• The worst seedlings can flourish if they receive fertile ground and regular encouragment. But the best seedlings rarely thrive in rocky sites where their needs are not met.
• The size of a tomato has nothing to do with its quality. Volunteer cherry tomatoes teach me that lesson anew every year.
• A garden of all sizes, shapes, and colors is more fun.
• We should all choose our friends the way tomatoes do. Basil and tomatoes are not alike, but they accomplish great things together!
• Maybe good fences make good neighbors. But tomatoes make friends of good neighbors. Fences? Well, they’re handy to lean on while sharing tomatoes and other pleasantries.
• If you do not pluck the hornworms out of your life early, they will only grow bigger and multiply.
• Some plants produce fruit steadily all summer, even when others nearby have stopped. Others put on an impressive show but then quit. Hmmm. I should examine my own performance now and then.

—By Juanita L. Haditsch of Suitland, MD.