My friend and respected colleague Francine Campone (more here) emailed to me a story this morning about her garden surprise. I appreciated it so much that I asked her if I could share it with you.
As you can see, she said, "yes."
When I planted the vines early in the summer, I thought they were purely ornamental. Last year, I had these same vines in the balcony rail planters and they made lovely little purple flowers until the gray doves came and made a nest and I couldn't water one box for weeks because it would disturb the birds. But I planted them anyway and when I put the dark eggplant purple vines in with the saffron marigolds this year, I was anticipating flowers again. But oddly- and maybe because it was initially a very cold summer, then a very hot and dry one, the vines never bloomed but they did grow long and twisty and covered all of the bare dirt. Even though I neglected them a bit because of all the time running around to doctors and hospitals taking care of Ed, the vines kept growing and I waited for flowers. Summer blistered and scorched; the tomatoes grew huge and the basil went crazy and the nasturtium finally came into their blazing orange own toward the end of the summer. And the vines never bloomed. Finally, cold nights got to them and maybe the teeth-rattling pounding of the construction machines a half a block away shook them too badly. But the vines started to wither and I told myself it was time to pull the out as they looked so miserable and besides- I never got flowers.
Yesterday I rolled up my sleeves and started tugging and for some reason, the plants were resistant even though the soil had been left bone dry to make it easier. I pulled and pulled and…..found a squiggly red potato. Then another. Then a couple of skinny nascent spuds clinging to the root. I yanked the next plant out and….more potatoes. By the time I had pulled out nine vines, I had a bowl full of little red potatoes.
Sometimes we expect flowers and they never come. And at the very end-when it's least expected- we get food instead. There's the old saying- when life gives you lemons…. I guess life is giving me potatoes at this moment. Pass the butter and salt please.