Jeanie2I’ve had an article in my head for a while now but had not taken the time to write it.  This morning, I got the rest of the picture… and the article.

The article has been about pineapples! Mmmmm… a yummy and yet expensive fruit I love. I was having some remodeling done on my house and was making lunch. Cutting up a pineapple to give us a refreshing side to our lunch when my favorite contractor who is also a gardener tells me “you know, I hear if you cut off the top of the pineapple just right and put it in water it will root and you can plant it!” Well heck! Why not try that?  I looked online for instructions and it seemed simple enougJeanie1h… so I cut the top off just a bit below the spiky head and proceeded to put it in water in my front garden window. And indeed it did! Grew nice strong roots with a little changing of water and debreeding the dead stuff as it sloughed it off. Well.. a year later there it is… in the window, all spiky and with loads of roots and new growth on the head! Yay me, right? Well… not exactly. It occurred to me… this little spiky head will never be what it is meant to be in a bowl of water in my garden window. It needs to be in the dirt, where it can get the nutrition in needs to be A PINEAPPLE! Fruitful like it was meant to be! Much like us, we can grow nice strong roots and foundations but still be stunted in our ability to be fruitful if we are not getting the proper conditions to live out our life’s work. In short, have you grown your roots and are all happy in the window of life but not being fruitful? Is it time to be transplanted?

So… as promised, here is the rest of the story! This spring has been an amazing one here in South Texas. Abundant rains, Organic Compost available at Lowes and a renewed vigor for my husband and I after my trip to Peru and the personal growth of that journey. In short, MANY things were transplanted, both in the garden and in our spirits. Here is the thing about transplanting. … It has to be properly timed! Here are the examples I observed this morning when watering. The Pineapple first off.. Jeanie3IS SOOOO Happy putting on new growth from the top and really thriving. It will one day be a pineapple! The celery, transplanted with the same process… did not have strong enough roots and did not survive. The blackberries, transplanted just before they began to bloom are going CRAZY! We will have TONS of blackberries very soon! (just now ripening) The blueberries, transplanted when they were blooming, lost their blooms and we will not have blueberries this year, but the plant is thriving now and we will have some next season.

So, here is the rest of the lesson learned today in the garden. As I contemplate in my own life eligibility for retirement into a life of spending more time in my garden, more yoga, more time with my friends and family, and of course traveling this planet we call home, and teaching and sharing all that I have learned while growing my roots in this window …. Timing is everything but transplanting must be done to be fruitful… to be all that we can be in this life, sometimes being in the bowl in the window growing strong roots and big spiky heads is just not enough to be the fruit we were meant to be, but move too fast and you may not be fruitful for a season, the struggle too great, the roots not strong enough?  Or is the time right to share your strength and your wisdom before the plant declines?  It’s just not meant to be in a bowl in the window, no matter how sunny.

Jeanie Alksne and Sheryl Sitts have enjoyed a friendship that spans over thirty years.  Jeanie’s passions include gardening, travel, and yoga.  It is an honor any time Jeanie shares her insights with us at Journey of Possibilities. ~ Sheryl Sitts, Founder

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