How does my garden grow?

Too Slow!!!!!! There are two things I am currently learning about the garden. #1 is leave the damn plants alone and let them grow. Sure you have to thin some of them down or get the suckers of off the tomatoes but it is so hard not to rip things out to see if they are growing. (mostly the carrots) #2 is utilization of space. Until you actually see things growing and how big they get it is hard to know what is going to fit and where. Next year we may see a lot less dirt and a lot more plants.
( I am keeping in mind things are still growing too, so we will compare pictures in August)
That said, I took a bit of a risk with the back right bed and planted cantaloupe and cucumbers. Both of these veggies love to spread like wildfire and take every bit of available space up, so we will see what happens. The beauty of a garden is that it is always a fun experiment.

The pictures you are looking at show the two different types of peas, the beans, the pepper plants, herbs, radishes, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce and Swiss chard. You can also see a tomatillo plant in the middle of the tomatoes. I am really excited about the tomatillos, they are the green tomatoes in a husk you sometimes see at the grocery store in the Latin foods section. I am going to make some salsa Verde with them.
I am wanting to build a couple of fence-like things for the cucumbers to climb also. More on that later.
I am happy to report we have harvested the lettuce and spinach almost everyday for cool, fresh salads. They are amazing with homemade vinaigrette. Mike asked me for something honey mustard-y and what I came up with was pretty tasty.
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
generous splash of balsamic, white or regular
mix together rigorously until well combined
add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper
Add high quality, fruity, pepper-y olive oil in a thin stream and beat well until emulsified. Add a splash of water to thin out if needed.
Serve over greens with grilled steak or cold, grilled pork tenderloin.