We read a lot about how to grow our own food. We learn how to start our seeds at just the right temperature, give the perfect amount of sunshine and water (not too much, not too little), transplant at the right time, fertilize and weed and mulch and fend off the bad bugs with an arsenal of tools and sprays. If we follow this program, we’ll be rewarded with food in a few months’ time.
But sometimes, such a program goes out the door when nature simply takes over. Suddenly we’re reminded that gardening is an organic process that relies on no rhyme or reason. Gardening is as much a hands-off process as it is hands-on.
So when I discovered the “accidental tomato” growing in a largely neglected part of my yard a couple months ago, I almost didn’t believe it was actually a tomato plant. And not just one, but three plants.
Most of my food garden is grown on roughly 3,000 square feet on a sloping hillside. Another 2,500 square feet at the bottom of the hill is a nearly empty plot, housing only a lemon tree, a slowly growing pineapple patch, an unused greenhouse, and lots and lots of weeds. (Eventually, I’ll get to those projects… sigh.)
The day I discovered the rogue tomato plants, I was bringing a watering can down to the pineapples. All that bushy growth on the terrace below the pineapples was looking strangely familiar. I originally dismissed the plants as overgrown weeds, but now that they were larger, their leaves were becoming more distinct and their scent was undeniably a tomato.
Somehow, in the middle of a spurge-infested yard where no food had ever been grown before, next to random stacks of leftover construction materials, three tomato plants were thriving in the ground, with the only water source coming from our infrequent spring rains.
I didn’t even know tomato plants could grow on a 45° slope! In plain old dirt, no less. Not soil. But ugly, cakey, clayey, pebbly dirt.
The plants were about 2 feet tall when I first found them, with strong and healthy stems. I even spotted a few tomatoes growing!
The mystery is trying to determine which tomatoes these are, and how the seeds traveled so far in the first place. My neighbor thought a bird must have eaten a tomato from last summer’s garden and pooped out some seeds overhead… I suppose anything is possible?!
As of last week, the tomato plants were still growing robustly, with more flowers blooming and huge branches starting to sprawl over into the pineapple patch.
I’ve attempted to prune the unwieldy beasts, and will start to water and fertilize them regularly. Hopefully, I’ll end up with a handful of accidental tomatoes long before my other tomato plants start fruiting!
18 Comments
Cheng Xu
December 22, 2020 at 6:12 pmI also found rogue ones! do I leave them there or repot? First one I found was dead already :(. Next two I found but too scared to transfer but also don’t want them to die if possible.
Linda from Garden Betty
December 22, 2020 at 6:15 pmAre these rogue tomatoes already growing in the garden? If so, you may be able to move them if they’re still in seedling stage. Otherwise, I’d leave them in place to continue growing, or thin them out if you have lots of other plants around.
Anna
December 22, 2020 at 6:12 pmI also found a tomato plant growing in mulch near our AC unit. I have not had a garden in maybe 25-30 years because I cannot grow anything, and definitely not in that spot. My husband thought it was a weed and was about to pull it. It is loaded with grape tomatoes.
Surprisingly Janice
November 22, 2020 at 12:12 pmWell we just discovered a tomato plant growing in our backyard and we were so puzzled as to how it got there. We don’t know what kind are they but they look like small cherry tomatoes. We haven’t taste any jet . I just love the fact that they were there. I just thought they were truly God sent.
newtotheblock
November 15, 2020 at 12:55 pmDid you ever find out what kind?? I had some random plant growing in my backyard and it seems like green tomatoes but they are not round and don’t really smell like tomatoes?? Very curious if they’re even safe to eat
Linda from Garden Betty
December 22, 2020 at 6:20 pmOur plants were definitely tomatoes. All tomato vines have a distinctive smell, so if yours don’t, I’m not sure what they could be. (For future reference, not all tomatoes are round. Some are heart-shaped, oblong, or ribbed.)
Silly Little Sheep
March 17, 2017 at 12:00 pmI have accidental tomatoes growing in all of my flowerpots simply because I use garden compost in pots and it’s full of seeds from old fruits that I have discarded. It’s amazing, isn’t it? That sometimes nature just does its own thing and shows us how well adapted those little seeds and plants are for survival.
Linda from Garden Betty
March 21, 2017 at 10:05 pmWhat I find amazing is how easily my volunteer tomatoes grow versus the ones I intentionally plant. 😉 Makes me realize that most plants are capable of fending for themselves without our interference!
Robert Carroll
November 15, 2020 at 12:55 pmYou are so right about this. Often makes me wonder if we are doing it right as on occasion we have to force success. Nature never forces success. If something comes up of its own accord it nearly always copes well there
Linda from Garden Betty
December 22, 2020 at 6:20 pmThis is so true!
eric
April 17, 2015 at 9:11 amBird seed that’s what it was. .. left over bird seed the same thing happened to me the same number also. .. I have pictures
IndianaJoes
September 22, 2013 at 1:28 pmGreat read. I had a rouge tomato plant sprout in between some potted viola plants on my 2nd story patio. I transplanted it and in a few months, surprise surprise, we had some tasty cherry tomatoes. Nature can be kind to those who nurture the less fortunate…
Russ in Maine
September 22, 2013 at 11:43 amWhen the tomato season is over I always crush the overripe ones in the garden spot. The following yr I always have tomatoes growing in random spots. They alway grow & taste great. I have given some of those new plants to friends & family that replant them 100s of miles away. Tomatoes are so amazing. Love your article on the leaves being toxic or being more food to enjoy.
Linda Ly
September 22, 2013 at 2:19 pmSometimes I think my volunteer tomatoes grow even better than the ones I’ve purposely planted!
Megan
September 22, 2013 at 10:54 amI love rogue tomatoes! I don’t know if it’s birds or squirrels moving the fruit around, but it’s always fun to find out what variety it ends up being. (From the looks of that last photo, you seem to have some rogue nasturtiums, too?)
Linda Ly
September 22, 2013 at 2:21 pmLOL yes, nasturtiums are quite weedy in my yard… but I love them! And to think I only started out with about 10 seeds sown the first year. They are EVERYWHERE now, even in the front and side yards where I never planted them!
Christy Kuebler Carter
March 6, 2013 at 8:53 amI’ve had the same thing happen. I have two flower beds in which we have planted flowers, but never any food. We now have two tomato plants, one in each flower bed. I’ve never grown my own food, so I need to do some research on how to care for these babies. And maybe this will be the beginning of our own fresh garden!
Linda Ly
March 6, 2013 at 11:38 pmOh, how fun! Just keep in mind that the tomato plants will take over your flower beds if you decide to keep them in there. They love to sprawl.