Gardens along the way….goatheads…

 Gardens along the way…goatheads….

One of the earliest plants I learned to identify was “puncture vines”…

We lived in central California when I was 3-9 years old, barefooted as much as possible, running through pastures, corrals, gardens, lawn…I quickly learned about puncture vines …they covered the ground in many places…so I avoided those areas like the plague….they not only hurt bare feet, they made bicycle tires flat! Quickly…

When we moved north into the mighty redwoods, those vines did not follow, then I learned about nettles…stinging leaves which “jumped” out to sting your arms and legs.

I didn’t see puncture vines again until my husband and I moved into northern Nevada where they seemed to flourish in the heat. We taught our children to quickly avoid them with feet and bikes…

Now, Two of my walking paths have these awful weeds…one being an empty field, overgrown with a variety of weeds and puncture vines…the other is a school running track…I learned here they are called “goatheads” for whatever reason…so I looked them up…called both…

Just think the Garden of Eden did not have these awful plants…they came with the “fall”…

thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:18-19 

The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.

Proverbs 15:19

thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.

Proverbs 24:31

Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Proverbs 26:9

For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

Hebrews 6:7-8 

These vines cling to and run along the ground reminding me of the curse that God pronounced about Satan…

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:14 

Satan, whom we are to resist….as well as these thorny vines…both are something to avoid…

Thank YOU, even in thorns are there lessons to be learned….

http://www.idahoweedawareness.net/vfg/weedlist/puncturevine/puncturevine.html