WHATEVER CROPS UP

Productive plants that come up by themselves in the garden are known as volunteers. They grow from seed produced by a previous crop that spread itself in the garden. Not only are they handy but they often perform very well.

Cherry tomato, Cape gooseberry, potato, kangaroo apple (a native that comes up in gardens), rocket, lettuce and parsley are all regular volunteers in my garden. I’ve also had delicious fruit from volunteer nectarine trees that have “planted” themselves.

In warmer locations, you may be