Potatoes are a very interesting plant.  It is like the bizarre recluse of the edible plants.  We only use the part that grows underground.  Someone inexperienced with a potato plant may not recognize it from the above ground foliage.
Hilling potatoes is the process of creating a hill of dirt around the visible plant to give the underground tubers more room.  There is some controversy on whether or not hilling increases production. I am going to go ahead and give it a try just in case it works.
This can take a lot of room and my small garden does not give me enough room for the large spread out hill so we have gotten creative. We have gone vertical and turned potato hills into small potato towers. 
All this really means is that we have added something to hold the dirt around the base. And there are multiple methods to doing this. We have created some from 5 gallon buckets.  We cut the bottoms out of the buckets so we can set the bucket over the plant.  The plant grows up through the bucket and dirt is added over time.  These are simple buckets from a home improvement store. 

In addition to buckets, old tires work good for potato towers. I did not bother buying tires for this purpose because they are expensive and I am throwing them on the ground and filling them with dirt.  Old tires cost money to dispose of so free old tires are usually available if you look around and ask.  

All of my potatoes are actually planted in a hole in the ground.  The tower is really to test if the plant will add potatoes further up the stem.  There seems to be a lot of discussion on whether potato towers are fact or fiction.  Therefore it will be interesting to see how ours turn out.

It is always great to find a new purpose for things we no longer use. I think it is better to repurpose than to just keep filling up our landfills.  Over the past winter we decided to replace two old ceiling fans inside. We had dressed them up with new glass bells years ago but eventually the fans wore out from age.  We found that the new ceiling fans came with new glass bells.  So, we now have extra bells.  While the old fans are destined for the dump, these old bells were not cheap and they are still really nice. 
I decided to set them aside and ponder what I could use these things for.  Now that we are into warmer weather, I see that we can re-purpose these for use in the garden if we just use a little creativity. 
I already had three old iron candle holder bases designed to stick into the ground for outdoor candles. The glass inserts fell victim to ice years ago.  But the iron holders are still going strong.  I happened to have three identical bells from one fan.  I set these in the iron bases upside down.  But, these bells are open at both ends.  I cannot set a candle in them.  It would fall right through.  So, instead of a candle I bought the cheapest solar powered walkway lights I could find.  I set the top of the light inside the bell. The light is too large to fall through.  This creates a nice custom solar walkway light.

I still had more bells to reuse though.  We replaced two ceiling fans remember. So, I continued to ponder how I would use these bells.  On a trip through the local thrift store I found a tabletop iron candle base.  The glass inserts were not with it.  I realized I could use this with the other bells.  I wanted to make sure the iron hoops that hold the bell was big enough to work.  So, I walked the iron base over to the section of the store with all the ceiling fan/light fixture bells other people have dropped off in order to get rid of. Hey, at least I am not the only person who ends up with extra parts from light fixtures.
This project was a little more difficult.  I wanted to be able to use this table top display for citronella tealights.  But, once again, these bells are open at both ends.  The tealight candle will just fall out the bottom. But then I remembered I had some craft wire.  I made a simple cross under the narrow end of the bell with two pieces of wire and the tealight sits in the bottom on the wire. 
 

Can you spot the dangerous plant in this picture? The post title is a clue.

The dangerous plant in this picture of my herb garden is poison ivy and it is at the very bottom in the middle.

Let’s zoom in a little and get a better look.

This is a very uninteresting looking weed at first glance.  It may even be a small oak sprout from the size and the shape of the leaves. And while hurriedly or tiredly weeding the garden, a person may just grab this plant and pull it like it was any other weed.   

But a rhyme comes to mind when I see this plant that goes “Leaves of three let it be”.  And by “let it be” we mean “do not touch this plant!!!”. A little contact now with this little plant will create a lot of pain later. 

I have had horrible rashes from this plant in the past.  They have been bad enough at times for me to go to the doctor. I therefore am extra cautious about seeing it, handling it, and destroying it. I am not a doctor or expert on these plants. But, I have done some research over years on the plant and how to control it since it is an ever-present danger to a gardener.  I want to share the steps I go through when I encounter this plant.

Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac all use the same substance to create a contact dermatitis on the skin of some people.  So, in regular language that means, it creates a rash.  But this rash comes with burning, itching, and oozing blisters.  The rash is technically an allergic reaction to an oil in the plant called urushiol.  Since it is an allergy some people are immune.  But that immunity can come and go during a lifetime. 

I cannot have this plant growing in my herb garden so I must remove it somehow. But I have to do that while trying to not get the oil on me.  I usually wait to remove the poison ivy until I am done with all the other work I was doing for the day. That is because I will wash all the tools, gloves, and my hands after I am done.  Some sources say urushiol can be removed with soap and water or rubbing alcohol. Some say it is possible that a reaction can be prevented if exposed skin is washed within 15-30 minutes of exposure. 

It is important to note that these plants should never be burned to dispose of them.  Urushiol oil will travel in the smoke.  From there it can be breathed in or land on the skin.  The best method is to put the plant in a tied up plastic bag and throw it in the garbage.

Also, I did not just pull the plant with gloved hands.  I traced it back to the root with the trowel and I dug up the root.  I do not want to see this plant again so I made sure to get it all. 

When I traced the plant back to the roots I also found that it was much larger than it looked at first.  The first picture shows maybe three groups of leaves.  I can see way more in the picture below. The plant was much longer and had runners with more roots.  Had I missed any of these other parts of the plant, it would have kept growing back. I should point out that all parts of the plant have the oil in it.  Leaves, stems, and roots all cause the reaction.

Once disposed of, I put my gloves and tools in a bucket with dish soap and added water from the garden hose.  I also washed my hands with soap and cold water from the hose.  The tools and gloves must be washed because the urushiol oil is sticky.  Small amounts can linger on shovels and clothes and will stay reactive for a very long time. Touching this lingering oil can create the same reaction as touching the plant.  One common myth that all my sources say is not true is that the rash is contagious from person to person.  Apparently, the rash on someone’s skin does not pass to another person.  However, if that person had the oil on their skin, they could also have it lingering on their shoes, coats, and other clothes that have not been washed since exposure.

Some good sources of information on these plants that I have found are:
WebMD, http://www.webmd.com/allergies/ss/slideshow-poison-plants
American Academy of Dermatology, https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/itchy-skin/poison-ivy-oak-and-sumac#causes