All hope is not lost, My tomatoes garden has surprised me

Just 20 days ago, I wrote about how my tomatoes plants are sick and are dying. I thought that I won't be able to get anything out of that garden. All hope was lost and I was even discouraged about planting the ones I already nursed.

Well, I didn't know that something good will still come out of it. I was encouraged to go ahead and plant the ones I already nursed and to try finding out what the problem could be why the old ones were dying.

I went into enquiries. My findings though not proven are below

• I was told that it could be worms in the ground that entered the stems through the root. That I should have treated the ground before planting it.

• Some said that it could be pest and that I need to apply pesticides to it though at that stage, it was already late. But I was given something to spray on the leaves

• Someone e en told me that the seed were injected so that other part of my country won't be able to grow tomatoes apart from the Northern region were the tomatoes come from.

I didn't even know which one to believe. But I was able to spray the stuff that I was given. I was told that the stuff will help to kill the pests and help with fruiting. I did that reluctantly not knowing if it will be positive or not.

At the same time, I still went ahead to plant the ones I already nursed. I decided that whatever happens, I will have to see the end.

Rays of hope

One day after doing all I could, my attention was drawn to a particular plant of the tomatoes plant, that it is fruiting. I laughed over it. I didn't even go out to look at it. But I got to see it the next day when I was passing by. It was even one that was almost dead that was bringing out that seed. I took a closer look and discovered that it was actually fruiting. I then decided not to uproot all the stems of the tomatoes plant because that was my plan. I wanted to see if I can make use of the space for something else.

But after few days, I also noticed that even other ones are fruiting as well. Wow! I never knew I will smile at my tomatoes plants. I was so excited and I took pictures of these plants that are fruiting including the first picture above

from the look of things, I will be able to recoup the money I spent on it. Even if not all, it gives joy to grow your own food and enjoy it's fruitage. I can't wait to eat from it.

Planting the new batch

Like I said at the outset, I was able to go on in planting the batch that I had nursed already. This time around, it was done on a tilled ground and not in a bag. I wanted just to plant it anywhere to see the outcome.

After the transplanting, I waited for 5 days before applying this pesticide and fertilizer that a friend helped us to buy. He also told us how to spray it. According to him, it kills the worms on the ground and as well aids the growth.

It was at this stage that we sprayed the chemical
	the chemical mixed in a bucket
the spraying bottle.

I am on the lookout to see what becomes of this new batch. All I know is that the growth is no longer dependent on me but on the Almighty. I have done my part and I will keep caring for it.

Pruning my 5 fingers apple

I saw some trees at our place of worship, how they used rope and stone to tie on some of the branches such that the branches on which they tied the stones bent downwards. I thought in my mind that they are punishing the tree. But I was so inquisitive that I had to ask a brother why they did that. He told me that it is a way to make the branches provide more shade. That those branches will spread horizontally instead of vertically. Little wonder that the ones outside is very beautiful.

We decided to do the same thing on our 5 fingers apple. We had to prune it, then tie stones on some of the branches as you can see on the picture below

This is the new look

This is quite different from how it was the last time I wrote about it. How how bushy it looked before on the picture below

	the old look

When this tree matured and starts to fruit, I believe that it will certainly give us a wonderful yield. Below is how the 5 fingers apple looks

I bought this from someone

I can't wait for ours to mature and starts fruiting!

Lessons learned

From the experience gathered from my tomatoes plants, it is not good to write someone off completely. There is room for improvements. If I had cut down my tomatoes plants, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see it fruit. Something good can still come out of something we think is ruined and bad.

Patient is the key! The patient dog they say, eats the strong bone. Yes, showing patience is a virtue that everyone should emulate.

I won't give up in life or on anyone. I can only do my best to help the person out.

It is the Almighty that makes our plants to grow. We only need to do our part and besides, the activities of man has ruined the fertility of the soil. We can only wait for the time when the ground will become fertile again and give food to the shower in quantum (Psalm 72:16). But until then, we can only wait and see!

Thank you all for reading through. I am yet to bring you the details of my cassava farm. Be on the look out!