Training tomatoes

My tomatoes look so good! After the disaster of the sugar snaps, these healthy plants are a source of joy.

But I still need to tend to them daily. Not only do they need water, but they need training.

Tomato stems are not strong enough to bear their own weight, much less the weight of their fruit. As the branches grow, I must continually pull them inside the tomato cages or they will lie on the ground, spoiling the fruit. I gently lift the growing branches and rest them on the nearest rib of the cage. Gently, gently, because the new branches are fragile.

If I allow the branch to get too big before training them to the cage, I will have to bend the branch and risk breaking it. So I watch for fresh growth and support the branches with the cage as soon as possible.

The importance of training the tomatoes to the cages is something we learned from experience. Many plants, like the pepper plants, can bear the weight of their own fruit, but tomato plants cannot. The weight of the tomato will break the branch. Only when the branch is supported by the cage, can it bear the weight of the ripe tomato.

Do I need to be trained to accept support? I’m not a fan of needing help. It makes me feel old and weak. But these tomatoes are healthy and growing. It’s not that the plant is weak, but that the fruit is massive in comparison. A pear has an entire tree to support it. A similar sized tomato has only this tiny plant.

Perhaps, if my fruit is large compared to myself, I need support for it.

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amelek prevailed. But Moses’ arms grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side, so his hands were steady. Exodus 17:11-12

I find the fruit of the Spirit so appealing – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, generosity and self-control. So Melanie from Gone with the Wind. So counter to my Scarlett personality. I need support; I need to be trained to bear this fruit successfully. I am grateful to my friends who offer that support and gently correct me. I am thankful when they let me lean on them. Hopefully, I will can do the same for them or someone else someday. That is what the Christian community is all about – support.

Therefore encourage one another, and build up each other, as indeed you are doing… And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. I Thessalonians 5:11,14

Already there are little yellow flowers and tiny green tomatoes in my garden. I know it will be weeks, perhaps even months, before I can harvest any. But the promise is there. And the reminder to train the plant to the support cage before the fruit becomes heavy. A reminder to allow myself to be supported; to support others, and to encourage others to accept support. With support, the plant can produce abundant fruit. With support, that fruit is visible and available to the world.

In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Thank you for supporting me as I garden, and as I write about gardening. Thank you to the many of you who have helped me grow as a Christian and learn to live as a widow. I thank our Lord for the gift of you.

Betsy

Let me praise God before the assembly. Psalm 22:22