Wild Watermelons
This is a bull nettle. Or at least that's what my husband calls it.
About mid-summer he showed me what they look like and told me to pull them whenever I see one. From then on I was programmed. Every time I saw one I would lean over and pull it without hesitation. I was a bull-nettle-pulling machine!
One day Roy was giving his grandma a tour of our vegetable garden. He has several raised beds that he built and filled with all the wonderful fruit and vegetable plants that he wanted to enjoy all summer. His grandma is an avid gardener as well, so she was very intent on the tour. I was just coasting along for the ride.
Then I saw a bull nettle right in the middle of his raised bed! I reached down and pulled it! Whew - another one down!
But for some reason I stood there holding the plant in front of my face. Puzzled. Why would a bull nettle be growing in his raised bed. That's odd. My brain was sloooooowly turning over and the answer was trying to escape from somewhere amidst the cobwebs in my head . . .
Suddenly Roy was grabbing the plant out of my hand and shoving it back into the soil saying, "That's my watermelon plant!"
Yes, I pulled a watermelon plant! Roy's watermelon plant! Right in front of his grandma!
This is a watermelon plant (not THE watermelon plant because IT died - I'm hanging my head in shame).
See? It looks similar! I know, all you very observant people out there are going to tell me all the ways that they are OBVIOUSLY different. I know, I have lousy plant identification skills. Just tell me they look a little similar. Just a little.
Anyhow, Roy gets the privilege of telling that story to everyone so they can laugh at me. And whenever we're walking around our place and he sees a bull nettle he says, "Look, a watermelon!"
About mid-summer he showed me what they look like and told me to pull them whenever I see one. From then on I was programmed. Every time I saw one I would lean over and pull it without hesitation. I was a bull-nettle-pulling machine!
One day Roy was giving his grandma a tour of our vegetable garden. He has several raised beds that he built and filled with all the wonderful fruit and vegetable plants that he wanted to enjoy all summer. His grandma is an avid gardener as well, so she was very intent on the tour. I was just coasting along for the ride.
Then I saw a bull nettle right in the middle of his raised bed! I reached down and pulled it! Whew - another one down!
But for some reason I stood there holding the plant in front of my face. Puzzled. Why would a bull nettle be growing in his raised bed. That's odd. My brain was sloooooowly turning over and the answer was trying to escape from somewhere amidst the cobwebs in my head . . .
Suddenly Roy was grabbing the plant out of my hand and shoving it back into the soil saying, "That's my watermelon plant!"
Yes, I pulled a watermelon plant! Roy's watermelon plant! Right in front of his grandma!
This is a watermelon plant (not THE watermelon plant because IT died - I'm hanging my head in shame).
See? It looks similar! I know, all you very observant people out there are going to tell me all the ways that they are OBVIOUSLY different. I know, I have lousy plant identification skills. Just tell me they look a little similar. Just a little.
Anyhow, Roy gets the privilege of telling that story to everyone so they can laugh at me. And whenever we're walking around our place and he sees a bull nettle he says, "Look, a watermelon!"
THAT us funny. I spilled a packet of morning glory seeds on one of our raised beds, and clearly did not get them all, because every morning you go out and see bright blue and purple flowers ALL OVER the tomatoes. They have taken over! If only i had been diligent about weeding in the spring.
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That is hilarious, Meg! I think I'll sneak a few morning glories into the tomatoes next year . . .
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lol
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