The Sweetness of Abundance
One of my favorite times on the farm is when the summer fruits begin arriving in abundance. There is something special about walking through the garden and seeing bright reds, deep blues, and vibrant oranges beginning to appear among the green foliage. The colors catch your eye immediately, and the sweetness invites you to reach for one more handful. Summer fruits (and yes, a sun gold tomato is a fruit) seem to signal that the season has truly arrived.
While I grow plenty of vegetables throughout the year, berries create a different reaction altogether. Hand someone a zucchini and they may politely thank you. Bring a basket of fresh berries to a friend, neighbor, or client, and their face almost always lights up. There is something universally appealing about berries. They are beautiful, easy to enjoy, and somehow feel like a special treat regardless of your age.
We do not grow large quantities of berries on the farm. Most years, our goal is simply to harvest enough to freeze so that Linda and I can enjoy them throughout the year. Even so, I often find myself setting aside a small sampling to share with others because I enjoy giving them away almost as much as I enjoy eating them.
Gifts That Create Delight
One of my favorite things is showing up to meet a client or spend time with a friend, carrying a small container of freshly picked berries. The response is almost always positive. People lean in to see what is inside. They smile. They ask questions. Sometimes they start eating them immediately. It is a simple gift, but it creates an immediate connection.
Now, every once in a while, you find a true foodie who gets just as excited about a beautiful harvest of Bright Lights Swiss chard as they do a basket of berries. I appreciate those people because they understand the beauty hidden in vegetables that most people overlook. Still, if my goal is to bring a little joy into someone’s day, berries tend to be the safer choice.
What I have realized over time is that the joy does not come from the berries themselves. The joy comes from seeing someone else enjoy something that was grown with care. There is a satisfaction in sharing a small piece of abundance that cannot be measured in dollars or transactions. It is simply the pleasure of watching another person experience something good.
Nature Gives Forward
As I reflected on this, I realized that one of the things I love most about farming is the opportunity to give without expecting anything in return. Well, perhaps I expect one thing. I hope to see a smile, a moment of delight, or a brief pause where someone appreciates what they have been given. Beyond that, there is no expectation attached to the gift.
That thought brought me back to a recent conversation with Randall Cagle. During our discussion, he made an observation that has stayed with me ever since. He said that nature does not give back. Nature gives forward.
The more I thought about that statement, the more I appreciated its wisdom. Plants produce fruit without expecting repayment. Flowers provide nectar without requiring compensation from the pollinators that visit them. Trees offer shade to anyone willing to sit beneath them. Creation continually provides gifts that sustain life and create abundance without demanding something in return.
Of course, there are ways we can steward and care for the systems that provide these gifts. Composting comes to mind immediately, but that is probably a topic for another newsletter. The point is that nature’s posture is one of generosity. It continually produces and shares abundance far beyond itself.
The Fruits of Our Labor
The lesson extends far beyond the farm.
In our careers, our businesses, and our relationships, we are all producing fruits from our labor. Sometimes those fruits take the form of products, services, and solutions. Other times they are knowledge, encouragement, opportunities, wisdom, or relationships that help others succeed. Every one of us has something we are cultivating through our efforts each day.
The question is not whether we are producing fruit. The question is what we do with it once it is produced.
Some people hold tightly to everything they create. Others look for opportunities to share what they have learned, invest in the success of others, and help people around them grow. When I look back on my own life, the people who have had the greatest impact on me were rarely the ones who accumulated the most. They were the ones who gave the most. They shared their time, their knowledge, their encouragement, and their opportunities without expecting immediate returns.
Their influence continues today because what they gave forward created value long after the original gift was given.
Sowing Success
As I fill containers with berries this season, I am reminded that some of the sweetest rewards are not found in what we keep but in what we share. The farm continues to teach me that abundance has a way of multiplying when it is given away, and that generosity often creates a harvest far larger than we originally imagined.
So this week, I leave you with a question.
What are the fruits of your labor that enrich the lives of others, and how might you give some of those fruits forward?
This post first appeared on June 12, 2026 in Sowing Success, my weekly LinkedIn newsletter on leadership and organic farming. Read the original on LinkedIn.
