Another Walk Through the Garden

To most of us, a well-kept garden means neat rows of annual veggies: carrots, lettuce, beans, and tomatoes. But when God planted the first garden in Eden, it was more like an orchard or a food forest—a beautiful, edible ecosystem dominated by trees and other perennial plants. Tending this kind of garden would be quite different from the hoe-in-hand, sweat-of-the-brow gardening we think of now. Reimagining the original garden based on the description in Genesis, we may discover ideas to improve our own gardens according to God’s design.

Understanding the “Garden” of Eden

Genesis 2:8 tells the account of the first garden: “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden.” The Hebrew word gan in this verse is rendered as “garden” in almost every English translation of the Bible—with one noteworthy exception. The NET Bible renders gan as “orchard” in Genesis 2–3 because our English word garden struggles to convey the scene described in these chapters. The translation note on this verse explains:

Traditionally “garden,” but the subsequent description of this “garden” makes it clear that it is an orchard of fruit trees.

Throughout the Old Testament, gan typically means an enclosed garden, and it is translated as “garden” dozens of times. However, the garden of Eden can rightly be called an “orchard” because the Bible emphasizes trees in Genesis 2–3.

These descriptions sound much more like an orchard—or even a forest.

Have you ever noticed this focus on trees in the narrative of Genesis 2–3? It says the Lord made every tree grow in Eden, including the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9). God told Adam he could eat of every tree of the garden except one (Genesis 2:16–17). After Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the forbidden tree (Genesis 3:6), they made coverings for themselves from the leaves of a fig tree (Genesis 3:7) and hid from God among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:8). These descriptions sound much more like an orchard—or even a forest—than a traditional vegetable garden with neat rows of single vegetables. This idea of Eden as a forested garden offers some interesting insights for what our gardens could look like today.

A Beautiful, Edible Ecosystem

As a gardener who spends a lot of time growing food for my family each year, I am intrigued and inspired by the Bible’s portrayal of that first garden:

And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. (Genesis 2:9)

From this verse, we can deduce that God used three criteria (at least) when selecting what to grow there:

1. “every tree”

2. “that is pleasant to the sight”

3. “and good for food.”

The biblical text emphasizes trees, not to the exclusion of other plants but as the dominant feature of the landscape. Since God also gave Adam and Eve “every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth” (Genesis 1:29), we can infer that many other kinds of plants were also present among the trees. This makes sense based on God’s design of forest, woodland, and jungle ecosystems around the world, where trees make up the canopy and subcanopy that shelter a complex web of plant and animal life.

Likewise, we can speculate that Eden was a place of interdependent harmony. Imagine hundreds of different kinds of trees, bushes, shrubs, and vines, intermingled with all manner of flowering and edible herbs and plants. Unlike modern orchards, where a few varieties of fruit trees stretch for acres in long lines, the forested garden of Eden seems to have been a gloriously diverse and dynamic place.

Everything Adam and Eve saw was “good for food.” They were surrounded by food-bearing trees—which included bushes and other perennials—yielding delicious fruits and nuts, as well as leaves, flowers, bark, roots, and shoots. Annuals like squash, peppers, and potatoes were probably on the menu, too, although their growth among the trees in the orchard of Eden would have looked different from your grandma’s vegetable plot. After all, none of our modern varieties were present then, and the plants likely grew together among the trees and bushes.

As a result of God’s tree-centered design, and because the world was still free from the effects of sin, caring for this food forest would have been no sweat—literally. God put Adam in the garden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15), but pruning branches and picking plums is a lot easier than tilling the soil and hoeing rows of corn. Only after their sin brought a curse on the earth were Adam and Eve made to “eat the plants of the field” through painful and difficult toil (Genesis 3:17–19).

Photo by Cody Lutz

How Shall We Then Garden?

While we cannot recreate that first garden, God’s design can inform how we garden in a fallen world. On our family farm in Kentucky, we are developing a food forest of our own: a multi-species forested garden that harkens back to Eden, patterned after the wooded hillsides around us.

As you plan your own garden for the coming year, consider these four helpful principles, based on Genesis 2:9.

1. Develop Diversity

We can grow many kinds of plants together in a vibrant polyculture. This is often called a food forest in permaculture (nature-inspired) design. Picture the way different layers interact within a forest with each plant occupying a unique niche: the canopy, subcanopy, shrubs, herbs, climbing vines, groundcover, root crops, and more. A couple of shade-tolerant currant bushes and a groundcover of peppermint or creeping thyme can happily nestle beneath an existing dogwood tree. In your annual veggie garden, a technique called interplanting can stack up benefits for different crops that grow well together (see the book Carrots Love Tomatoes for more on this topic). A classic example is the “three sisters” of corn, beans, and squash. Research which varieties do well in your climate and have fun combining them in creative ways!

2. Prefer Perennials

If possible, make room for trees, bushes, and perennial plants in your landscaping designs. Annuals die and must be planted from seed again each year, but perennials produce for many years. Additionally, their roots protect the soil against erosion and encourage a community of beneficial microbes and fungi (especially when covered with a layer of compost or mulch). A couple of dwarf apple trees and a strawberry bed or raspberry patch will provide years of fresh fruit from a small backyard. There are many perennial herbs and vegetables like rosemary and oregano, chives, shallots, asparagus, and sorrel. You might also experiment with self-seeding annuals like cilantro, amaranth, and sunflowers that readily come back year after year with minimal effort.

3. Bias for Beauty

Our gardens should be attractive, enjoyable places that are “pleasant to the sight.” An easy way to make our gardens more pleasant is to add plenty of flowering plants. A well-placed evergreen tree or shrub goes a long way to add visual interest in the winter. Don’t relegate the flowers to purely decorative areas; add some marigolds and nasturtiums to the vegetable patch for a splash of color—and a lovely way to repel pests. Finally, a good layer of mulch can help immensely to keep the weeds down and soil moisture up while improving the general appearance.

4. Favor Fruitfulness

We can glorify the Creator by imitating his design in the way we “work and keep” whatever part of his world is under our care.

In the garden of Eden, all the trees were “good for food.” We can imitate God by designing for a harvest. Even a window-box garden can produce nutritious greens, herbs, and vegetables. If you have a decorative flower garden, consider adding fruitfulness with culinary herbs like chives and basil or medicinal herbs like echinacea, lavender, and calendula. You could also include colorful climbing beans or edible flowers like violets, dianthus, and hostas (the shoots can be eaten like asparagus). Research “edible landscaping” and you’ll discover a fascinating world of little-known plants that are both decorative and useful. The Rare Seeds catalog (rareseeds.com) is one of my favorite resources to find stunning and unusual vegetable varieties. Don’t think you have to choose between beauty and fruitfulness. A garden need not be ugly to be productive.

We can glorify the Creator by imitating his design in the way we “work and keep” whatever part of his world is under our care (Genesis 2:15). The more we strive to blend beauty and fruitfulness with diversity, the more our gardens will resemble that food forest God planted long ago in Eden. Then we can enjoy all the benefits of a vibrant, attractive garden that produces a more abundant harvest season after season. Even in a fallen world, we are not without glimpses of paradise.