Tu Bishvat –The New Year for the Trees

Today is Tu Bishvat – the New Year for the Trees, which has a purpose for Jewish law in determining the age of trees for the purposes of tithes.  More recently, Tu Bishvat has become basically a Jewish Earth Day, with many using it to delve into climate justice, ecology, and more. 

Now, if you know anything about my gardening skills, you know it’s a small miracle that Alan Jr, the plant cutting Ellen gave me more than 5 years ago, is still alive in my office.  If you want to hear more about our native garden in the courtyard, ask Marcia Cox and our other volunteers! 

For example, we have a few berry plants in these big planter pots out front.  Google tells me that if we move them up next to the house before the first frost, they’ll survive the winter.  Well, let’s just say that “first frost” may have snuck up on us last winter, and these plants looked at best mostly dead all summer.  There were some signs of life, but highly debatable of the would make it, because, there was something about first-year and second-year branches.  Spoiler: they are now dead… pretty sure they aren’t surviving the foot of snow that landed on them.  Again, I don’t garden!

But in our initial attempt to save the plants, I did look into that first- and second-year branch thing.  Berry plants generally grow branches with a two-year life cycle.  The first year (primocanes, for those who like the real terms) branches grow and focus on essentially establishing the branch.  These branches, greener and more flexible, don’t worry about growing fruit, but save that energy for the following year.  Second-year branches (floricanes), produce flowers and fruit before dying.  The cool thing is, half the branches are first-year primocanes, and the other half are second-year floricanes.  The plant is constantly balancing new growth and fruit bearing at the same time.  Each year it must release (or have a human help prune) the dead floricanes to make room for new branches.  If you can keep the plant alive for more than a season or two, it is a pretty cool process.

On this day of learning from and about trees, I think we can draw a lesson from the berry plants.  Pruning, or releasing, the “dead” branches – those that have served their purpose, fosters new growth.  If those branches aren’t removed, they draw resources from the others, even though those “dead” branches won’t bear any more fruit.  With the berry plant, you have to be able to identify the two types of branches, because if you prune the first-year ones, you won’t get fruit, but if you don’t prune the second-year ones, you won’t leave the space for new growth.  The plant must hold on to some branches and let go of others. 

What does it mean to nurture ourselves and others like the berry plants?  Are there “dead branches” that we cling to because they once had meaning and purpose, but are now weighing us down?  Are there buds of new growth that won’t bear fruit just yet, but in time, if given the space and investment, will?  What are the seeds you are planting this year?  What are the branches that might need pruning to maintain your sense of wholeness?  And what sweet berry are you hoping to bring into the world?

And remember, however seriously or not you have taken this analogy – don’t leave your plants out in a major snow storm – that is not the way to foster new growth!