While I was gone to the CMI conference this year, there was some much needed rain at home, and upon returning my garden had gotten away from me. It was as though I had been gone for two weeks, rather than five days! I should probably acknowledge that I had indeed neglected it even before leaving, as preparation for the conference distracted me. Regardless of the why, I had some serious work to do.
My tomatoes are one of my most beloved garden plants, but also one of the most independent. Despite the tomato’s wish to be a weed, I conquer it by tying it to a stake and trimming any suckers that are drawing energy away from the main stem. They take up less room this way, allowing for more variety in my garden, and they produce better overall.
But here is the catch, sometime, when I have neglected things for a while, those suckers can become pretty hearty, and I battle with myself whether it’s really necessary to cut them off. I frequently have to give myself and the tomato a little pep-talk. “You need to focus,” I tell the tomato, explaining why we do not need all this bushy foliage. “Just get the thing done, and move on,” I tell myself.
It’s a bit of a regress-to-progress thing. It bothers me to cut off those suckers sometime, but I know it will be best in the end.
Despite this tomato-angst, gardening is a pleasant and quiet time for me. I am at leisure to think. I usually wander out there around 6:00 am, in my pajamas, with a cup of tea, just to look around. But then I don’t make it back inside for two or three hours. Of course, by then my tea is cold, I am filthy, and various parts of me hurt, but it’s still a wonderful way to start the day.
This morning as I was finishing the last of the tomato shape-up, I thought about how cutting off the suckers is like dealing with all the opportunities and responsibilities in our lives as homeschoolers. And how hard it is to deal with a sucker, once it has established itself well.
Sometimes those suckers even have a few wee tomatoes on them. That is when I almost have to close my eyes to do the cutting. I have to remind myself that I got the tomato into this situation by not looking at the plant regularly and dealing with the suckers when a mere pinch between two bare fingers would have sufficed.
Some people don’t cut their tomato suckers at all. Their plants are bushy and full, happy and produce tomatoes. So, I ask myself again, is this pruning necessary? I guess it depends on what I want to get out of this year’s crop. Is it enough to get some tomatoes, or do I want my plants to reach their full potential?
So, what are the potential suckers in your life, your homeschool? Are you using a method to teach reading besides what Mason says in Volume 1, pages 199-230? Are you cramming your teenager’s five days and 20 hours of morning lesson into four days, so you can leave Friday free for social time? Are you trying to keep each of your children in a different AO year, instead of doing more subjects together? Are you overlooking the blessing of having six children, because you are concerned that you are not getting enough done?
I’m sure there are a lot of other potential suckers. Only you know the ones that are likely to sneak up on you and your family. And maybe there are some that will make an appearance, which you didn’t see coming. Good things, but not the best thing, as my dear friend Natalie says.
Maybe you need to close your eyes and cut. Maybe you need to give yourself a pep-talk. I can tell you, that where suckers have been cut in our lives, we have never looked back with regret. I wouldn’t have expected that, but it’s true.
Related:
Initial Questions and Considerations, Scheduling
Summer is a Good Time to Practice
One Little Boy Prepared For the Day