Gleaning

An unplowed field produces food for the poor, but injustice sweeps it away. (Proverbs 13:23)

          Part of Jewish law required that every seventh year, fields were to be left unplowed, and whatever grew was available for whoever needed it. That gave every field a rest every seven years. I used to think that this meant that when year seven began, everyone left every field unplowed, but it occurs to me that one would be keeping this law if, for example, the person with seven fields left the first field to rest during year one, the second during year two, etc. It’s a longer rotation period than we’re advised to use now. Now, they say to give the land rest every 3 years. I should do some research into this for planning my gardens for next spring. The Jews were also commanded not to harvest every last grain or grape, but to leave some for the poor. This was called gleaning and it was considered unjust to be so thorough that one effectively swept a field clean.
          I’ll admit, the idea of having strangers walking into my backyard and helping themselves to my garden does not appeal. There are a few people who have permission, especially once I head south. But, not only is part of the goal to feed myself, but I don’t want my dog having opportunities to escape, so I don’t want people wandering in whenever they please. I have to adapt the idea. I’ve read of some folks who are putting tables in their front yards on which they put free food. I think I’d want to put the “table” in a different neighborhood if I did that. I’ve tended to deliver vegetables to friends and to a food bank. That’s part of the goal of learning square foot gardening so I can grow more to donate. I know at least one person who has a ministry of teaching others to garden. 
          I’ve also heard of another sort of gleaning idea. We don’t live in as much of an agricultural society as we once did. It’s not easy to get to farms, and there aren’t enough farms to support much gleaning right now. But, there is a company that makes furniture whose owner read about gleaning and wondered how anyone could glean from him. What he decided was that he would let people come in and sweep up the sawdust and wood chips. He made arrangements with a paper mill nearby that they would buy the refuse. He purchased a truck, and went to some poor (possibly homeless, I don’t recall) folks and said, “if you come in and sweep up, you can take the sawdust to the mill and you keep what he pays you. I’ sure there was some supervision involved, and that some folks weren’t willing to do the job required. I’m sure the income from the sawdust was not enough to live on, but it gave an opportunity that prepared for bigger opportunities. When I saw this on a video, I thought about all the recyclable materials the place I worked threw out and paid someone else to haul away, and mine was one of thousands of stores in my area and one of thousands of stores owned by the stockholders of the corporation.
          What do you have as leftovers or even trash that might be useful to someone? What do I? I think we need to be more mindful and inventive.