Where there is a will...

or a cantaloupe seed, there is a way.

For a month now this little plant has been growing out of the side of our compost barrel. At first, I laughed, but I wasn't surprised. Due to the amount of cantaloupe we eat, there are a lot of seeds in our compost. And subsequently when we add that sweet smelling loveliness to our gardens, we end up being over run with cantaloupe plants. (No real fruit, yet.)

But this is the first time one has had the initiative to put down roots in the barrel. I've stopped turning it's garden paradise. With that much determination it should be given as much opportunity as the next plant. So when I water the gardens... I water the barrel. God knows it doesn't require fertilizing. If the plant ever produces fruit, it should be a cantaloupe to beat all cantaloupes.

In the past, these opportunistic plants have managed to produce softball sized pretty much tasteless fruits. But I've noticed in among the green beans and corn, two pretty healthy looking fruits. So maybe this year, these willfull plants will finally produce fruit for us, and seeds for the compost barrel.

The great circle of life right here in a suburban compost barrel.