I’m one of those addicts who love digging in the dirt, and I am constantly awed and humbled by the miracle of putting a seed in the ground and watching it grow and produce its bounty and beauty. I enjoy growing the usual crops of tomatoes, beans, squash, cucumbers, etc., in our raised bed garden with the rhododendron deer fence my husband and I designed and built.

However, I think I most enjoy the serendipitous moments of gardening when those miraculous volunteer plants appear. I often deposit gourds and pumpkins I’ve enjoyed as fall decorations by my garden fence and cover them with leaves. This year, I had pumpkin and gourd vines running quite amuck and here is part of the crop I harvested, shown at their best on a foggy mountain day. I also had a bumper crop of volunteer poppies and Nicotiana. My neighbors and family always enjoy my unexpected crops along with me and we have fun watching them and marveling at another miracle taking place.