hack the squash back, so he could get to the other veggies. It took twenty minutes in the hot sun to forge a slender path to the green beans. I couldn’t even find the cucumbers.

A few weeks later he called to say he’d counted eight big squashes in his garden. Did we want one? Sure! A couple weeks later, he called again. He’d offered squash to eight friends, including us, and everyone wanted one of the famous veggies. He wasn’t going to have one for himself.

I know all about good manners. I should have demurred and said we didn’t want one. But, I had been greedily waiting to taste that squash all summer. In the end, he brought a squash over and we invited him to dine with us when we cook it this fall. On the kitchen scale it weighed over six pounds.

If you want to try your luck at growing squash, keep in mind there are up to ten thousand seeds in a pound of squash seeds. Ten thousand seeds each producing eight squashes would be eighty thousand squashes. Eighty thousand seeds producing eight orbs each would be six hundred and forty thousand squash plants. Perhaps squash is the answer to world hunger.

As in gardens, we humans also plant seeds in our personal lives.

The Bible states that whatever we sow we will reap. (Gal. 6:7 NKJV) Like the little squash seeds, whatever we plant in our lives will multiply. If we sow good seeds of hope and encouragement, we will reap the benefits.

The opposite is also true. Another neighbor grew quite a lot of dandelions this summer. He didn’t bother to mow until millions (billions?) of seeds had spread far and wide. In addition, bad seed attracts company, so today his yard is filled with many kinds of weeds. It takes a lot of work to overcome the results of planting the wrong seed.

In our personal lives, seeds of neglect, bitterness, apathy or fear can grow like squash and influence the direction we go.

Good seed and bad seed.

We can choose what to plant and what to weed out. There are great benefits for planting seeds of encouragement, kindness, faith and hope. When we plant good seed and water it with prayer, we can expect a great harvest.

Just this morning I found a quote that relates this topic:

Kennedy DeLap, Miss North Dakota 2025, said, “Sometimes it can feel hard as one person to change the world. But it’s actually really possible—and really sometimes easy—to change the entire world for one person.”

It’s good to hear these inspiring words from a leader in a new generation. She’s planting good seeds in her world.

There are a couple lessons to this story. First, each day we need to ask ourselves what kind of seed do we want to plant in the lives of others? And secondly, beware of squash.

Writer Update

October 11      Bismarck Edgewood Vendor Show from 10 to 3

November 1    Fall Frenzy at Wilton, ND from 11 to 4

Meanwhile back at the desk, I’m privileged to participate in a five-week online writing class with author Debra Marquart.

May your autumn be blessed with an abundance of good things!