“Growing where you are,” “living within your means,” and “using what you have” are phrases often used by motivational speakers and mentors. It can be challenging to relate to these words of encouragement when the people saying them seem to have unlimited resources, connections, and time. At the same time, you may feel trapped and powerless with limited resources, no connections, and little time to spare due to everyday struggles. It’s rare to find genuine mentors willing to help during times of great need. Instead of feeling discouraged, remember that problems can lead to solutions. Despite the hardships, there is hope. Nature provides abundance, and what may be lacking in human resources can often be found in the natural world.
The giant purple yam usually outgrows the container and breaks it if not harvested on time. A small root must have remained in the ground after we reported the parent plant rather than wilting and dying. It set its roots as deep as it could until it met the rigid foundation of the wall. The soil was insufficient to produce a tuber where it was, so it sent a rezone underground where it was safe from the elements and produced a tuber in the place with the most soil, letting it grow wide and flat, hiding part of the tuber under the ground. The bulb will be able to survive without the parent plant.
Furthermore, the half-buried root sent out a longer vine than the yams in good soils, creating a canopy that prevented direct sunlight from reaching and desiccating it. The shade from the vine and wall kept the temperatures on the ground lower. The water that spilt from the surrounding pots kept the soils moist. The wall that created the rigid foundation contributed to the solution by offering shade and shelter. The distant tuber was still connected, acting as a reservoir for nutrients and water. The plant grew whenever more resources were available (after the rains)—using every opportunity to the maximum by using it for multiple purposes.
Inadvertently, the yam vine protects other plants from dry heat and drought conditions. It is instrumental in keeping delicate tropical plants alive. Even in times of scarcity, it is possible to help others without going out of our way. The surrounding plants reciprocated growing and providing biomass to the yam root and tuber as mulch and the soils and decomposed into nutrients. Those we assist with little expectations sometimes help us without going out of their way.
In tough times, you make the best of what you can do, and if those around you are doing the same, you can make it into the new season. The tuber was in the part of the garden that became impassible. I only discovered it after it had been growing for a year. We shall repot the tubers into large polybags. We are grateful for the lessons on resilience, efficiency, and community they have taught us.
#LoveHomeGrown
