Early Wonder: Broccoli Rabe Found A Spot To Grow

This spring, I found a single broccoli rabe (spring rapini) plant growing near the edge of the in-ground garden and lawn, coming up through a pile of leaves. An adorable sight that made my day. 

Where did the seed come from? I haven’t planted any broccoli rabe yet this year. Maybe will for the fall.

And, how did the volunteer get from where some grew last year (patio container) to where it grew this year (ground)? Somehow, a seed was deposited there.

That’s a wonder. We will never know exactly how a volunteer ends up where it ends up. But we can speculate. I got ideas.

Could be that this volunteer is from a seed I planted last year that didn’t germinate until this spring. I believe it could have survived the winter.

Or, it’s a seed from one of last year’s plants that went to flower and dropped its seed. However, while the plants did start to flower, I don’t think any of them had enough time to ripen any seeds before I harvested the plants.

Either way, the seed made contact with the soil. But still, if it was from the container plants last year, how did it travel to its current spot in the ground?

I imagine the furry paws of a small animal tracked it from the patio into the ground garden.  

Or, simply, the wind blew it to its current location, or it rode on an airborne leaf. Or, during a heavy rain, a stream of water carried it there.

Who knows? It could have been under my fingernail and dropped out later.

Possibly, this volunteer might not even be from my seeds. Perhaps it was eaten by a bird from a sowing in a neighbor’s yard, and the bird “deposited” it in our yard. 

I’ll never know, but I can wonder. 

 Click here to see a video of this volunteer cutie.