Saturday, June 28, 2008

A mystery bloomer in the garden

I went out to water the garden yesterday and found this.

I had seen it growing, but wasn't exactly sure what it was. I didn't plant it. The compost pile did. Actually, there are several of these volunteer plants growing, most likely pumpkins or squash of some sort. I think back to what I scooped and flinged into the compost bin last fall and compare that to the way these leaves look. The blossom makes me very suspicious that it is indeed a pumpkin.
Some brussel sprouts... going crazy! Notice the brick paths, scavenged by my Dad from a downtown building project's reject pile, carried lovingly in canvas bags, trip by trip until we had enough for this path and the perimiter border around my yard. Thanks, Dad!



We're growing potatoes for the first time this year... yukon golds and a sweet potato. I bought seed potatoes at the nursery and supplemented with a sprouting sweet pot. from our own tuber basket. I love the way the sweet potato leaves look... and quite different from the sweet potato vines you can buy at the nursery. The yukon golds are up to Carl's shoulders... that's a tall 5 year old's shoulders. Wow. Can't wait to see what they look like in the fall. (Try not to notice the weeds creeping in.)

1 comment:

Stephanie said...

hey, you've got free greens there in your garden. You can eat the sweet potato leaves. They taste a lot like spinach (but sadly don't have as much iron but do have some vitamin A and of course some fiber). They are one of the few cheap veggies here. I put them on spaghetti the other night. They're also good with cannellini beans.

And you can do the estofado now that you have the squash blossom in your garden! (or does the squash blossom go on the rice? Ya no recuerdo porque nunca tengo.)