Pruning in the "Vineyard" (Orchard)

Some of my other work--heirloom tomatoes thriving in the walls of waters (I think) and then a jump on peas that were started inside and transplanted outside. They seem to be loving it outside right now.

The Johnny Gold apple tree very nicely pruned, sprayed and ready to produce (hopefully)

One of the many tasks of spring is the annual pruning of fruit trees. It is a task that I do not relish as it creates a lot of work. Some work I don't mind, but in this case--it creates ALOT of work and stress--more than I want. And it has to be completed within a short window of time--when you get a warm enough of a day to work outside and before the blossoms and leaves come out. So its kind of like this pressure to get it done quick. Then there are decisions to be made of where to cut, what needs to stay and what needs to go. Its like I have the life of the tree in my hands and maybe I am destroying it and the fruit crop.

I had finally plowed my way through to the last 2 trees--the pear trees. They both have a disease called fire blight that has really cut into the fruit crop. And some people would just decide it was time to cut them down to the ground. But I determined that I would try another year and so reluctantly put it on my list to do Tuesday.

One thing I have been doing that is especially good, and also bears fruit is reading my scriptures, reading from the conference addresses, and saying my morning prayers. I usually try to allow myself--30-45 min for this morning devotion. It prepares me really well for the day ahead, and puts me in the right mind set, and draws me obviously closer to God. So Tuesday after my devotion time, I headed outside.

It really was a beautiful spring day. I was feeling pretty content with life and ready to tackle the work. With a lot of prayer about what would be the right cuts to be made on the trees, I proceeded. This year I did some self education regarding pruning. Rechecked all my books, and even found some great video clips from an English guy that were the most helpful. I learned some principles there I had never learned before. So as I progressed through my pruning I was getting more confident. Anyway I started in pruning the pear trees. There is just a lot of gnarly growth and you just get more confused at times. But I confidently pecked away at it.

Somewhere in the process, the parable of the vineyard/ olive trees came to my mind. I think placed there for a reason. I began to see myself as a pruner (ie worker) in the Lord's vineyard. The words in the scriptures took on new meaning as I cut out the diseased wood, the dead wood, the wild branches, etc. etc and how they are metaphors for people. I was thinking how God thought over "who" gets pruned and how best to care for the branches, twigs, and limbs of his trees, how he dunged about the tree, how he transplanted, etc. I just kept getting more and more insight to this parable as I worked. I found myself feeling for this diseased tree and how best to care for it to help it regain health. All in all I spent most of the day caring for the trees in the orchard. I pruned, sprayed, cleaned up the wood to be burned and more. I really enjoyed doing this service. Maybe because I could see a bigger purpose than just a mundane task. There was a deeper meaning to it all. I could see how God uses all these things here on earth to teach us and allows us to step into these parables--liken them to ourselves. I could see myself as a worker in the vineyard. Really it was one of the most amazing experiences I've had--kind of like I got to work hand in hand with God in doing this work. I guess all of the stuff we do in life has deeper meaning than what we think. That it can have more lasting purpose than the day to day grind of life. Anyway I will never look at the orchard and the work involved there in the same way. That all work has meaning--even the most tedious--and can be used for a higher purpose and can certainly be used to help us grow and develop.

The one pear tree pruned. I should have taken a before shot so you can see that there was some change. Some branches I left to be pruned out in a later year, as it would hurt the tree too much.

All the pruned wood from the orchard stacked up and waiting for grandkids to load onto the trailer - quite a lot.

I think now I am motivated to do some pruning on the plum tree in the "nethermost part of the vineyard that is wild and overgrown". And I am appreciative of Heavenly Father who uses the simple things in life to teach us. Just a view of the apple and 1 pear tree on the west side of the orchard--where I spent much of the month of April.