by Cookie Curci

It was late July when the small buds matured into rosy-red nectarines. Grandma's tree had burgeoned forth with plump, ripe, juicy, fruit. The tree's spindly branches arched and bowed under the weight of the roly-poly, mouthwatering nectarines- so big and round, we'd never seen their equal.

That summer, along with the sweet nectarines, grandma's family ate a lot of crow. But grandma was too busy picking nectarines for canning season, to say "I told you so", her high-beam smile said it all.

Every year, thereafter, like a springtime Christmas tree, each branch glistened with red and gold ornaments of fruit. Its enduring green leaves and golden red harvest an indelible reminder of the depth of grandma's faith, love and patience.

In the coming years, grandma's tree continued to grow. And, as our family grew and changed along with it, we learned to give to one another just as the tree had so generously given to us.

Grandma, like other gardeners, was inspired by the sense of creation and the feeling of accomplishment that gardening brings. It took me a long time to understand grandma's eager passion for growing things. Not until I was on my own, many years later, did I find any satisfaction in planting seeds or in watching them grow. I've inherited grandma's desire to grow things and today a tree, grown from the fruit of her original tree, grows outside my back door, a reminder of her faith.

People are more familiar now with the idea that plants, like humans, respond to the warmth of a human voice, have feelings, and can sense moods and music. I can't swear that grandma's singing to her tree encouraged its production of such extraordinary fruit. But I suspect, from watching grandma and her tree, that things happen when you truly believe in them and the belief in something can make it happen.

Luther Burbank once wrote, "Love is the secret to improved gardening" That's quite a statement for a man of science, but, like grandma, devoted gardeners everywhere believe it to be true.

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