"Can Ya Save 'im, Doc?"

That dang wind! Just when you think it's safe to set your tomatoes out for good, the wind whips up and kicks sand on your picnic.

Yesterday, we had some of our famous spring winds. Usually, they are steady and mild with moderate gusts but mostly they just bring cooler weather. In the summer they usually just dry everything out. But yesterday we had serious winds with gusts up to 50 miles per hour. That's a serious gust! And it darn near broke two of my tomato plants.

When I got home last night from work, the first thing I noticed was the state of my plants. Right in front two of my tomatoes, including the one with the blossom from the day before, were laying down on their sides. It's a sad thing but not a major deal.

I made some supports for the little guys and put them in the garage out of the wind. I watered them all well because the wind does have a serious drying effect even in the springtime. This morning when I checked on them before I left for work, they were still there and didn't look too much the worse for the wear. Here's hoping they make it through. If the stem didn't pinch itself, I don't think I'll have a problem but if it did, I might have to go and buy some replacements from the nursery. I don't want to do that as all of mine this year are from seed.

That got me thinking. It's just a tomato plant. It hasn't produced any fruit yet. I don't even know for sure that they will, I'm just hoping. But because I have invested some effort and several weeks time in planting, watering, nurturing, potting up and then making their sub-irrigated buckets and doing the final transplanting, I really want them to at least have a chance to produce. It won't end my world if they don't, but I will be disappointed.

If one of my kids got knocked down (figuratively), I would be there to prop him (or her) up, dust him off and then send him out again. When they were little, I could do that literally and even kiss the boo boo to make it better. Now, the hurts are mostly inside hurts and most of what I can do is to listen to them work through it, offer advice and counsel and then hope and pray they work it out. (But I certainly wouldn't go to a nursery and pick out another one. I'm too old for that.)

I really can't do much for the plant other than what I have done. I can't do the healing if the stem is cracked or crushed or broken, only the plant can.

I really can't do much for my kids, either, other than what I mentioned. (Material things don't count. That doesn't make one 'broken' only 'broke.') I can't do their healing for them, either.

Gardening is like life in way too many ways. The more time I spend doing it, the more I finally see it.