3 Life Lessons From The Garden

0 Shares

I’m happy to share 3 life lessons from the garden that I recently learned this summer, and has impacted my life in profound ways.

Most recently, I’m recognizing that the garden has a lot to say. Things either grow or they don’t. And giving care to the garden, listening to it, tending to it can take it in either a positive or a negative direction. These 3 life lessons from the garden were learned this summer, and I’m happy to share my experiences with you.

But first, a few tomatoes from the garden…..

Lesson #1: Pruning Promotes Good Growth

My tomato plants are wild this year. Some are determinate and only 4 feet all. The others are indeterminate varieties and have long left their cages. They’ve been tied up to the fence to crawl over. Many are over 8 feet tall and growing. A lot of these tomato plants are producing virogous growth, especially large leaves. I’ve recently heard that taking 1/3 of the leaves off leaves the plant to produce better fruit, so I’ve started to do that. Tmidly, though. But I’m growing in my discomfort. I never want to take anything away. But ironically ~ by taking away, I promote more of the right type of growth. It’s a tough lesson to learn.

Recently, I’ve begun to prune to-do items from my list, and as you guessed it, I’m finding time for more important things. The process of taking away is hard. It may feel limiting, daunting, and we need a little courage. But by saying “no” to something, I’ve recognize that I revitalize another part of my life, one that I’ve missed in a while. Perhaps by letting one blog go (I had to do that), I can focus more on this one. And start working on new piano repertoire. Or start a painting class. How does this translate to your life?

Lesson #2: Find The Suckers

Suckers are little growths on the tomato plant that grow between the main stem and the side leaf. It’s almost in the “armpit” of the plant. They’re small but they can steal the nutrition from teh plant when it should really go towards producing fruit. So daily, I go out to check on the suckers. Sometimes after a few days of rain, the suckers are about 8 inches long! It’s been said (and I’ve done it once this summer) that you can take it off, bury the stem into the ground and develop a new plant. I’m proud to say after about 10,000 tries, it finally worked this year.

So let’s talk about suckers. This one is an obvious parallel to life. We let some things grow that take our attention from what’s really important. Social media, phones, distractions. Indifference, abusive relationships, lack of time management skills. Over time, everything grows. Tomato suckers and our habits, equally as well. What we spend time on grows. What we pay attention to grows. And what we don’t pay attention to, that grows too, in our neglect. If left untended to, or if we are unaware, those suckers will continue to feed one our energy and zap us dry. So it begs to question, what are the suckers in your life? What is eating up your energy in detrimental ways?

Lesson #3: Strengthen Your Foundation

When tomato plants are about 2-3 feet tall, I take off the majority of their bottom leaves to expose the stem. I like to see about a good foot length of the stem, bare. This helps in so many ways. First, the plant has room to breathe. Wet leaves, especially at the bottom of the plant, can lead to rot, mold, lack of circulation, and disease. Secondly, water can get to where it needs to go, vs. laying on the leaves at the bottom of the plant. You have direct access to the root and soil, so you can water properly. The roots and bottom stem of the plant are the foundation of the plant, and that needs to be healthy in order for the plant to grow big and strong.

I’ve come to think about how to strengthen my foundation. What are the items that take up space that hide my access to nourishment? Proper sleep? Too many appointments? Again, it comes back to pruning. But this time, in order to help build a solid foundation for me to stand on to be happy and healthy. What are some things you can do to strengthen your foundation?

Take Away

The garden has a lot to say, if we listen and choose to be aware. It’s an amazing, peaceful place to be. It’s innocent, vibrant, majestic, powerful, inspiring, ruthless, all at the same time. I hope it welcomes you in open arms, as it has for me, and shared all of its wonderful wisdom with you. Take good care.