Sewing Seeds of Growth

Farming is constantly providing metaphors for life. Thanks to the hard work of the Interns and the volunteers, things are going super well on the farm. The mid-April to mid-June planting fest has been a big success, and we have tons of crops in the ground. The salad greens, peas, radishes, kale, chard, beets, sunflowers, garlic, onions, beans, summer squash, winter squash, strawberries, tomatoes, basil, corn, parsley, hot peppers, mellons, carrots, potatoes, etc. are all coming along very nicely. In addition, we’ve been weeding up a storm, and are quite on top of this as well. Yet, in spite of the hard work of the last 2 months, we have barely begun to reap the harvest. To this point, we have only been harvesting salad greens and green onions. And it is likely to be a few more weeks before the garlic scapes, peas, chard, kale, etc., begin to be ready for harvest. This is where one of life’s metaphors emerges. Often in life, there is a period in which we put out a tremendous amount of effort in a specific direction. This could be with our career, dating, mental health, etc. One seems to be working so hard towards advancement and growth in one of these areas; yet, no results seem to be emerging. It is easy to get discouraged in this phase, as we thnk b/c we haven’t seen results, our efforts must be fruitless. Yet, it is important to remember in these periods the germination phase. Once a seed has been planted, you don’t see it pop above ground right away. Yet, under the ground the seed is sprouting and germinating. You can’t see the progress b/c it’s underground, but the seed is growing. Such is the case in life — we can’t always see the progress with the seeds we have sewn with our professional lives, romantic lives, personal wellness, etc. But this doesn’t mean the seed isn’t growing—an abundant harvest likely lies ahead! So, I encourage you to be one of those farmers who delights in the seeding as well as the harvesting. And what’s exciting is that — unlike growing food in Canada — you can sew seeds of personal growth all year round.