A welcome mistake

[Andy Hamilton]

I let a couple of lettuces go to see last year and never got round to actually collecting the seeds. I went to start weeding one area of my plot and found loads of lettuces happily starting to grow, Bonus.

Also there are a load of sunflowers coming up from leaving sunflowers to grow.

[Millymollymandy]

That's great. I absolutely adore things that self seed, well, except sycamores! I very carefully potted up a teeny little golden oregano only to discover that the gravel driveway area all around this bed is teeming with them! I'm going to leave some to grow to soften up the gravel on the bits that won't get driven on.

I also have a huge area in the veggie patch of young coriander from last year's plants. I'm leaving them for the moment as I don't need that space right now. There's hundreds of them!

[the.fee.fairy]

the only things i've found were potatoes..

I gave my sunflowers to my Cockatiel. he likes picking the seeds out of the middle.

[Thomzo]

I've had potatoes too. The odd thing is I'm sure I never planted them in that part of the garden. How do they get there on their own?

[the.fee.fairy]

i found some when i was digging the pond out. They were planted the other end of the garden last year.

And...last year, i found a potato in my strawberry trough...there'd definitely not been one planted in there before!

I think they grow legs...

[paradox]

I like the idea of spuds sprouting legs and running round the garden under the cover of darkness

I think next time im sat in the garden late at night and one of the neighbours asks what im doing i shall say im potatoe watching

[the.fee.fairy]

Absolutely.

Back to the topic - my surprise discovery must have been the results of the bird seed last year!!

[adekun]

I'm now finding that any small stones left over from the previous years digging have grown into huge boulders.

[cat]

I'm now finding that any small stones left over from the previous years digging have grown into huge boulders.

Oh dear! I bet you'd prefer leggy potatoes
Is it something to do with japanese soil?

[ina]

Is it something to do with japanese soil?

No, can't be - they do that here, too. And they breed.

My drive is being taken over by chives... It's amazing the stuff that grows in gravel! Another path, not gravel, but very hard trodden soil, is full of Lily of the Valley. Every year I have to try and jump across that bit.

[Wombat]

The chooks seem to get most things here, but tomato seeds always come up. Not much use at this time of year though.....

Nev

[adekun]

Is it something to do with japanese soil?

The leftover builder's rubble seems to have fused into rubber too.

Have had a few spuds appear from the either the seeds or tiny tubers I chucked to the sides. The odd carrot too - having had the seed packet blown from my hands. I am clumsy.
Looking forward to the sunflowers next.

[Chickpea]

I planted loads of chives and spring onion seeds and baby leek seeds in all kinds of places last year and none of them ever came up. This spring my allotment was full of little patches of alliums coming up everywhere.

Is that what you're meant to do - plant chives and leave them dormant in the ground for 9 months before they shoot up? I thought they were meant to come up really quick like a catch-crop. No wonder when people want full-sized onions they plant sets instead of seeds.

[Millymollymandy]

Spring onions should take about 3 months from seed sowing to eating, and leeks a while longer.

Maybe it was dry where you planted your seeds at that time?

In any event nature does do some strange things. I sowed some tiny Godetia seeds in pots and in amongst the Godetia seedlings something very large and beanlike has just emerged.

[Jack]

Gidday

A funny thing, I remember when I was about five years old I got a growling for wasting some lettuce seeds cos I had planted them in some cracks of a concrete path. But later I remember how great those lettuces tasted when we had them for lunch.

I story I always loved to hear my mother retelling for many decades after too.