This morning, I took on the arduous task of trimming back my cherry tomato plant. It’s been needing a trim for a long time, and was starting to take over the greenhouse deck, the strawberry plants, the lemon cucumber plant, and was dangerously encroaching on spaghetti squash territory. I have been frantically harvesting those sweet orange cherry tomatoes, excitedly anticipating more branches and more fruit. However, as the summer has rolled on, it’s become clear that it was becoming too much to manage. There was no sunlight reaching the strawberries, and the squash plant was becoming entangled in its branches. Dead leaves and fallen tomatoes were piling up at the plant’s roots, which would inevitably invite pests and rot. Something had to be done… but my pride was getting in the way. It was such a gorgeous full bushy plant! Other gardeners dream of a plant this big!
I had to accept the fact that, in order to allow for new growth and new opportunities in my garden, the tomato plant had to be trimmed back. I had to literally cut my losses and move on. It was difficult for me, a novice gardener, to accept. However, to allow the other plants in my garden to thrive, it had to be done. Those branches we no longer serving a purpose… they were just getting in the way. When I stood back from the garden and looked at the whole system, that was obvious. It was overtaking other areas of the garden that needed my attention… covering weeds that needed to be pulled for the sake of the plot as a whole.
I collected a huge bowl of the fruit of my labor, just like collecting life lessons we can all benefit from if we push back the branches and look hard enough. After the excess growth was cut away, I was able to get a better view of my garden – to see what needed tending, what needed pulled, and what could be harvested right now. I was even able to save a few cuttings to plant in pots and (hopefully) grow more tomatoes in my greenhouse later.
Do you have something in your life that needs to be cut back, to make room for new growth? Do you need to remove any waste or clutter in order to face what is buried underneath? Are you struggling to face this task? Perhaps, underneath all the overgrown issues that have taken over facets of your life, you will uncover something special – something you didn’t realize was there all along.
