Pickly, Prickly Plant

We were walking along one day, when something in front of our neighbor's house caught my eye. It was a plant. It was big, prickly and had yellow flowers.




But what amazed me was- it was growing out from concrete! Seriously, there was no earth there. It was rooted between two concrete slabs.

I have no idea how I came to this conclusion, but I right away though, "Cucumber plant?" I don't have any recollection of seeing cucumbers grow except once. I was about five or six and we were visiting my aunt and uncle's farm. I remember having to dig up potatoes and using an outhouse, among other pleasantries. I remember my cousin who is four years older than me walking with me in the forest and making me follow him on a narrow path with huge pits on either side. I didn't want to go on that path, so he threatened to throw me into the pit for snakes to come and get me if I don't. (What a sweet boy!)

And I also remember trying to pick a cucumber and getting my hand full of pricks that refused to come out! Maybe the trauma was so great that I remember to this day what a cucumber plant looks like? Who knows.

So I googled cucumber plant images, and guess what? I was right!


Since then, I saw another such plant in another front yard. It was haphazardly stuck in a weird spot, so it was obvious that it wasn't planted. My landlady is also growing cucumbers in her yard, so maybe the seeds spread around the neighborhood? It's so cool.