Since the beginning of June, we have made some nice progress in the garden. We really want to be raising our own fruits and vegetables, and have often felt discouraged by the poor results. The soil on our land is poor, and the hillsides are steep. For months we'd felt that what we needed was some manure. At the end of May, we met a neighbor who was able to bring us six sacks of it. Next, it seemed like the thing to do was hire someone to help us apply it and get other things going in the garden. June is the beginning of a rainy season and therefore a good time to plant.

The question of paying people to work for us isn't an easy one. We feel called to live in voluntary poverty, in solidarity with our neighbors who don't choose to be poor. Yet, we have money in the bank - and more than we need. So part of our stewardship of the money we have is to put it back in the local economy or donate it. When we go to town, this means we try to by snacks made by local people, instead of store-bought. We also give to beggars, and purchase medicines for the public health clinic. And, when we hire someone, we try to pay a fair wage. We pay 100 Lempiras (Honduran currency, about $5.50) for a 5-hour workday, instead of the standard 60 or so that companies here often pay for manual or factory labor. We also feed our workers lunch, and work with them, whether alongside them in the garden, or doing our house and kitchen work while they do other tasks. This helps remind us that we are not hiring servants to give us leisure time. So, when we were feeling so behind in our gardening, it seemed like a good time to hire some help.

We had discovered a house not far from ours, where a family was living and caring for the property of a man who lives in Limón. The husband had brought us the manure, and seemed interested in working for us. So one day we walked over there to ask him about it. But there were two different men there - the family had moved away! So we talked to them, and they were willing to come over.

The two of them have helped us about once a week since then, and now we are finally feeling caught up in our agricultural work. We got the manure put down on all the fruit trees, and used some to plant various types of beans for cover crops. The beans will protect the ground from the rain as well as enrich the soil and provide nitrogen-rich mulch. (Beans and other legumes 'fix' nitrogen, a necessary nutrient, in the soil through bacteria that live on their roots.) The guys were also able to bring us some pineapple starts, which we planted along with some starts from the plants we already had. We now have 60-70 pineapple plants in the ground.

Another project was to build a couple of new barrier rows as erosion protection. One is in the garden, and the other to the south of the house, replacing the one burned in the fire. We have planted legumes in those rows. Even with all this, we've been trying not to get too ambitious and end up with more than we can are for! So most of the work has been on soil improvement instead of food production. We are trying to get some okra started to grow near the house, though.

Happily, we have been able to harvest a few pineapples recently, of the ones we planted two years ago. We are learning at what point they should be picked: it seems to be when they just begin to turn yellow. When we picked one while it was still green, it took two weeks to ripen and didn't have much flavor. One that we didn't pick ripened to a bright yellow on the plant, and got partially eaten by a bird! (The part we could salvage was sweet and juicy.) We were also pleasantly surprised to learn from the guys that some yuca plants, which we had basically ignored and given up on, have actually borne some food, so we've been enjoying that addition to our diet. Plus, one platano and one banana plant are currently putting on fruit, so we'll have something to eat next month from them. It gives me hope for the future; there is so much waiting involved, it can be hard to be patient.

The men also did some wood-splitting, which freed up some of our time to work on sewing. We made a new blouse for each of us using some fabric we bought to be our postulant uniform. Plus we got a new dress made for Beth. Our plan is to make two more blouses each so we will soon be wearing matching habits. The discernment has been slow on what the uniforms should be, but we are excited to have the discipline and simplicity of wearing the same outfit every day. It helps keep us from concerning ourselves about worldly things like fashion, and reminds us that we have dedicated our lives to God instead.

Another improvement the guys made for us was to build several benches. There is now one on each side of the back door, where we do morning and afternoon prayers. And there are two among trees further from the house for meditation and other use. It feels like an expansion of our living and prayer space, and has been a dream we've had for a while.

It is pretty nice to feel caught up on the gardening, and on top of the sewing projects. Which doesn't mean we slow down! There are always beans and corn to sort (we were happy to buy 50lbs of corn from a friend the other week; he delivered it to our door on a donkey); hymns to pick and practice for our worship times; cooking, sewing, and firewood cutting; and discernment on so many topics. All to support a life of prayer dedicated to seeking God first. May I learn to trust more fully in God's provision and strength!