Everything has really taken off.  The rain and sun and soil have converted tiny seedlings into adolescent, robust plants.  They are strong and green and growing.  The tomatoes have grown almost a foot since last week. One of the issues with gardening in a small space is managing the boundaries of each plant.  They have a tendency to wander out of their intended area and intrude on their neighbors.  The plants can compete with each other, choking each other out.  They send out all manner of green seeking to occupy as much space as possible.  But the green does not necessarily produce the fruit.  The green is required but can also just take up space, wasting energy that would be better directed toward the fruit.

Indeterminate tomatoes, which just means they keep growing all year, need a little looking after.  The determinate ones kind just stay in their own lanes. The ones that I am looking after are indeterminate and can be unruly if not attended to.  What I discovered Saturday morning was that the tomatoes were a tangled mess and needed some work.  Because they were all grown together in such dense space it was difficult to see where one stopped and the other began.  There was no circulation under the plants and they could not breathe.  This kind of situation can be a breeding ground for various molds and rots and nasty stuff that could damage the babies.

“Suckers” are new growth on a tomato that just uses energy and takes up space.  When ever I work with these plants I am aware of a reluctance to prune.  There is a “what if” in the back of my mind.  What if I cut too much?  What if I am not doing it right?  What if I cut the wrong place?  There is slight anxiety connected with it every time.  But I know it needs to be done.  Generally I am somewhat tentative in the beginning and a pattern will gradually emerge with each plant.  They will tell me what they need if I pay attention.  These needed air to circulate around the young fruit.  I pruned all the lower suckers along with anything not growing upward.  As I worked on the plants I thought about how  I may need pruning too.  Where am I overgrown, and stuck, and needing fresh air?  What or who in my life is just taking up space and using energy that should be directed toward my own fruitfulness?  Why am I sometimes reluctant to prune my own suckers?  I think perhaps the many aspects of my life can become overgrown and tangled.  It seems at times that there is a lot going on, but the fruit is sparse.  The leaves and the green are not the point.  The point is the fruit.  I know that I can fake myself out at times focusing on all the “suckers” in my life, thinking that distraction and activity and the rut is actually going to produce something.  There is only so much energy, only so many days.  If the purpose of life is my particular fruitfulness then there are some “suckers” that need a ruthless pruning.  I have to quit holding onto and hoping that the same old same old is finally going to produce what I need.  Let go boy, you control freak.  Have faith.

Much better!

Now I can see what I want.  Air and light can circulate.  It looks kind of awkward and naked for now.  Pruning feels that way.  It is a bit frightening.  But I did not hurt the plants.  I heard them breathe a sigh of relief.  Now they are better able to focus on growing upward toward the sunshine and producing fruit as they go.

Cucamelon update.  They are reaching out climbing the little trellis I made for them.  That is my job with them.  I only need to provide for them a place to grow.  We can be so easily stagnated when we forget that we can not make anything grow, even our own self.  So much energy and time can be wasted in anxious waiting, planning, seeking perfection in form.  We can daydream our life away and never plant the seeds.  Tomatoes and even the Cucamelons are not beautiful in their forms.  They just grow.  The beauty is in the fruit.  I was reminded that perfection is not in perfect form but in the process and its result.  The process of growth and change can at times seem ugly and pruning can feel wasteful, but it only because the fruit is not there yet.  There is not much more beautiful than a set of gangly vines hung on string and old bamboo filled with red ripe tomatoes. That is perfection.  There is a proverb that goes something like this.  “The barn is clean (perfect) when there is no bull.”  But when there is no bull there is also no life.  The barn can be clean and in perfect order but nothing is happening.  Bring a bull inside then it gets messy.  There will be some shit to step in and things will get broken but there will be life going on.  Perfection is not sterile.

This is the grotto.  There are five peach trees set out in a semicircle in front of the Winery.  She has a name and is a place dedicated with intention 4+ years ago.  Wedding are held here.  In the early spring they are filled with pink blossoms.  The blossoms were the reason I planted them in the first place.  The little trees have grown and matured.  The one pictured on the far right had a fungus its first year which stunted its growth.  But I doctored it and it is quickly catching up with her sisters.

I planted them for blossoms and now each year they give me fruit.  I just needed to make a place for them to grow.  That is my only responsibility.  I planted them with great love and tenderness attached and they have been most generous ever since.

Lunch.  I picked some golden Zucchini and Squash Bell Pepper and fresh Basil.  I sauteed them in olive oil with some onions and garlic.  I added some red sauce and shredded chicken and lots of black pepper.  I served it over cold spaghetti noodles with Parmesan cheese.  I like the contrast of hot and cold especially on a hot day.  Had a glass of Pino Grigio with it. Sav Blanc would have been better but I’ve not made any of that in a while.  Most Groovy!