Our tomato Plants that are thriving and producing fruit all year round.

My daughter Anna has a lovely home on a city lot, and because she loves flowers and gardening, she uses almost every square foot of yard space to grow things. The little patio has hanging plants along the fence, grass and flowerpots galore. The outside of the patio has a slope with garden vegetables, melons, peppers and tomatoes. She always has sunflowers outlining the garden space, they’re just so bright and beautiful. At the end of the summer, she noticed a couple of wild tomato plants that started, yes, the end of the summer!

Strength and Determination

She decided to put them in a pot and bring them up to mom and dad’s place, they seemed to be healthy and green. We decided to put them in front of the window and let them do whatever they could. Shortly after we put them in their new homes, they started to grow like crazy, then little buds started to form, then you guessed it, cherry tomatoes! These two plants have taken over the entire space behind the couch, and they produce a handful of cherry tomatoes each week, and yes, it’s May, and yes, those tomatoes are still coming. I thought about those little plants, wondering what the odds are of coming up from the year before, wild and starting in the fall. Normally they would get hit with the cold weather and die, but they got pulled and transplanted to a new environment and produced fruit.
I couldn’t help thinking about the fact that they had to be from a strong line of tomato seeds, and that they were determined to produce. Yes, Anna had the tender heart to bring them up, yes Larraine and I watered them and cared for them, but they were strong and determined, the quality of a leader.  Each one of us had a special job in order for the enjoyment of that fruit.

Keep Moving Forward

Working in the construction business for over 42 years I’ve seen many challenges, anyone has, especially if they are still in the game. Starting out as a young man with a young and growing family, I had nothing but blue sky ahead and all the energy to move forward. Only a year after starting to build, in 1980, the market changed, and construction suffered. Larraine and I figured out how to keep moving and make enough for our young business and growing family. I actually took a small job installing a kitchen, in Amman Jordan! Yep, 26 years old, 2 children and a pregnant wife at home and an invitation to do work in the Middle East. I remember looking across the Jordan valley, and dipping my foot in the Dead Sea. I suppose if work was steady there would have been no reason to take an opportunity like that, it helped me to grow in strength and vision.

Team Work

In 1993 the Darling family moved to Colorado. The next chapter of the adventure!
Over two and a half years ago,  Adam and his family made the move from Ohio to Colorado and joined the team.
With all the changes and challenges there’s always been the need to add greatness to this exciting plan, with us that plan is family and business. A team, a collection of talents and abilities to do something great. Watching this wonderful story unfold requires leadership and determination.

Don and Adam.

Strive for Greatness

“Good leaders know their own limits, they do not try to do it all themselves. They build teams, they create space for people who are strong where they are weak.” -the late Rabbi Sacks

Darling Enterprise is a team of qualified leaders that strive for greatness. Just like those tomato plants, greatness has the opportunity to grow, get transplanted and produce fruit.