The parable of the tares describes how a farmer sowed good seed in his field but an enemy came and sowed weeds called "tares" among the wheat while everyone was sleeping. When the plants began to grow, the servants noticed the tares and asked the farmer how they got there, to which he responded that an enemy must have put them there. The farmer decided not to try removing the tares so that in doing so the wheat would not be harmed, but rather to let them grow together until harvest time when they could be separated properly.