Tiny Surprise That Gave Me A Big Smile

I’ve been trying to make veggie gardens ever since I bought my house. When I moved in several years ago, there was only one small veggie patch, probably around 100cm x 50cm in size, on the over 700m2 land. There were two jalapeno chillies growing in the small patch, looking a little sick. In spite of my effort to save them, they unfortunately died. The rest of the gardens were covered with the ornamental plants, mostly cactus families or Australian natives that are very tough and requires almost no attention. I soon discovered reason why those tough plants were chosen by the previous owner of the house.

The soil.

It is clay soil. Quite heavy one. Not many plants survive in the soil because they have trouble expanding roots in there. Clay soil means fine particles are tightly packed together, that causes poor drainage and poor aeration. It holds lots of nutrition inside the clay, but the values are locked in the packed structure, unable to be accessed by plants unless the soil is improved somehow.

Digging the soil started.

The soil needed to be dug. It’s not easy to work with the clay soil compare to the sandy soil. A shovel would be sufficient to dig the sandy soil, but with the clay soil I had, I almost used an ax. In fact, landscape specialists use a machine that is same as a concrete drill. I added organic matters, clay breaker (gypsum), and manually broke the chunk of clay by a hammer to improve the soil. Because it was so hard to dig, the progress was very slow. After a lot of blisters and swear words, a decent space was ready. I wanted to make it a veggie patch, but I already had a few rose tress overgrown in small pots. I decided to rescue them from the tiny pots. The rose garden was completed.

After the rose garden, I wasn’t keen on digging the soil, given how hard it was. I left the rest of the garden as is and thought for easier alternatives.

Upside down planter

I saw this remarkable invention on TV. It was a tomato planter.
It doesn’t require all the hard work I did for the rose garden, no digging!!

It means no muscle work for removing rocks or tree roots in the soil, no stinky organic matter mixing, no blisters, and no swear words. The preparation is so easy! I planted some tomato seedlings in those planters and hung up against the fence near the rose garden. After a while, they started to show fruits on their vines. I was looking forward to them. On one sunny afternoon I checked the size of the still-green tomatoes on the vine, I found a healthy fat worm, making big tunnels through my tomatoes, eating my crops. The tunnels started from the back of the tomatoes where I couldn’t see for a long time, and went everywhere through the fruits. The greedy worm didn’t leave anything for me to eat. So disappointing… I removed the worm and didn’t touch the tomatoes after that. I ignored them even though they gained the pretty cherry like red color on them.

The other day, I decided to weed around the roses. Weeds were overgrown and blocking roses from getting enough sun. The soil in the rose garden was still in a good condition and the rain on the previous day softened the soil, making it easier to weed. As I continued weeding almost mechanically, I noticed a favorable smell, a familiar fragrance. I suddenly stopped weeding and looked at what I just weeded in my hand. It was a tomato plant!! It’s been growing behind the rose bushes. The healthy good sized tomato plant had a few flowers on it. What a surprise!! The abandoned tomatoes on the fence dropped themselves on the ground and sprouted. I quickly filled a terracotta pot with some potting mix and transferred the unexpected surprise in it. The tomato plant went a little droopy from the shock of getting transferred, so it was placed in the patio for my intensive care, I checked it every 10 minuets while I was finishing off weeding the rest of the rose garden. Luckily, it soon gained its vitality back.

It’s now sitting in the sun, looking very healthy. The flowers didn’t make fruits because of the shock, but they’ve got new flowers now. I’m looking forward to seeing the fruits. It would be either cherry, roma or truss tomatoes. This time, the worms don’t get their shares!!

Finding something good unexpectedly makes you feel surprisingly good. It was a good day when I found the tomato plant, and the good days are still continuing. My excitement won’t stop until I get the first fruit off the rescued vine, and the plant would keep surprising me until it’s spent for the season.

To be honest, I’ve never succeeded growing tomatoes like this before. They are difficult plants to grow to me. They need protection from lots of pests and diseases, heavy rain, strong winds, different area of the garden each year to avoid disease developing, and new supporting stakes each year for the same reason. That’s a lot of work, but it’s worth growing in the backyard given how often and how much I eat them. I eat them fresh, dried or cooked in various meals: salads, snacks, casseroles, stews, curries, pizzas, pastas and lots more. Growing own tomatoes gives me additional pleasure. I like watching plants growing, and every time I taste the home-grown tomatoes, I would feel rewarded. The reward would happen as often as I manage to harvest the fruits, and the yellow petite flowers tell me there are more coming on my way. That is exciting.

I just wanted to share my unexpected little fortune with you.