Remarks From Your Exec

Fall is here and it looks like it might just stay for a little while. That means that my tomato plants are going to have to go. I hate letting them go! For the first time ever we actually planted tomato plants. My husband gave in and agreed to support my desire for fresh tomatoes. Of course I promised to tend and care for them. I would water them daily and keep the rabbits and bugs away while waiting (hoping) for something to grow. Well, let’s just say it was pretty hot out there this summer. And I am not one to risk my allergy prone self (my excuse anyway) to an excessively hot garden. So, my husband Tom was the one who ended up tending and watering our tiny little plants that I was afraid didn’t stand a chance between the draught filled summer and pesky critters that like to munch on everything we try to grow.

About a month later I thought perhaps I better see if I “my” plants were growing. Well, low and behold, there were two GIANT tomato plants out there pretty much covering up every other perennial in the bed with their big, heavy, tomato laden shoots. They had spread all over everything! I rushed to the store and purchased two inadequate stakes that immediately fell over. Then I went back and purchased 6 thick stakes to prop up our two GIANT tomato plants. Whew, it was about 100+ degrees out there and you would have thought I had just rescued a dying cash crop! But, tomatoes we had and tomatoes we continued to have right through September. Between the attentions of the two of us, we had tended and watered and weeded successfully and enjoyed the fruits of our labors.

As I was thinking about one of the board’s goals for the year I couldn’t help but think about my tomato plant experience. It occurred to me that sometimes it takes more than one person to achieve a goal. Sometimes it takes the varying skills and strengths of many to do what you as one set out to do. We want to increase membership in IALFA for a number of reasons. Sure, I will go out and share the message of who we are, what we stand for, and the many benefits of membership. But it is going to involve members willing to get involved, to share their reasons for membership to really explain our story. And we cannot forget our own members in the process. They too require on-going tending and attention. Are you willing to get involved and share your story so others’ may reap the benefits of membership in IALFA? Let me know, perhaps we can do this together.

Hoping it’s a colorful month for you,