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I pulled a few tomato volunteers and put them in pots, I have another one that came up I'm am thinking it will be Black Cherry likie the others I saved. Go figure. .

I also have a plethora of this and that growing out of my compost. There are tomatoes, squash and a few other "I'm not sure" things grwoing there.


Last year I had some strange squashkins that came out of nowhere. I'm anxious to see what freaks I may have this year.

I'm really surprised I don't have a ton more, last year I pulled hundreds if not a thousands (no joke) tomato starts. Not too mention all the squash and everything else. My volunteer onions and garlic didn't do squat I didn't think they would but I let them grow anyways.

While we are on the topic of volunteers you should see my flower garden and around my mail box, there is a THICK field of marigolds that cam up from last year, and I mean thick. I thought about thinning them out but they seem to be doing good though not very big. It is a sea of orange. I didn't really plant much in my main flower bed this year but that thing is plum full to the brim with this and that. Cottage garden style if you would.

Its not the cold that kills seeds its the dampness! Sometimes you wonder how they survive the winter!

Bobberman wrote:Its not the cold that kills seeds its the dampness! Sometimes you wonder how they survive the winter!

Yeah it's funny, you plant 30 seeds and nothing comes up, but the volunteer in the other corner is the strongest, healthiest thing on the block.

I've got a bunch of volunteer squash growing out of my finished compost pile that so far I am leaving to see what they become. The delicata squash seeds I saved from last year didn't sprout, so I would love it if these turned out to be delicata....

I had some volunteer lettuce and chard that I let grow. Its all gone now.

I had just a few volunteer potatoes that I am letting grow.

Every year I have dill come up. I never have to plant it.

I had a 4 pound pumpkin that stayed out all winter and I pitched it into the compost in th e spring ! A lot of seeds grew so I took several and planted the ones that were growing. I have a 3 pound pumpkin on one now! The vine is all over the place with more small pumpkins coming!

James yes the dill is a good one. I have a ton of dill in my flower gardens.

I love free plants.

I have some volunteer squash or melon or something like that growing under two fruit trees I planted this spring. I put my own worm castings in with the compost and there must have been some seeds in there. It's a funny sight since the trees grow next to the house with some big plants at their bases.

I've got volunteer sunflowers. Found then growing in my flower beds and transplanted to the garden!

So glad you started this thread. I've got a mystery squash plant - has to be zuccini or yellow squash - any way to figure out what it is? It's flowering like mad but no fruit yet.

I encourage volunteers by spreading seed EVERYWHERE. plants will come up in the oddest spots, yet need so little care its amazing. I have a few volunteers right now that are growing in hard, dry, clay soil with lots of rocks. have not needed one drop of water, started months later than my starts. yet they are 3/4 the size of my plants I started from seedlings and doing just as good.

so these are the plants I collect seed from to add to the diversity and keep hardy genes in the genepool for next year.

mmmfloorpie wrote:I've got volunteer sunflowers. Found then growing in my flower beds and transplanted to the garden!

Oh yeah... I have a volunteer sunflower too. Probably from the bird seed. Thing is I can't grow sunflowers because while the seedlings are still little, the groundhog nibbles them down to stem nubs. But this one came up in a bunch of other stuff and the groundhog didn't find it until it was too big and tough for her. There's a lesson in there....

I used the soil from my herb garden to start some seeds. All the pots had volunteer basil and calintro it there too.

I have two volunteer squash that I believe are patty pan types from a few years ago. Funny, they aregrowing where it is almost entirely shade and looking really healthy.

rainbowgardener wrote:

mmmfloorpie wrote:I've got volunteer sunflowers. Found then growing in my flower beds and transplanted to the garden!

Oh yeah... I have a volunteer sunflower too. Probably from the bird seed. Thing is I can't grow sunflowers because while the seedlings are still little, the groundhog nibbles them down to stem nubs. But this one came up in a bunch of other stuff and the groundhog didn't find it until it was too big and tough for her. There's a lesson in there....

Lol. I like them in my garden because they attract bees!

I love volunteers. I currently have tomatoes growing in the front of the house. They're trailing down the retaining wall. I left a pumpkin outside all winter, under the bird feeders, and there are pumpkins growing now.

Ah! the joy we get from the simple things.

Aint it grand being a gardener?

Here's my volunteer sunflower:

[img]https://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm113/drew4allyou/0719111843-00.jpg[/img]

I know it's a blurry pic, but those two winged insects in the flower are honey bees! Success! lol.