Garden Update

I'm trying to figure out what the problem is with this bed. It's strange to me that I can build three beds in a row, from the same ground, using the same materials. They get the same sunlight and exposure, same amendments, and I've rotated my crops around equally. Yet this one most definitely has nutrient deficiencies.

The squash and tomatoes are both showing signs of nitrogen and mineral deficiency.  And though my zucchini appears fine, it's not producing as much fruit as it should be.

I've been blasting this bed with weekly douses of fish emulsion and it seems to be helping.  Hope I can salvage what's growing here this year.

Everywhere else, I've got lively productive plants.  Tomatoes are in abundance, and I've got the first few turning red.  Moskvich and Juliets are the first to ripen.

Lots of cucumbers on their way.  Looking forward to that as I'm eating lots of salads and still buying them from the store.

I've discovered it is possible to overplant nasturtium.  I have literally been pulling this stuff out because it's gotten huge and is taking over everything near it.  This patch is the only one I"m now letting go.

Carrots are getting close to harvest time. I'll be planting more where I pulled out late spring broccoli later in August.

Pole beans are doing their usual climb to infinity.  Even though they've got a taller trellis this year, they're still outgrowing it.  I'm just now getting flowers and hope to have beans soon.  I was harvesting last year at this time.  It seems everything in the garden except for tomatoes is running a little later than last year.

Looks like I'm going to have plenty of peppers this year, hopefully.  My pepper plants got decimated by birds early on.  So much so that I had to go out and buy pepper plants to replace some of the ones lost.

If I ever needed a reminder to keep growing my own plants, this would be it.  Here are the pepper plants I purchased from Home Depot.  They aren't dead, but they certainly aren't as vibrant as the plants I grow on my own.

These are the pepper plants that survived the bird attack.  Even though they have been stunted from the pinching off of branches, they are much more healthy and vibrant than the store bought.  Looks like I won't be abandoning my practice of seed starting any time soon.