Rescued cucumber

This cucumber had been hiding under our summer savory when I found it Tuesday night. Cuke weighs 1½ lbs., three times what a normal slicer cucumber weighs, and is blemished and yellowing.

I brought it into the house with the other cukes I’d picked, but told Hubby I intended to throw it out.

“It’s too big to eat,” I said.

“No, don’t throw it away,” he said. “I’ll cut out the seeds and will use it for a sauce.”

Just like this cucumber, many of us were headed for the Dumpster. Our lives were seen as bitter and blemished, worthless for anything but the landfill.

But then the Master said, “No, don’t throw her away. I have a purpose for this life. I must deal with the seeds of sin. I must cut away the blemishes, but I am patient. I will do what is necessary to complete my plan for her redemption. After all, I have already paid for it on the cross.”

Volunteer veggies: a pleasant surprise

I love surprises.

Sometimes my garden produces those surprises by bringing up a volunteer vegetable or flower.

I’m not always that surprised, though. Last year, I did a very poor job of picking green beans. So I have a good crop of volunteers this year. Unfortunately for the beans and their picker, the Three Sisters garden has been moved. No cornstalk poles conveniently await beans to climb them. I’m fated to crawl on hands and knees to harvest most of these. Some of them are climbing the fence I erected for them last year, for which I am grateful.

When the fall holidays were over, we threw our pumpkins and gourds into the garden, hoping that a seed would take root. If memory serves me, we threw the pumpkin on the west side of the garden and the gourds on the east. This plant, on the very eastern edge of the pond garden, is probably a mini white pumpkin. But who knows. I look forward to finding out.

This tomato is a complete surprise. I don’t remember throwing any tomatoes in the garden, but here is a tomato plant. It isn’t very healthy, though, so we’ll see if any fruit appears.

Kenny Point at Veggie Gardening Tips
suggests that gardeners learn what baby leaves look like so we don’t pull out something good. If I hadn't known what baby squash and tomato leaves look like, I would have pulled those gifts from the garde