The first of our compost piles will not die. Some of the scraps of vegetables from the kitchens grow to produce more of the same. As this first pile of pre-compost gets turned over to the next pile, we commonly find potatoes and onions. Tomatoes, squash and sometimes cucumbers grow around and on top of the pile. Without watering, their season is limited, but just long enough.
It is actually frustrating that some of the vegetables that are not so productive where tended in the vegetable garden perform better, although likely briefly, on the random compost pile.
1. Vegetable scraps and rotten vegetables are common in the compost pile, even while the kitchens here are not presently operating. These do not seem to have been rotten when discarded.
2. Summer squash is common here, even though scrap from the kitchens should be from juvenile squash, which should contain no viable seed. This might produce yellow crookneck squash.
3. Cucumber is not so common, and will not likely last as long as other vegetable plants. The area is warm and dry. Cucumber prefers sunny but not so warm exposure, and regular watering.
4. Determinate tomato looks just like what grew here last year. If so, it makes small cherry tomatoes that are shaped like ‘Roma’ tomatoes; and all the fruit will ripen at about the same time.
5. Pumpkin vine should be sprawling more than this. It could be just another type of squash. The round fruits with stout stems resemble baby pumpkins. However, the leaves are not right.
6. Bearded iris is no vegetable, but naturalized similarly next to the compost piles. It is perennial rather than annual. Although shabby here, it can be recycled into landscapes. Bloom is gold.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:
https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
Tony Tomeo 
Got a lot of tender vegetables growing out of mine but at least they’ll get killed off in winter.
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They last longer than mine, which manage to produce only briefly before desiccating late in summer. I do not know how the cucumber get enough moisture, or how the tomatoes last long enough to produce. Last year, they actually stayed almost until frost in one spot. They seem determined to survive until they produce something.
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My chickens would love those scraps!!
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It a weird that no one eats the scraps! There is plenty of wildlife up there that should appreciate it, especially turkeys. The turkeys eat and shred neighbors’ gardens instead.
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Compost pile is the only place where I have successfully grown potatoes.
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Ha! Funny! Me too! I have not tried in the the garden this year, because I do not expect them to do well there. However, we get a few from the compost just by chance.
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I often “shop” for plants in my compost pile.
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Oh, now that is silly, but I so get it. I do not shop, but will not let the produce go to waste either. I got quite a few of those odd tomatoes last year, and the crew was pleased to get them. I really do want to relocate those iris though. There is no rush, but I do not want them wasted.
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Sorry, didn’t mean vegetables (I don’t grow them) but other flowering plants.
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There is no need for apology. Flowers are worthy plunder too.
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I’ve had the same experience with irises—and often have tomato plants popping up in odd places where I’ve used compost. I call then “gift” tomatoes.
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I sort of ignore the tomatoes, since I expect them to die off before producing. In the end, they give quite a bit.
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My best acorn squash were from the compost heap!
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Acorn squash and other winter squash should do well from a compost heap, because they somehow survive with minimal watering. We get many odds and ends, but so far, this pumpkin (if it is a pumpkin) will be the first winter squash here. Besides pumpkin, acorn squash is my favorite winter squash, although I have not grown any in many years.
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I gave up on composting veg, instant rat population….
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Our compost piles are so far away that I am not concerned about the wildlife that might be attracted to it. I do not mind sharing. Weirdly though, no one seems to be interested in the vegetable scraps. They prefer to dine in the landscapes and home gardens closer to town.
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There are some really healthy rats in the area..though I miss the compost I had a pile of freshly shredded Live Oak delivered last fall and it is working out pretty well.
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Such a productive compost heap! My son turns ours regularly, so nothing can grow… Creeping buttercup moves atop too quickly, though.
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Ours does not get turned enough. The first ‘precompost’ pile sits around for a year at a time, and gets turned just before the rainy season. I would not mind losing the vegetables if the compost were turned more efficiently. The compost is reasonably good, but could be better.
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Gosh, never have I seen that happen
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That is probably because you turn your compost properly and efficiently. Ours accumulates but otherwise gets ignored until autumn.
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Maybe I do but even so, not sure that would happen!
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Also, you do not likely waste many intact vegetables. Now that you mention it, I would not expect to find many feral vegetable plants in my own compost either, just because I do not waste much that contains seeds or parts that can start growing.
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Great to have squash this early! I am trying cucumber in a pot this year.
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This one is only beginning to produce, and may not produce long. I do not mind. Any that we get is more than what we planted for. Those in the garden are making too many squash now.
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