033 The Resting Year
Hey Mango, after a heavy crop you often rest the next year, bearing little while you rebuild your strength.
After our best season, do we allow ourselves to rest?
After your best season, do you allow yourself to rest?
Last summer, this mango tree was so heavy with fruit that its branches bent to the ground.
This summer, it has only a handful of mangoes. Is it sick? No. It is resting.
What really happens
Many mango trees bear in a rhythm: a heavy crop one year, then a light crop the next.
A big harvest uses up much of the tree's stored strength. In the light year, it rebuilds.
How we know: Alternate bearing in mango is described by India's National Horticulture Board and fruit scientists.
The turn
After a big success, we often push straight for a bigger one. And then wonder why we feel empty.
The mango tree knows that a great season must be followed by rest.
Three takeaways
- Rest is part of the harvest, not the opposite of it.
- A big effort needs a recovery season.
- A quiet year can be a growing year.
The resting year is how the next harvest begins.
Give rest: a field that has rested gives back well what was sown in it.