This past March, my children and I planted several kinds of seeds. When it was time to bring them outside, we realized we had more than 13 tomato seedlings. It was closer to 30 seedlings! We gave several plants to our neighbors and family and were able to keep about five for ourselves. Well, those five tomato plants have taken over our garden. And in just a few more weeks, we’re going to have more than 60 grape tomatoes to devour.

Adapt

When I planted the five hearty tomato seedlings in the garden, they looked so cute nestled in their four-foot support cage. It seemed impossible they would grow enough to fill that cage, let alone take over more than half of our garden! Today, those five plants – which came from five tiny seeds – are doing just that. And they’ve decided we need to come up with a plan for eating (or sharing) more than 60 grape tomatoes.

Being the adept adapters we are, I’m sure we’ll figure it out. We may not have planned for the abundance that was bestowed on us, but we’re certainly grateful. It was such a blessing to witness the tomatoes flourish from the smallest of seeds. Sure, we played our part by planting the seeds and nourishing the plants. We may have even sung to them from time to time. But those tomato plants decided to grow so large we had to buy them two additional support cages.

Learning Curve

Maybe a more seasoned gardener would’ve known to expect such an abundant harvest, but we’re just beginners. We’re in the process of learning the hard way. And we’re enjoying every moment of it. It’s been a joy to grow our first garden in our home. We take turns watering the plants. We take turns singing to the plants. And we’ll most certainly take turns eating the plants. After all is said and done, our hard work and positive energy will nourish our bodies.  

As Jenny Uglow, British biographer, is known to say, “We may think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.”