I didn't plant this

As much time as I spend in the garden, working, exploring, and photographing, I have to admit that there are some parts that I don't see as much as others. You might say I ignore them, even neglect them. Sometimes that results in weeds and a big mess.

Sometimes it results in something that's a little better (or at least has the potential to be).

***

I did not plant this tomato. I didn't even realize it was growing here until a couple of weeks ago, but then forgot it again until yesterday.

Of course this tomato plant is doing much better than any of the tomato plants that I purposefully planted and cared for this summer. It's large, bushy and full of flowers. It's also sort of smothering some other plants, using them for support, but that's okay. My attitude toward the end of the growing season is a lot more relaxed.

It's a 'Yellow Pear' variety. Unfortunately it most likely won't have time before the first freeze to let any of these fruits ripen.

I'm going to let it keep growing though, and give it every chance to produce a couple of little tomatoes for me to snack on while doing fall chores in the yard: mulching, raking, and figuring out where to put all of my potted bamboos for the winter.

My theory on the poor showing of my veggie garden tomatoes was that I didn't fertilize enough. Since this plant hasn't gotten even a morsel of fertilizer, I'd say that theory is no longer valid. Maybe I'll just stick to planting 'Yellow Pear' tomatoes next year.

Better yet, I'll just plant all of the tomatoes in out-of-the-way corners of my yard and forget all about them. That approach seems to be working quite well here.