It's a jungle out there

Remember when my tomato plants were teeny?

Or even two weeks ago, when they were large but not ridiculous?

Check them out now:

From the front of the garden, the tomato cages are barely visible beneath the sprawling plants. I knew that tomato plants are actually vines, and that they'd behave like vines given the chance. I didn't realize that the smallish cages I borrowed (about three feet tall) would be way too short. Apparently, caged tomatoes can grow up to six feet tall. (Another site I looked at said tomato plants can get to be ten feet tall. TEN FEET.)

The tomato plants looked sort of pitiful, all slumped over the sides of their cages. I used yarn to tie some of the longer vines back up and anchor them to the fence posts, but I'm not sure how much good it will do. Next year I'm definitely going to buy some much taller cages, and possibly a stepladder for harvest time.

And while we're talking about vines, let's check in with the cucumber plant. Remember this cute little sprout?

I have decided it shall henceforth be known as the cukudzu, because it is trying to take over the world:

Note how cukudzu is climbing the garden fencepost, seeking new territory to conquer:

The tomatoes are in on the plot as well. I caught one of the Big Boys trying to link tendrils with the cukudzu across the top of a hapless, vineless bell pepper plant:

The day I went out to tie back the tomato vines, I checked the cukudzu for baby cucumbers, since it hadn't produced any yet. I lifted a few leaves and came face to face with a small baby rabbit. Hee! So cute! I thought, and let the leaves drop back to cover him. As I turned away to head for the tomatoes, I suddenly realized what I'd seen and did a total cartoon character double-take. I went back over to the cukudzu, lifted the leaves, and said to the rabbit, "Wait a minute, how did you get in here?"

The rabbit spent the next ten minutes dashing from hiding place to hiding place among the squash leaves, with intermittent sprints that always ended with him hitting the chicken wire / "rabbit proof" fencing head-on and rebounding. He finally escaped by taking a flying leap THROUGH one of the holes in the rabbit fence, which should apparently be called Big Rabbit Prevention Fencing (Don't Ask About the Baby Ones).

He's so cute, I almost wouldn't mind sharing. Almost.