Unexpected Treats

I am not a gardener; in fact, I'm one of those rare breeds you hear about that can actually kill plastic plants. So it's little wonder that I don't even try to plant or grow things in my yard. But a while back something appeared to be blooming in my yard...and miraculously, I managed to not kill it.

We had some landscapers come in and do some put in some new grass and trim a few of our trees. One of the gentlemen knocked on our door and said, "I don't know if you know this, but you got a pineapple growing in the yard."

A pineapple you say?

So we checked it out, and sure enough it was an actual pineapple. As if the fact that it was growing so nicely wasn't surprising enough (no one was taking care of it), none of us recall ever even planting this thing. What the....?

Flamenco Dad and I talked it over, and we came to the only reasonable sounding conclusion. You see, my father-in-law LOVES to garden. When he lived in this house he was constantly planting and mowing and trimming...you get the idea. Well, he hasn't lived here in years, but he's become what I have called "The Phantom Gardener," secretly planting things in our garden and my brother-in-law's garden. Over at the BIL's place, he planted some avocado a few years back. Anyway, we concluded that he was the one who planted the pineapple around the same time he planted the avocados.

Three days ago we cut the pineapple from its home and brought it inside. We marvelled at it for a day or so--this was a full grown, live pineapple that actually came from our own yard--then we cut into it and ate it. It was one of the sweeteswt, juiciest pineapples I've ever tasted. Initially I contemplated using it to make some pineapple bread or smoothies, but this baby was great on its own, no baking, blending or grilling required.