What the Late Summer Garden is Teaching Me About Enough

Do you have volunteer plants in your garden? This year I had an abundance of tomato plants pop up after I’d already planted tomatoes.

I could have pulled them out. Probably should have pulled them out. But I thought, perhaps nature just wanted to thrive this year and I’d let them be. While that sentiment was a good one, the end result has been questionable.

Now, I have way more tomatoes than I know what to do with and they just keep coming!! Granted, I’m feeding the neighborhood and will be donating some, which is lovely, but I’m running out of takers and I can only can and freeze dry so much.

The upkeep is also challenging. In the heat of summer, I’m soaked with sweat by the time I’m done gathering the heap of ripe tomatoes that pop up every day. The large mass of plants and the close proximity of them have also invited some bug invasions.

There’s a wonderful sense of connection to the earth and a great sense of accomplishment when you harvest the fruits of your planting efforts. However, there’s a fine line between enough and too much of a good thing.

The tomatoes are too much this year.

This made me think about all the volunteer plants in our day to day lives. Every day things pop up requiring us to make a decision on whether to let them grow. Like the garden, we sometimes need to prune what will inhibit the rest of the garden from flourishing and remaining manageable.

How many times do we say “yes” to the unexpected invite, conversation, request for help, or opportunity that pops up? Are you fully questioning whether this abundance will enhance your life or overwhelm it?

An overgrown garden can bear plenty of fruit. Yet, one does have to ask, is the reward truly worth the effort?

Sometimes, it may be best to leave some things a little untidy because they feed something or someone in your life. Knowing making that choice for the overall good is often worth the sacrifice.

There are plenty of times where sacrifice outweighs the good and causes us to struggle emotionally, physically, or even financially. An imperfect harvest can be useful, delicious, and beautiful. It can also be overwhelming, draining, and sometimes even invites unwelcome pests.

When is it time to say enough? To pluck out the potential growth to make room for the established plants to thrive and produce what we truly need? Does good stewardship mean cooperating with all the garden offers or using your discernment to create a better balance?

I don’t have the answers for you as this is a very personal decision in each of our lives. My hope is simply to plant the seed of thought. However you opt to respond to the volunteer plants in your life, I hope you find the garden style that allows you to flourish!