Garden V: The Vine

Receiving my first fruits was awesome! I loved eating the vegetables I had grown. Although Tomatoes were a whole different story, it seems like they take forever. I waited and waited for them to finally turn red, and when one turns red they all turn red. It was pretty incredible.
My tomato journey started in the front of a Menards store. I was already late in the season and I was a little worried that I wasn't going to be able to buy the Tomato cages that were my sole purpose for traveling to Mernards. As I stepped into the store every fear melted away as I was bombarded with a storm of Tomato cage choices. Of course, being the thrifty boy that I am, I purchased THE cheapest ones I could find. I do believe they were 95 cents a piece. I think I bought four or five. That day I was a happy little gardener as I traveled to my plot.
When I returned to my plot I was greeted by Howard as he looked over my purchase. I excitedly said "I got these babies for 95 cents a piece." Thinking Howard would be quite pleased with my frugality. He instantly responded with "What you got there is 95 cents worth of crap, those things aren't going to last at all! What you need is good old rusty ones. Those are the ones that are going to last." This took me a bit by surprise because in my own little naive way, I thought "Mernards could never sell me faulty equipment! I trust Mernards!" Naturally I was way off and Howard was right on the money. Why wouldn't he be? He was, after all, a true gardener. I was just the rookie. Never the less, I had to use the cages, I bought them!

As the tomato plants grew I realized how over bearing they can be. The vines go where they please, and I had to keep a strict eye on them. They would bring each other down to support themselves, and they would go in places where tomatoes would never grow. The cages crumbled from the weight of the plants, and after a while I realized that Tomatoes needed much more attention then I was giving them. Eventually green little balls started forming on the branches and I was pumped! I could not wait to taste my first "homegrown" tomato. After the tomatoes grew more, it seemed that I waited forever for them to turn red. Day after day, I would come to the garden to see a red tomato, but instead it would be a big green one or maybe a hint of light yellow, but not red. Then the day came when the tomatoes were finally ready to come home and become my dinner. That was a glorious day. Of course a bunch of them turned red at the same time, and I barely could keep up with them. I ended up giving away most of my tomato stock. After the tomatoes started to turn red, the plants required more attention because I needed to get rid of the plants that weren't bearing good tomatoes and focus on the ones that were. Any that weren't didn't make the cut....wait they did make the "cut" actually. I cut away the bad branches and kept the good. This act of pruning was a glaring reminder of chapter 15 in the gospel of John. Jesus speaks of God being the gardener and how he puts so much focus onto the plant and makes sure that it is bearing good fruit. It most definitely brought me to a deeper understanding of the gardener analogy. Any pruning I was doing as the gardener was for the benefit of the plant. I knew that if I pruned away the branches that weren't bearing fruit, the bearing fruit branches would do all the better.

Towards the end of the garden, the tomato plants became too much for me. I eventually let them do whatever they wanted and would just pick the tomatoes that happened to turn out. I ran out of patience and focused on some of the other plants. I am so glad that God doesn't run out of patience for us, and keeps working with us to see us bear the best fruit.

"I am the vine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." -Jesus