My “Pot-luck” Patch

[Gill-b]

View media item 7975775Above pic: This is what my Pot-luck Patch looked like on the 10th of October; six days after breaking my hand.

This season there was no shortage of surprises!! The biggest surprise being that I had grabbed some grape vine cuttings, from a pile that was next to the patch, to quickly use as stakes to support some tomatoe plants. One of the stakes sprouted all on its own!

View media item 7975776View media item 7975777Above two pics: Sprouting grape vine that had been just a 'stick' stuck in the ground as a stake.

 

[Gill-b]

Another surprise was finding a few Cape Gooseberry plants growing. Nobody in our household eats Gooseberries, so where did they come from? I can only guess that maybe they were from bird droppings?
Anyways, I repotted these out of the patch and into a pot.

View media item 7975778Above pic: Me confused at finding Cape Gooseberry plants growing in my Pot-luck Patch.

 

[Gill-b]

View media item 7975779Above pic: This is what my Pot-luck Patch looked like on the 30th October.

View media item 7975780Above pic: The grape vine 'stick' still going strong.

Below are two pictures in which I managed to capture the Pumpkin fly in flight.

View media item 7975781View media item 7975782

 

[akroberts1085]

That's awesome. Sorry to hear you broke your hand. Your garden is so beautiful.

 

[Gill-b]

View media item 7975783Above pic: This is what my Pot-luck Patch looked like on the 19th November 2025.

View media item 7975784Above pic: The tomatoe plants did manage to produce some really nice tasting tomatoes, although they were on the small side in size.

View media item 7975785Above pic: The Cape Gooseberry plants growing well after being planted over from the Pot-luck Patch into a pot.

 

[Gill-b]

View media item 7975786
The picture above shows some of the produce that had been 'stung' by the Pumpkin fly.

 

[Sequel]

That is just wild! That fly looks very much like wasps in my garden but they sure don’t damage the garden like that ! I’m so sorry to hear you broke your hand, what a rotten thing to happen! I really enjoyed your pics, I hope you could eat some of your produce and that your hand heals quickly !

 

[fowltemptress]

All your threads are so informative and interesting! Thanks for sharing your adventures.

 

[Gill-b]

Above pic: The Cape Gooseberry plants growing well after being planted over from the Pot-luck Patch into a pot.

I found this big fella on my Cape Gooseberry plants. It been about 7-8 cm (about 3 inches) in length at the time? I have not looked up what it is yet, and I did not have the heart to destroy such a beautiful creature, so I let it have the gooseberry plants.

View media item 7976379View media item 7976380View media item 7976381
Below is a picture of what the Cape Gooseberry plants looked like 10 days later, with the caterpillar nowhere in sight. I hope it found a safe place to metamorphosis. At least the plants are showing promising new leaf shoots.

View media item 7976382

 

[Gill-b]

The caterpillar might be an African death's-head hawkmoth?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acherontia_atropos

Edited to add that according to the Wikipedia page (linked above) the A. atropos appears in popular fiction and media, including the movie The Silence of the Lambs (1991).