Impromptu Garden

We have this little garden box right up against a section of the west side of the house. Last year it grew tomatoes. When it wasn't growing tomatoes, we used it as a sort of quasi-compost dump. Except we never actually turned the compost over or anything. We just chucked orange rinds and grape stems and such things back there periodically. And also rotting pumpkins and pumpkin innards.

This year we planted peas in the garden box, but they didn't do that great. The ones on the south side did much better. We decided to do tomatoes this year, but we only did tomatoes in pots. We pretty much just decided to ignore the garden box. It had other ideas:

In case you can't tell, the garden box is packed full of volunteer tomatoes. There is also a pumpkin (or possibly some other large squash?) that is taking over and growing everywhere. I don't think the volunteer tomatoes are actually going to produce much (if any) fruit, but the pumpkin (or whatever) is getting going pretty well. If only the tomatoes in the pots were actually doing as well as the volunteers. They might do better if I didn't let a pumpkin grow all over them. And if I remembered to water them ever. And maybe if I fed them.

It's okay, though. Because I have been getting tons of tomatoes from my neighbors across the street. Here is a photo of their incredible tomato plants the day after a terrible wind storm that blew them over.

What have I been doing with all these cherry tomatoes? Eating them plain, of course. Also, tomato cobbler, corn and tomato chowder, and creamy lemon pasta. Seriously, these plants are incredibly productive, and my neighbors are not that crazy about cherry tomatoes. (Actually, the wife is, but she is pregnant and hasn't been feeling well.) I'm doing them a favor by taking them off their hands.