Little Shop of Horrors, on my roof

DG came home from our recent trip a little sooner than I did. One of those nights we spoke on the phone, and I asked him if he had checked our vegetables, which grow in a large box on the roof.

There was a long pause, and I knew immediately that he hadn't. "I probably should do that," he said, quickly adding that it had rained quite a bit the week we were gone.

"Be careful. It might have turned into a Little Shop of Horrors up there," I warned him.

Truer words were never spoken. Since we compost, seeds wind up in the fertilizer and sometimes grow. Usually we pull them out, but when I saw a couple of squash-like plants, I figured I'd leave them and see what they turned out to be.

In two weeks these plants grew from cute little things with a couple of leaves, into a monstrous patch, four feet high and wide, shading everything else in the planter with leaves the size of two hands together atop stalks covered in small spines. While unpleasantly prickly, they do have lots and lots of flowers, and what looks like it might be the beginning of some sort of squash-like fruit.

So, I dutifully cut back the leaves and left the flowers and fruits. Because if anything is going to give Teh N00b superpowers, this will definitely be it. I'll leave it to greater minds (you know who you are) to decide what kind of costumed crime-fighting can come out of this.