Life lessons from a cucumber
Written by Serena Koch
There were certain things I knew I’d experience while working on a vegetable farm– reconnecting with the land, watching things grow, being outside. But something I did not expect was the number of life metaphors I continue to encounter as I work day after day on Adama Farm. Beyond the obvious metaphors like “we all go through different seasons of life” or “constant weeding of the bad things in our lives is necessary,” there are also some slightly more obscure metaphors that can only be appreciated as you spend consistent time with the land and plants around you.
The plant that I’ve probably been metaphorically struck by the most is the cucumber plant. Adama Farm has four beds of cucumbers in one of its high tunnels, and I’ve been watching those babies grow since their seedling days. Even before planting the seedlings in the high tunnels, I observed each of the plants grow long, slender green tendrils that would coil around whatever stem or leaf on a neighboring plant they could find and start to strangle it. No matter how many times we snipped off these tendrils, more would grow back.
Once we had the cucumber plants in the high tunnels, I noticed something that shocked me even more: when certain tendrils weren’t able to reach the plants next to them, they would instead spiral onto one of their own branches in an attempt to self-trellis.
And that was when I realized what the cucumber plants were teaching me about in life: codependency and self sabotage.
Our cucumber plants started thriving when we gave them their own trellis to grow on. When we are able to create and hold good boundaries in our lives, we can establish healthy relationships with others that encourage individual growth alongside (not intermeshed with) others.
We also need to take care to not sabotage ourselves. Whether that sabotage manifests itself in doubt, insecurity, negativity, or a variety of other complex emotions, we need to be aware of the tendrils in our own lives and chop them before they start to impact our overall well being.
There is so much to learn (and be reminded of!) as we plant, grow, and harvest vegetables. If you haven’t had the chance yet to garden for yourself, give it a try! Even if that simply means growing some herbs or becoming an indoor plant parent, you’ll find it is extremely rewarding to be an active participant in the growing process. You’ll probably even discover some life metaphors of your own.
