Sow There!

Recently I wrote about they mystery squash that sprouted up in an abandoned compost bin.

I don't do "active" composting which is where you put in the organic material from food scraps and lawn clippings, then layer the with soil, water and turn frequently.

I prefer what Dr. Mark! at the university calls "passive compost." This means putting the green stuff in a big hole in the ground, then covering it with dirt when the hole is full.

I've had good success with this method. After about two years pretty much the area of the yard suitable for compost holes has been used and it's time to dig a new hole where kitchen scraps were buried about two years ago.

Tommy was doing the grunt work and it was fun to watch him get very excited, put his face down by the soil and exclaim: "Wow, smell that dirt. Doesn't it smell great?" He also commented on how many worms there were, an indication of the richness of the compost.

We took a bucket and scattered handfuls of the compost at the base of established plants, such as the roses and perennials, to add beaucoup nutrients to the planting area.

But compost also produces these mystery vegetables.

A reader named Kaye phoned in and said she had some similar hybrid squash/pumpkin or other related plant in her yard where she and her husband had scattered some compostables.

She noted that the leaves looked about the size of a pumpkin plant, but the fruit was oblong, like a football. She and her household cut into the vegetable and found it edible. It tasted like a cucumber, she said. The key, Kay said, is to clip them when they're small, like a normal-sized vegetable someone would harvest.