Pumpkins, and Potatoes, and More Pumpkins... oh my

I've mentioned a handful of times that my garden was a little out of control with volunteer pumpkins. That issue completely overshadowed the fact that I planted potatoes for the first time. I was excited when I put the seed potatoes in the ground because I wasn't sure what to expect. Growing up my family only planted potatoes a handful of times & it never worked out very well. I remember using a pitchfork to dig them up & spearing more than a few.

My dad mentioned we had issues with the seed potatoes rotting & that there were ways to avoid that when planting. I researched a few ways to plant spuds, but in the end, I kinda just threw them in the ground. Sometimes I over plan, get overwhelmed, then just wing it :D

I have only dug up a few plants so far, but we've gotten a bunch of really nice, large potatoes.  I thought maybe there would be more potatoes, but the pumpkins really did take over, so they probably hogged all the nutrients. I know several potato plants were consumed & covered by the pumpkin vines, so I doubt much will come from half of the plants.

Next on my garden cleanup agenda is to remove some of the gourds. Something got into a few of them, and seeds are spilling everywhere. I don't think I'll let a volunteer plant take over again next year, so the last thing I want is hundreds of seeds just sitting in the soil plotting their next takeover :D

The pumpkins were fun to watch grow & take over the fence though. We have gourds on both sides of the fence & they are actually still blooming. It's interesting that the plant mostly seemed to be producing the small decorative gourds, but a few of them are quite large like an actual carving pumpkin. I would have assumed that all of them would be the same small gourds.

Pumpkins on both sides of the fence...hope the neighbors don't mind.