The accidental tomatoes of wrath

August 15: A stem. Some bits of green skin. A blob of juice. LEFT ON MY FRONT STEPS, like a cruel taunt. I am growing the accidental tomatoes of wrath.

August 16: Tonight we ate what may well end up constituting the season's entire accidental tomato crop: one single cherry tomato, plucked when still orange and ripened on a window sill, then cut into three meager servings.

August 17: This photo is not a deep fake. It is an actual squirrel eating one of my actual unripened accidental tomatoes. I've seen things, man. I've seen things.

Seriously, though, it is working out to pick them as they just start to turn orange, and then let them ripen on a window sill. I'll probably get the equivalent of a whopping pint of tomatoes that way, by season's end.

At least the front yard looks nice.

Garden happenings

Offered without comment.

Wildlife

First, I must lament that I found an abominable squirrel munching this week on my portulaca. All non-chalant, he was. It was infuriating.

But this was nice - just before I took this picture, the dove was all huddled down and looked exactly like a rock in the wall. It was sort of amazing.

And then these two splendid deer were undeterred by heavy rain this morning and ate their way across our back wall.