Hundred-Fold

 An idea is just an idea if that is all we do when thinking about things. Once upon a time man looked at birds and the idea came up that it would be great to fly like a bird. Then, we could rise above the ground and move through the air to cover great distances and be able to see more and further, almost like being on a high mountain.

At various stages in history “inventors” puzzled over the complexity of flight with no success at all. Some even died trying out their ideas. This went on for some time until someone cleverer came along. He applied more imagination and testing to the idea of flight and decided to be more practical and change the shape of the wing to a curved surface.

More testing took place, and some laws of aerodynamics were formulated and tested or put into practice. The results were better. The idea was developed further with more testing (action). Success didn’t come overnight. No, the “inventors” bravely and patiently continued with their efforts.

Now, man can fly with many devices. He can rise above the earth and even reach space. No longer are we earthbound but are on the brink of going to Mars. Science fiction became reality because thinking people worked on ideas to make them reality. This applies to many different fields of science and technology. From radio to movies to television and ultimately handheld mobile phones used for instantaneous communication worldwide.

I have recently discovered even if it is just for myself that one can sow a seed and reap a hundredfold in return. I read in a commentary section in my Bible that when you plant a seed (agriculturally) that the yield is between 5% and 15%. I don’t know how they calculated that but that’s what I read in black and white. But in my Bible, I saw another possibility, something that had been puzzling me for years.

I have seen some amazing things that we read about in the Word of God that seems completely spiritual and beyond belief or achievement. However, a few people did some amazing things, like walking on water, appearing out of nowhere, opening blind eyes, multiplying food to feed thousands, the list goes on. Even marching around a walled city and then shouting and the walls come tumbling down or turning water into wine. All amazing feats.

Then, there is of course prayer. It is an amazing thing to behold when you pray for a certain thing and actually see it happen. This is a long introduction to what I want to share next.

I live in a house built on red clay soil which is no good for successful gardening. One chap visited me once and said that nothing but weeds will grow here – even the weeds will struggle. It was almost as if he cursed my ground. But God had a different plan for me, something amazing. He planted an idea in my head and eventually I acted upon it. I went to the library and my eye caught a certain book in the gardening section. Needless to say, I took the book out and read some of the contents at home.

Earthworms and other little creatures feed on scraps from the kitchen – they love it and thrive on it.

So, I thought, why not start a small compost heap somewhere in the yard. What did I have to lose? That became my little project and over weeks and months I continuously deposited peels and scraps from the kitchen. I also placed soil over it regularly and added some water to the mix. In six months to a year my compost heap had grown and flourished.

Next, I started moving some of the compost around the yard when I was in severe depression and wanted to grow tomatoes. I thought, “Let me see if I can at least eat one ripe tomato from my efforts and then end it all.” That’s what depression can do. At least I set myself a worthwhile goal – growing something living.

Guess what happened? My first tomato tasted so delicious that I wanted to plant more. Tod do that I needed compost from my heap to feed the tomatoes and a whole new venture took place that added lots of fresh tomatoes to our kitchen table and other vegetables followed. 

My wife did the same with our compost and sowed some flower seeds. I thought, “Flowers are not food. Why plant them?” Later (much later) the lord showed me how bees loved our garden with all bright and pretty flowers growing in our garden, thanks to my wife. With all that happening I was cured of my depression without the help of doctors or medication – just delightful gardening and a purpose.

You may ask, “What caused the depression?” 

I was working in my dream job at Frasers when I was called in one morning and retrenched. After trying different ways to earn a living I couldn’t make things work and fell into very deep depression and ultimately wanted to end my life. But, as you have just read, small things moved me away from the depression and in the end, through growing tomatoes and developing a compost heap changed my life and eventually I had new hope and a better perspective on life. I was cured by my gardening efforts and the love from my wife and children.

In time we had a beautiful garden (it took years) that came alive when the Spring rains arrived. It just got better and better each year. The compost heap was discontinued and a new one was started in a far corner of our yard. The most amazing things have happened with that compost heap.

We planted a fig tree near that compost heap and placed an avocado pip that had shoots not too far away from where our first compost heap had been. Now I am moving ahead quite fast in terms of years, but these two trees have just now started bearing a hundred-fold fruit. Why? How? I received the revelation from my Bible. Jesus said that one could plant and receive a 30%, or 60%, or a 100% yield. Jacob planted and received a hundred-fold return and became rich.

My figs are rapidly getting ripe and each day I pick almost-ripe figs so that the birds don’t get to them first. Within a day they ripen, and we eat the tastiest figs you can get. Did that happen overnight? No. This started with one ripe fig a few years ago. Then nothing. Then maybe five. Then ten. The revelation that came to me this year was that the roots under the ground had finally reached the base of the compost heap in the corner and now the figs are plentiful this year and I can pick at least 100 before the season is over from one tree, even with some of the figs being lost to some hungry birds.

Moving over to the avocado tree that grew a couple of feet from the first compost heap which doesn’t exist anymore (above the ground anyway) it started with one avocado fruit after a couple of years and a friend told my wife that it is impossible to take a pip from an avocado we bought from the supermarket and ate and placed the pip with one end in water so that some roots could develop.

The first tree grew from that pip, but it died when we tried to move it to a better spot. My wife repeated that exercise and we planted it in a better space where it had more room to grow. Now, after getting hardly any fruit we have a super yield growing on it this year. It looks like we will have at least 50-fold this year or more. Possibly a hundred-fold next year. All because the roots have reached where our first compost heap had been.

So, that was just an idea in the beginning. We also had a granadilla bush that yielded at least 100 fruits in a season. It was also close to the second compost heap. If we have faith in the process and cultivate a decent compost heap that is “alive” with the worms and insects chewing away at scraps from the kitchen, tea leaves and dead leaves and grass from the garden then we can plant whatever we want to nearby and I believe get a hundred-fold yield on out crops if we continue patiently with our efforts.

It has been such a rewarding experience, and we now have the best fruit and vegetables to eat that we grow ourselves in a natural and organic way. Maybe this will inspire some of my readers to try and do the same. Both figs and avocados are extremely expensive in the supermarkets. Rather grow your own. From severe depression to a hundred-fold increase is miraculous in my opinion. Try it.