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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Barb Rankin, I enjoy growing plants that produce things I can eat or use in cooking, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a lesson about the satisfaction of a job well done, and enjoying the fruits of your labor.
Fun Fact:
According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s January, 2016 report, the global production of oranges is projected to be 47.9 million tons, tangerines and mandarins will be a record 29 million tons, grapefruit will be 6.4 million tons, and lemons and limes will be 6.9 million tons. That’s 90 million tons of fruit. Do you know which country produces the most oranges? It’s Brazil, at 16.7 million tons, then China at 7 million, followed by the European Union with 6.1 million. The United States is in 4th place with 4.8 million tons. China is the production leader for tangerines and mandarins, as well as grapefruit, and Mexico leads the way on lemons and limes. Volumes this year are expected to be less than last year, so you know what that means – higher grocery store prices. So enjoy every single bite of fresh citrus fruit that you take!
What I Learned Yesterday:
One of my early childhood memories is looking out the back door of our home after a major hurricane, and realizing our large avocado tree had fallen on my swing set. I was upset.
Mom was more upset, because she realized that we had just lost a tree that provided food for our table. As she surveyed the damage, she saw that we also lost an orange tree. She had cared for these trees, nurturing them to provide the greatest bounty and yield, and the fruits of her labor were now a tangled and uprooted mess in the yard.
Between 1760 and 1840, the world began moving from hand tools to power driven machines, launching what we now call the Industrial Age. Before full scale manufacturing came into being, the world depended on farming and agriculture for survival. How well people cared for their land and their crops, in addition to the whims of the weather, could mean the difference between life and death. A man who worked hard and whose crop yielded much food was deemed to be both blessed and prosperous.
I enjoy being outdoors in the sunshine, and working in the garden. I learned very early from my mother that growing plants that gave us food seemed to taste better, and it was exciting to eat what we had harvested.
There were many lessons to learn from this simple pleasure. I learned to determine where the plants should be located in the yard so that they would get the correct amount of sun, and not all plants required the same thing. I learned to properly prepare the soil, and ensure you had good soil so that your seeds could grow. If they were planted too deeply, they may never emerge, and if they were too close to the surface, their roots could be exposed and they could be easily damaged. You had to watch for weeds that could impede the young seedling’s growth. The plants needed just the right amount of water – not too much and not too little, and not all plants required the same amount. You needed to wait with patience for your plant to grow. Orange trees that produce buds in March don’t have fruit ready for harvest until December. That’s a long time for a child to wait! You need to ensure your crop is ready to be harvested. If you harvest too soon, the fruit or vegetable may not be ripe, and unsuitable for eating. Finally, when you have finished your harvest, you must prune your plant so that you are preparing it for the next season of bounty.
When we ate our crop, it was a celebration. We were enjoying the efforts of our hard work and patience – the fruits of our labor.
Enjoying the fruits of our labor is more than just enjoying the food on our table. The fruits of your labor are the rewards that come from a job well done. It doesn’t matter whether the job you are doing is growing fruits or vegetables, creating a new product, or writing a book. You are investing yourself into the effort – your time, your money, your resources. Sometimes we are tempted to give up. Crops can be killed if there is an early freeze. Trees topple over in a hurricane. There are setbacks in life, and it can be hard to get up and try again. But with perseverance, and the patience to continue your work, you can again enjoy the fruits of your labor.
I’ve continued what my mother taught me, and have orange, grapefruit, and lemon trees in my yard, along with a lime bush. It took several years for the trees to begin bearing fruit. I’ve had to mass harvest fruit ahead of a severe freeze and prune back the dead wood in the spring. I’ve patiently cared for them and have enjoyed the fruit they have produced, and it has been bountiful enough to share with many others. It has been an investment I that has provided me with satisfaction for a job well done. It has given me a sense of accomplishment.
More than that, these are lessons that can be applied in all areas of my life, whether it is at my job, my church, in my relationships. We reap what we sow. If I invest in each of these areas, my efforts will produce a fuller and more rewarding life, and I will enjoy it all the more.
Here’s what I learned.
To get results in life, you need to need to make an investment – in yourself, in others, in something that matters to you. You need patience and perseverance, and you will find satisfaction in a job well done, and reap the benefits and rewards that accompany your effort.
Remember that poor avocado tree? Well, it couldn’t be saved, but Mom had patience and perseverance. I have a picture of me, with a repaired swing set on one side of me, and on the other – a newly planted, albeit small, avocado tree.
Within a few years, Mom, investing her time and patience, cultivated that new tree into producing food for our table, and we enjoyed the fruits of her labor.
I’m Barb Rankin and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
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