Fruits of my labor

I plant seeds, sometimes seedlings

I water them and pluck the weeds around them

I go away hoping the plant is strong enough

to survive while I are not there.

Coming home I find that not only have they survived

They have born fruit!

Some plants require less tending than others.

Some require protection from sun or insects

Some are strong enough to be ignored while attending

to the others who are not quite strong enough to keep growing on their own.

It is wonderful to see not only the fruits in my garden

but also the fruit when I get an email from a student, hear of her success

and see the improvement when I return the following year.

I love to play in the dirt with my plants

but I have realized that my garden is wherever I go

and my seeds and seedlings blossom and fruit in the successes of my students

in whatever equine endeavor they choose be that trail riding, cantering or showing.

This year my garden has been particularly fruitful even though I only planted a few things - tomatoes, summer squash, cantaloupe and peppers. The fig tree went in 3 years ago and has survived cold, snow and drought to bear the most figs ever - perhaps a total of 4 dozen! The cantaloupe looked like it wasn't going to do anything and then we discovered 2 hanging free from the grid work Brad put up for the vine.

Sometimes the fruits of riding aren't obvious or it feels like the struggle through cold, snow, heat and drought kills the progress but then you find the fruits come to bear just when you weren't looking for them.