Garden Volunteers

Volunteers in the garden are one of my greatest joys.  I don't do anything and something unexpected pops up...sometimes where the little plant was last year, sometimes in a new place completely.  And they are free.  What's not to love about volunteers.  Even their name is inspiring.   

Basil is poping up in the pot from last year.

Marigolds are springing up everywhere, which is not surprising.  We throw all the spent flowers back into the garden with their beautiful long seeds. 

I read about leaving tomatos to rot in garden beds and letting them spring up of their own accord by Brett Markham the author of Mini-Farming books.  So at the end of the season last year, we tilled a lot of rotton and forgotten roma and cherry tomatoes back into our two little garden areas.

To me, tomatoes seem a little fussy, especially when you read about when to plant seeds indoors and when to move them outside and how many days to count from the last frost and how deep to plant them.  So to sow them natually, the way God intended plants to propigate, appealed to me.

And look at all the little tomato volunteers we have.     

Two or three have sprouted here by the jalapenos.  (Potentially a problem?) 

Two are growing up by the hibiscus, which is making a come back after the snow and freezing weather.

And there are too many other little sprouts to even count.  

Should I expect all these volunteers to make it?  Maybe I should thin out some of the tomatoes.  But now that they have survived the winter and grown up with no help from me, I just can't pluck them out!  

I'll keep you posted.