“Plant a Pot of Bible” is a series of devotions that go along with planting some of the herbs, spices, and edibles scattered across the pages of the Bible in our own garden pot.
By the end of the series, we hope for a deeper understanding of who God is and what He has done…along with a beautiful and tastily planted container for early spring’s patio or lingering winter’s sunny window.
The Lord Knows
Listen and hear my voice; listen carefully and hear my words.
Does the farmer plow all day to plant seed? Does he continually dig furrows and harrow his ground [after it is prepared]? When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow [the seed of] {nigella} and scatter cumin, and plant wheat in rows, and barley in its [intended] place and rye within its border?
For his God instructs [him correctly] and teaches him properly.
For {nigella} is not threshed with a sharp threshing sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin; but {nigella} is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a rod. Bread grain is crushed fine, indeed, the farmer does not continue to thresh it forever. Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it, he does not thresh it longer.
This also comes from the Lord of hosts, Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.
Isaiah 28:23-29 Amplified Bible
As a suburban gardener, I hardly know the ins and outs of wheat and barley cultivation, the particulars of rye seedlings, or why any of these would be sharing a field with nigella and cumin. Neither does my accumulation of garden tools include sledges, cartwheels, staffs, rods, or horses! I have only a conceptual grasp of threshing; naturally all my bread flour comes from the store. However, as gardeners we can humbly hold onto the realization that we have a lot to learn, making us ready to receive instruction and listen carefully.
…love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.
Deuteronomy 30:20 NIV
“This is my Son, whom I have chosen; Listen to him.”
Luke 9:35 CJB, NIV
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.
John 10:27 NIV
No joke, I sowed nigella and cumin seeds side by side last fall, and was certain the cumins sprouted and not the nigellas, only to notice in comparing photos online for this writing that I had it backwards. 
Mercy! The nigellas are beginning to form their flower stems (it’s been a very warm winter). Their lower leaves are a bit cumin-patterned which has deceived me until now; on a closer look, leaflets are more linear and fern-like than the cumin-cousin carrots coming up across the garden.
Well, what do I know??!
Thankfully, the Lord Knows.
The particulars of sowings and reapings and processings in Isaiah 28 command my respect as a gardener, displaying a working knowledge to which I aspire. Not to become a grain farmer, but to acquire the ability for personal and appropriate care and tending described in these verses, and give the best to all of my garden plants…and more importantly, to all of my people!
What a comfort to contemplate the magnificence of God—that He knows such details and nuances—about plant life; and how much more He know the lives of his people.
“He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!”
John 4:39 The Message
God knows your hearts.
Luke 16:15 CJB, NIV
Plant a Pot of Bible
Our first step in bring these words to life in our garden is to stake the center of the pot. We have a special plant at the end of the series for this spot, so remember to hold 3 to 4 inches in the center by marking it with a short section from a pruned garden branch.
Sow nigella seeds at the “12 o’clock” place in the pot, and cumin next to them at “1 o’clock” spot. 
If there is a nursery nearby specializing in culinary herbs, select one or two 3 or 4 inch pots of each species as your space allows and plant accordingly.
Both of these plants will sprout and grow throughout the cool spring and flower when the heat sets in.
Flowering Starry Hosts
Nigella and cumin flowers will form as spring temperatures warm to summer’s. They each reflect a star-like pattern in their blossoming, though in two different ways. Nigella flowers have 5 white or light blue pointed petals, opening to a star-shaped bloom surrounding a bold, tangled cluster of pistils and anthers. In time a sturdy seed pod forms in their place, containing seeds for spice and sowing.
Cumin blooms display a 5-pointed pattern in their fractal array; dainty white petals arranged as pinpoints grouped together, composing a larger, umbel bloom. Each mini-flower forms a seed like you see star-bursting in your dill and parsley plants. Use them for spice and scattering in next year’s garden.
These starry reflections point us toward another Isaiah passage that continues to teach how personally God knows his creation: He knows by name.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
Isaiah 40:26 NIV
Fundamental to our ability to trust God in raw, real-life, personal instances is our grasp, however small it may begin, that God knows each of us, by name.
I am calling you by your name; you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1 CJB
Read more on nigella and cumin in “He Knows,” a devotion from the series Intimacy with God in the Garden in God’s Word for Gardeners Bible, pages a-48 & a-49.
Find more garden-to-table information in our Plant Guide:
Nigella – gardenndelight.wpengine.com/plant-guide/nigella/
Cumin – gardenndelight.wpengine.com/plant-guide/cumin/
Sources:
Cautionary Note: It is best not to sow seeds packaged for the spice aisle in the garden, nor to flavor foods with seeds sold for garden. Herbs and spices sold for eating may be treated with preservative or anti-sprouting agents, inhibiting garden growth. Likewise, seeds intended for the dirt will not be cared for according to dietary standards.
Online sources for nigella seeds to grow:
**Nigella sativa is sold under several common names: nutmeg flower, black cumin, black caraway, black seed, Roman coriander, or fennel flower.
Monticello Gift Shop, Outside Pride, Seed Savers Exchange
The seedlings pictured here are from OutsidePride.com
If you are not interested in harvesting the seeds for spice, substitute “Love-in-a-Mist” or Nigella damascena in your pot, a more readily available annual flower with a similar appearance. I love ‘Bridal Veil’ from Renee’s Garden.
For growing cumin:
Outside Pride, Seed Savers Exchange, Sow True Seed, Victory Seeds
Readers, please share any additional sources you recommend in the comments section. Thank you!
Photo Credits:
©2016 Shelley S. Cramm
