We have an unidentified growth. Fear not, however, because I not referring to something on my body.
Rather, we have a random plant growing in the front yard. I know what you’re thinking: “YES! That stuff DOES grow wild in Iowa!” No. Not in my front yard anyway. Although the house is surrounded by tall plants that look *exactly* like marijuana. (What? I took DARE in the 8th grade, okay!?) Seriously though. The plants look identical. Could it be the infamous “ditchweed” we’ve heard of? I suppose it would take an expert to know. But I did see our neighbor Dennis out in the back property traipsing around with a watering can. Seriously, he was walking around in the deep ravine amongst the tall foliage with a watering can. But have I ventured back there to explore? No, because the area is infested with ticks. Ugh. The other day Sim spotted a dear in the back forty and was in the process of leading me back to see it when I found a tick crawling on my leg. They really are everywhere – I’m not exaggerating. And the window for testing and treatment of Lyme Disease is only about 2 weeks. So no more exploring the forest until our health insurance kicks in!
But back to the unidentified growth. Because it is inside the fence, which is an area we rarely mow because the dogs like the tall grass, it has taken off like a beanstalk. Between the summer rain storms, the sunshine, and the humidity, Iowa is like one big greenhouse. This thing appears to be some sort of squash or pumpkin plant. It is now big enough to hide a dog behind. I know because I looked for Missy the other day and didn’t see her, so I started to panic and shriek her name, only to watch her pop out from behind the thing.
The growth looks a bit strange sitting in the middle of the yard all alone, but we’ve agreed to let it keep growing. I’ll provide an update and picture once we identify it. (Please feel free to comment if you can tell what it is).
Pax Attack 