It’s harvest time. 

Time to enjoy the rewards of lots of hard work put in, over many months.

It was the end of January when I sowed my tomato seeds. Days were short, and it was cold. I had to give the seeds warmth to germinate. When they did, I had to protect the seedlings from frosts. I had to make sure they were getting enough light. Several months of watering, feeding, pruning and nurturing followed. Flowers appeared, slowly followed by fruits – small and green at first, then gradually ripening to yellow, orange, crimson.

And I’m now fully enjoying the beautiful, jewel-coloured fruits of my labour. 

We’ve eaten sun-warmed tomatoes of every shape and size, straight off the vine. And I get to make batches of roasted tomato passata. Which means we can enjoy the flavour of those sun-warmed tomatoes even in the depths of winter. And then the whole growing cycle starts again. 

We sometimes forget to celebrate what we’ve achieved. We can sometimes get lost in the effort.

It’s especially difficult when you’re working hard and you feel like you’re seeing no tangible benefit from it. But trust yourself. Trust the process. Good things sometimes take time to come to fruition. But it will come. 

And when it does, don’t forget to take a step back and acknowledge what you’ve done. Appreciate your hard work and recognise that: “I did this – isn’t it great?”

So whether it’s the simple pleasure of reaping the rewards from your garden, or recognising other progress in your life, take some time this autumn to celebrate your achievements – big and small.