Hi, I’m Tomi, and this is what I love doing most; writing and sharing my experiences with others. There is a Yoruba adage that says “Ogbon ologbon la fi kogbon”, that is, what you learn from the experience/wisdom of others will caution you. I have no doubt that you would grow in love with this column and always leave your comments in the comment box. Kizzez (in Falz’s voice!).
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I recently travelled home after being away for 7months and as usual I was spending my time in the comfort of my room reading a book when I heard my dad going out. I stepped out to inquire of him where he was going to and he said he wanted to just pick some Okra from the garden. This was the conversation that ensued and I had a little bit of hard time translating most of it because it was in Yoruba.
Me: Which garden? (With shock)
Dad: Our garden of course. Ah! You have not seen it! Oya, come.
Me: Wow! This is nice! Is that yam?
Dad: Yes! That one is growing. Those other ones are not growing yet. You can see the sprout.
Me: Yes. So why did you now put blocks on this side and a net on that side?
Dad: Those dogs have been disturbing the vegetables on that side (Pointing to the netted section). And the block is to make the entire area neat, so when rain comes, erosion will flow discretely into the garden through these spaces in between the blocks. You can see?
Me: Oh! I see. Your calling is truly agriculture o! (I chuckled).
Dad: Oloun o gbadun (God knows you are not serious).
I stood there and watched him uproot the weed as he pointed my attention to the new plants waiting to be transplanted.
Dad: We would have eaten our first Pawpaw before you get back o (He giggled with excitement)..
I did not remember this scenario until Elizabeth asked me to name this column. Ghen Ghen! What will it be? So I said a little prayer and the next day in church during praise worship the name came “Edging the Garden”. The interpretation being: let’s see our lives as a large area dedicated to farming or gardening as the case may be, and to think of everything planted in it as phases we pass through at one point or the other. When it rains and erosion swims with dirt in to the garden, the hedge we have built is what protects us. Thus, how do we separate the wheat from the chaff then? How do we as believers distinguish ourselves from this world of garbage in garbage out? How do we hold on to modesty as a daily mantra? That’s what this column is going to be about. I’m going to be walking us through a number of suggestions to make a difference, to protect ourselves from following the crowd, vogue and whatever name they come in these days.
Join me as we hedge our garden effectively!
Tomi.
