Thursday, July 12, 2007

Feisty, miraculous tomato plant grows in Old Town shopping center parking lot

By Pegasus News wire

Brave tomato plant plowed through crack in the concrete in order to bear its miraculous fruit. If we knew exactly where it was, we would make a visitation and pray before it, like they do at Lourdes. We also wouldn't mind scoring a free locally-grown tomato.

DALLAS — A Pegasus News reader who'd rather not share his identity was nonetheless willing to share a miraculous discovery made near a dumpster in the Old Town shopping center parking lot:

While walking through a parking lot this afternoon, I saw a plant growing out of what looked like a crack in the pavement behind a dumpster. No biggie. But something about the plant made me do a double take. The second look confirmed that it was a tomato plant. Not just a scraggly, weedy little thing, but a robust plant with a main stem thicker than my thumb, a good number of blossoms, and some unripe fruit. I had to move the plant around to see underneath. I thought it must have been growing in a pot or small patch of earth or something. Nope. It was sprouting through a hole in the asphalt barely larger than the thick stem. It was pretty much in full sun. The hole through which it grew couldn't possibly allow much water through. How the thing got started is a mystery. (I don't think you could plant anything other than maybe a seedling in a space that small; and why would anyone do that? Did a tomato seed wash in there from the dumpster and get started?) And it's really quite remarkable that the thing has thrived under such poor conditions. (The Texas A&M Extension ought to send someone out to get seeds from the thing.)

I'd prefer not to share the exact location, otherwise I fear that some idiot will probably go pull it out of the ground. (No great loss, in the scheme of things. But I'd find it regrettable.) But I'm attaching a photo of the plant taken by a friend with a cell phone camera.

I should've checked to see if there's a broader miracle involved. You know, like one of the tomatoes being shaped like the head of St. Peter.

The reader mentioned also that there were perhaps 10-12 young green tomatoes on the vine, but saw several female house sparrows hovering around the plant, narrowing the tomatoes' chances to reach full ripeness. Sob!

Posted by T.G.

See more stories in:

• Food and Drink
• Home and Garden > Gardening
• Pegasus News Exclusive

Comments

Pavel Lishin Verified

I wonder if his friend's camera is one of those fancy ones with a GPS receiver that encodes the location of every picture taken into the file...

1 year ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

twisteddog Anonymous

Give. Up. The. Location. Of. The. Tomato. Plant.

1 year ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Billusa99 Anonymous

It's right next to the hydro hoonie, under a pastic tarp, backside of the wing joint.

Get it... wing joint...

1 year ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

ch0 Anonymous

MUST DESTROY TOMATO PLANT

1 year ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )