In praise of volunteers

I did a lot of weed pulling yesterday, too. There is strong botanical evidence that the things we consider to be weeds are just as cultivated as anything we would put into our gardens. I had time yesterday to reflect on my own definition of "weed," which is basically something growing where it shouldn't be. Though I do suppose I am much more laissez-faire about some weeds than not. I enter into evidence the following:

Birdhouse gourd. The one closest to the camera is almost 2' long, and weighs about 7 lbs. You're not even seeing the whole plant. There are about 50 gourds growing altogether on vines stretching 20-30'.

Red-seeded Asparagus Long Bean, which is an Asian variety related to crowder or black-eyed peas, growing amongst the limas. YUM. I didn't think to get more of these seeds this year, so this is a most welcome surprise.

And finally, tomatoes growing with the figs. These'll be pulled. Though volunteer tomatoes did save most of the crop lost to a late frost this year, I have begun to tire of finding them everywhere I turn.