The Ripe Tomato

My friend Debbie Hayden saw a great raised bed on Pinterest, and talked her husband Durick into building it for her. Little did she know, but I had been pondering raised beds and an easier way to garden. For two decades, I had huge gardens, spending innumerable hours canning and processing the vegetables I grew. The last few years, however, I've skipped the vegetable garden because of the work involved. I missed having my own vegetables, though. I didn't have time for lots of hoeing and tilling, but something easier might work, and I pondered it so long that I finally realized I was "too late" to plant a garden. 

I was too late, that is, until Debbie and Durick made their raised bed. When Debbie posted pictures on Facebook, I began to think I might have a garden after all. When she posted pictures of the seedlings growing, I was sold on the project. 

The old white farm truck was loaded down with concrete blocks and garden soil that early Saturday morning. Bill the Magnificent took one look at the load and said, "What in the world are you up to now?" Before long, he could see for himself. The raised bed was a reality. I planted my seeds and an heirloom tomato plant and started watering and watching. In no time at all, I had seedlings of my own. 

In Blue Springs, gardeners plant with the idea of having a ripe tomato by July 4th. Of course that date came and went with the only ripe tomatoes coming from someone else's garden. This week, however, there's been just enough from the garden: one squash a day, plenty of herbs, and lovely cut flowers, but no tomatoes. Yesterday, one of the tomatoes was finally red. After one more day to ripen on the vine, it was part of supper tonight. Yum! Home grown tomatoes!  It turns out that I wasn't too late after all!

You may not do this, but I have so much going on that the most pressing things get done first, leaving some of the less pressing but most desired things undone. That ripe tomato reminded me that second chances are worth seizing. 

Are you putting off something you'd really like to do (or really should do) because of more pressing matters? Why not take advantage of a second chance and get it done. After all, there's truth in the old adage, "Better late than never".  My ripe tomato is proof of that! 

(PS - I know that's a picture of squash, but I'd already eaten the tomato!)