Trenching Celery

            “Well, Mother, trenching celery may be the best method of growing celery,” said Alfred, “but how deep does this trench need to be?”

            “According to Medwyn’s of Anglesley,” said Mother, “the trench needs to be 12 inches deep and 18 inches wide. We will need a trench about twenty feet long. That Stewart Thermostatic Seed Propogator we purchased has given us a lovely array of seedlings.”

            “That is a lot of digging, Mother,” said Alfred. “Let me see the illustration again.” Alfred looked over the illustration and the directions carefully “Oh, I see. We are to plant the seedlings on a bed of mulch and manure in the bottom of the trench, as the young plants begin to grow we add more soil. Then three or four weeks before harvest we completely fill the trench and build the soil up around the celery. That seems awfully complicated.”

            “That is supposed to keep the celery stalks from turning dark green and reduce the amount of stringy fibers,” said Mother.

            “You do know, Mother,” said Alfred, “that when the celery begins to ripen, that there will be an awful lot of celery. I certainly hope that you do love celery.”

            “I do, Alfred. I do,” said Mother, “but not that much. When the celery is ready, we will certainly eat some of it; but I have a plan for the rest of it. I was looking for a way to serve the Lord by serving others, and I thought that giving it away at church would be a novel idea. And it’s something that you and I can do together.”

            Alfred laughed, “You mean my brawn and your brains?”

            “Exactly,” said Mother. “and there is something else that I’m going to do. With each bunch of celery I’m going to give a tub of homemade crab and cream cheese filling for the celery. I thought that would be rather special.”

            “Do you have any idea who you are going to give it to?” asked Alfred.

            “Certainly I’m going to give some our Bible Study group at the Whittingtons, and to our Organist Choirmaster William Weaver, and of course some to Father Goodfellow, and the Altar Guild, and if there is enough, I’ll give some to any visitors that we have in Church that Sunday.”

            “Have you thought, Mother, of giving some to Moana Crutchley.”

            “Yes, Alfred, I have thought about that. She might complain about it, but I thought that I would give some to her and let that be her problem.”

            “Mother, that’s commendable,” said Alfred.

            “Well, Alfred,” said Mother, “at our Bible Study at the Whittington’s last week we were looking at 2 Timothy, and one verse just stuck in my mind, “The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil” [2 Timothy 2:24].