Garden 2015: What A fine Mess I Have

Hey, my garden is really starting to shape up. It's a little crowded in a few spots because I have the bad habit of not pulling up volunteer plants. But at least I don't have hundreds of pumpkins growing in it this year.

It's been raining for almost a week straight here in Ohio, so the beans have gone crazy. They might have doubled in size since last week. I'm looking forward to pressure cooking them with bacon (or a ham bone), onions, and potatoes. My family ate this meal a ton as I was growing up. We called it "Pot 'O Beans." That sounds like a pretty unglamorous name, and honestly, it doesn't look that fancy in a bowl either. But it tastes great even though it's pretty simple.

My grandpap used to shake about a tablespoon of black pepper into his bean bowl. But he would miss half of the bowl because he had a bum arm. When we were done eating and cleaned the dishes up, we were always amused by the black pepper ring left on the table around his bowl. It looked like an eclipse.

So far it looks like my trash can potatoes are doing well. The plants actually look better than the variety I planted in the ground next to it. I've been filling the can with dirt every 6" of plant growth, so the can is nearly filled to the top now. I'm eager to see if the can gets 100 pounds of taters. I was skeptical that it would, so that's why I planted potatoes in the ground too.

Most of my tomatoes are around 3' feet tall now. There's a noticeable difference between the plants around the Japanese Tomato Ring structure and those in the towers. The tower plants seem dwarfed in comparison. They aren't nearly as tall, the stems are not as thick, and they don't have blossoms yet. All were started indoors at the same time. One of the tower plants died a week or so after I planted it, which is odd for my garden.

I have a big potato plant growing right next to my tomatoes. I probably should've pulled it, but I figured   1) there's nothing wrong with MORE potatoes  2) last year's crop did really great, so if the spud I forgot in the ground decided to grow, well, I should just let it  3) we REALLY like potatoes.

This year my lettuce bed has onions, volunteer dill, and several tomato plants. I planted dill once...5 years ago. It keeps growing everywhere. I used to pull it up, but then I ended up using it in a batch of dill pickles I made. So I just let it grow...and grow...and grow. I also use it freely in tuna salad.

Endive always does good in my garden. My husband despises it with a passion.

Kale. Another arch nemesis of my husband. I was hoping to dehydrate some of this to use in a green supplement powder, but it doesn't look like I have much to work with just yet.

I'm not sure what this little guy will grow into. I'm not sure if he's eating the dill plant or not. I have about 100 dill plants growing everywhere, so eat away little fellow. Let's hope he doesn't turn into something that devours my garden.