Two summers ago, out in our backyard amid the hostas and nasturtiums, we noticed a sort of unexpected interloper: Several tomato plants popping up.

Rather than root them out, Sue and I decided to let them mature. Well, we didn’t get any nice big slicing tomatoes. But we did get what you see above–an heirloom variety called Currant Tomato. They’re bite-sized, little things about 3/4 inches in diameter. Some random squirrel or bird must have eaten one nearby, and deposited the seeds.

This year they’ve spread around the backyard and we’ve already harvested twice what we did last year–about two cups of cute little tomatoes. They taste great in salads, giving juicy bursts of flavor. To the critter that left those seeds, our thanks!

Here they are in situ, with one of the cover boys from my next King Harald mystery–which should be out early next year.