How the HECK did THAT get THERE?

...And now for another edition of "How the HECK did THAT get THERE?" Followed closely by -- "What am I supposed to DO about THAT?"

Thanks for tuning in!

Bill & Venus Bird made a rather amazing garden discovery last night. It's a set of tomato cages that we normally use to prop up pepper plants in the garden. But we had hidden them away in a corner of the garden this spring -- completely forgetting about them until they were covered under a growth of cucumber plants.

The good news is -- we found them last night!

The bad news is -- well -- see for yourself. This is one of gardening's many little mysteries. Just how did this happen? AKA: How the HECK did THAT get THERE?

THAT is an Armenian cucumber that has grown through two parts of the cages and isn't budging folks. It's stuck fast. If I want it out -- or if Venus wants it out -- we'll have to cut it out. How it got there? Blame inattentiveness on our part. We didn't realize those tomato cages were hidden away in a corner of the yard until we went hunting for cucumbers just last night.



Cherry Tomatoes from the Backyard of Bird



I'm beginning to enjoy these end-of-summer garden hunts for fresh produce. The garden continues to churn out some rather amazing results -- including different varieties of cherry tomatoes by the hundreds. This is but a small sample of what continues to produce in very impressive numbers this year -- and many of the plants that produced the bounty in this bowel are "volunteers" in this year's garden.

The biggest surprise of the year has been the two to three (or four or five -- I can't tell) Pink Ping Pong tomato plants that sprang to life at the edge of our test gardening bed last spring. I've never had great success with this variety until now. I must admit -- I have no great secrets to impart this year. If anything -- I've ignored the numerous volunteers that have sprung up in various -- odd places.

The Pink Ping Pong and Black Cherry plants scattered about the backyard do have access to a good source of irrigation water -- but have received little in the way of fertilizer or any other assistance.

Still -- the plants produce. I just pick.

As for the bowl of cherry tomatoes? I brought those into work for my numerous State Capitol co-workers.

Call it a "good way to make friends."