Ant in the potatoes is not a good thing.

So I went out and lo and behold: Ants in my potted potatoes. Bastard ants!

Ants are do nothing good for your yeilds.

This kills them; they take it home; I should have used more of it, but ... well could would should ...

On a more upward note my tobacco is doing very well and is established finely.

And my corn and beans are doing just fine as well. 

Why all the plastic?

You may notice that I have a WHOLE lot of plastic laying on the ground. The reason is super easy: It makes gardening far less laborious than it would be otherwise. Grass, weeds and anything else you would have to remove to plant a bed require light to live, but if you cover them, they DIE, and their rotting green matter gets soft and easily turned under, which not only makes breaking soil easy but it also makes the soil so broke more fertile, on account of increased organic matter.  Basically you can either cut up and remove the grass and all its roots, and in the process lose an awful lot of good useful material like nigtrogen fixation bacteria and humic acid, or you can compost the grass and its roots in situ and allow worms, heat, and time to do the hard work for you. Basically you start with an area; cover it with plastic; from time to time drain water off of top of plastic; and then later say 6 months come back take up plastic and till in all the dead grass, weeds and other plants under the plastic. If need be use boards and the like to hold plastic in place.

And that is all there is to that. It controls weeds and makes planting easier. The down side is slugs will hide under it, but if you are more clever than them you can use this to your advantage.

What are 'zones'; what is this zone thing???

So I was outside doing this and that and it occured to me that some of you perhaps, have no clue what a climate/growing zone is, and thus zone 7b means nothing to you. Well that is just as easy as reading up a bit at the following links to fix.

The USDA Hardiness Zone Map divides North America into 11 separate zones; each zone is 10°F warmer (or colder) in an average winter than the adjacent zone. If you see a hardiness zone in a catalog or plant description, chances are it refers to the USDA map. To find your USDA Hardiness Zone, enter your zip code or use the map below. Click here for more information about hardiness maps.
Source: National Gardening Association
Address : http://www.garden.org/zipzone/

Then once you know your zone you can look up planting guides ....

When to Plant Vegetable Seeds

Each USDA zone has its own schedule for sowing seeds. If you're new to vegetable gardening, you'll want to know that there is a right time to plant each variety of vegetable seed. By following our zone chart for both cool and warm season vegetables, you'll be sure to plant your seeds at the correct time, enabling optimum sprouting and yield. And don't forget, the seeds you pick are also of the greatest importance. Even if you are an old hand in the vegetable garden, we hope that our USDA zone planting chart will be a useful tool for organizing your spring and summer vegetable planting.

Source: The Vegetable Garden: Planting Schedules
Address : http://www.thevegetablegarden.info/planting-schedules

And from there a good farmers alamac and some common sense will go a long ways. Because knowing is half the battle; the other is applying. 

So I am the Poor Man, I live in zone 7b and am a big believer in not doing a damn thing extra beyond what is needed to keep the food rolling and the time occupied ie looks, fanciness and all that jazz is not my bag, man. ;)  So yeah there will be a weed here and there through out the journey, but is just the nature of the game at hand. I have decided t do this with pictures as it seems best over all. Now without further ado:

The Poor Man Hesself! (note the happy mood and up standing look about him.)

So now that we have that out of the way. Here is my front yard patch.

Some lettuce, spinach and chard. Bolted early because of very hot May weather.

Same again, except in the background those are peas. Very nice Cascadia I believe is the cultivar.

Collards, some kale, cabbage, and those things sticking up are raddishs which I use as ground breakers, and grow back from heirloom seeds, year on end.

Note the patented 'Poor Man's black tarp Week Killing Method(r)': 100% guaranteed(tm) and it comes with a free used tire for 20 dollars extra ... ;) Oh and there are some more cabbages here.

When you don't want to own a cat; yet you don't want rats; there is always Kitty Crack aka Catnip. No worries, never see rat one. The cats associate killing mice with getting loaded.

Some mixed Corn mostly Kandy Korn, along the edge there is some Chamomile.

Some more corn, and some Amaranth, also pole beans.

Poles again, those are hand split by the Poor Man himself, from a log that his grandpa put on the ground almost 35 years ago. Cedar poles are an invaluable investment and last for decades, even in the North West. Also you will notice if you look that under the beans there are cucumbers.

Potatoes, are cheap and easy to grow.

Zucchinis

Squash

Here we see the whole mound from back a ways, the black plastic keep the weeds down and helps keep the roots warmer in the early Spring months.

The Corn and Pole beans from further back

Tansy: Note that Tansy causes abortions in Mammal females. However it is a good tea if you are in great pain ... just saying.

Some tomatoes that will grow up and be tied onto the fence behind them.

Same from different angle.

Tobacco.  I figured: WTF? I don't even smoke but I will gladly give it away to spite the corporations and the government at a go!

Same.

Some more peas.

Potato patch. Reds.

Flowerbed. On North Side of house.

Hops

Tomatoes and a cold frame.

Flowers of all types.

A bit closer look at the flowers.

 From here I will be updating with pictures every couple of weeks until Fall, because I have the mind to do so frankly. With that: Have a good time.