SURPRISE!

I made a discovery yesterday while I was watering. I just happened to glance down at my flowerbed (the landscaping the builders installed that I've hardly messed with) and noticed a beautiful green plant growing. We have a fair amount of clover, dandelions, and miscellaneous weeds growing all over our yard, and this didn't look anything like them.  So I did a double take, then leaned over for a closer look. Finally this morning, I rinsed off a leaf and tasted it.  ARUGULA! 

The biggest arugula I've ever grown and it was a complete accident, growing in compacted, clay soil that I assumed wouldn't grow anything worth a lick.  The powdery stuff around it is a mix of cornmeal and diatomaceous earth that I poured over some anthills.

This is the arugula bed that I planted on purpose in between my dormant raspberry and blackberry bushes.  It's doing beautifully (though now that I've seen how monstrous arugula can get, my opinion of this bed is tempered slightly), and I pick leaves and whole plants on an almost daily basis to add to pizza, eggs, and salads.

When planting, I've often dusted my hands off over the flowerbed, wondering absently if any random seeds would take hold.  But I've never gone to the trouble to check.  After taste-testing my surprise arugula  (with Evan watching me doubtfully), I went back out to the flowerbed to scan for other lettuce-type leavings. 

I should say that none of my lettuce is growing well in containers or in my backyard bed.  I'm beginning to pinpoint the mistakes that I've made.  And now I'm wondering if I should just broadcast seeds in my front flowerbeds, careful planting and soil preparation be hanged.  There are three plants here that I'm pretty sure are some kind of mesclun.  They look similar to dandelion leaves, until you put them side by side.  I ate one a small leaf (with Evan still looking highly skeptical), and it tasted fine - really mild with not even a hint of bitterness.  After a little more research, we might have some free. yummy salads for dinner... assuming I can talk my husband into some entry level foraging.