Unexpected Vegetables

 The unexpected tomato

Sometimes things grow when and where you don't expect them, because you haven't planted them and they just pop up by themselves.  Here we are in mid January and I have tomatoes and green peppers sprouting in a large old pot where I was growing basil and thyme.

My compost bowl

I keep a compost bowl in my kitchen beside the sink, where I put the daily scraps of peelings and cuttings from fruit and vegetables, used coffee and tea bags,  all of which goes out every evening to the old composter which has seen better days.  It now needs to be emptied and fitted together properly so there are no open edges.  

But my gardener, being a practical man, has tied a heavy string around the whole thing in an attempt to keep it together until the next time we empty it.  In the meantime the birds are having a feast on the insects or worms which are populating the lower levels, and are scratching out the fine new soil from the cracks.

The old composter

So after I've dumped the day's collection of goodies into the composter, I put the bowl under a tap,  fill it with water, and dump the water into one of my large flower pots on the way back to the kitchen.

Sometimes there are seeds and small bits clinging onto the bowl and I guess in this case there were both pepper and tomato seeds.  They sprouted and have produced fruit that never would have appeared had I planted the seeds deliberately.

The pepper plant

This is the second pepper to appear.  The first one is long gone into one of my salads.

And by the look of it, there are more tomatoes on the way.

And still more:

I shall have to try this throughout the spring and summer.  After all if I can grown tomatoes and peppers outdoors in January without even trying, perhaps I can do mangos and avocados as well later in the year!

The winter has been mild and beautiful so far.  We do need rain though.  I hope we have a wet February and March so the ground has a good soaking and the water reservoirs are filled again.

Bye for now, thanks for your visit and ¡hasta la vista!