Garden updates

I set aside this weekend for fertilizing, weeding and replacing seeds that haven't done so well.  Corn has been getting eaten quite a bit, but continues to grow.   I'm hoping the fertilizer will work to help it grow bigger.  I think the next big hurtle is to streamline our irrigation system.  Right now we have a soaker hose and an overhead sprinkler that goes for 2 hours every morning.  Unfortunately, that has not really been enough water for the garden - after a couple good rains there was a BIG difference in the health of our plants.  So, we need a delivery system that can put out more water in the given amount of time.  

Not an amazing picture, but you can see how the sweet potatoes have taken over the garden!

This is our tomato/cucumber/pepper bed

So far our green chili peppers haven't done much - though a few have sprouted.  I really have no luck with peppers.  Although.... 

We have sweet peppers!  (This is the plant we've kept through the summer).  

Most of our tomatoes have done well, after a bit of a rough patch - all but Mr. Stripey.  :(  He was an heirloom variety that I was looking forward to seeing.  Alas, after some online research it seems that he is not the tastiest nor the most productive tomato out there.  So, in retrospect, if he doesn't make it - no biggie.  

Sad Mr. Stripey...

On a more pleasant note, we put cages on all our other tomatoes, and it looks the the cherry variety that we bought is actually starting to produce.  :)

Our other, more happy tomato varieties

For the East bed, we will soon stake the cucumbers up.  Our super chili peppers look like they are making a come back, but the sweet bananas are still looking pretty rough.  

In the South bed, we have leek and green onion sprouts!

Green onions...

Our broccoli, collards, and cauliflower have been chewed to pieces, and probably don't get enough water to boot.  I will restart with seeds if they don't make a comeback.  The lettuce has yet to sprout, and this, too, I believe has something to do with lack of water.  

In the large bed:

Pumpkins

Zuchini

Something is eating the corn and leaving a paper-like debris behind.   There were pink bugs there, too - maybe some kind of aphid?  Either way - I soap-sprayed them and it seemed to work to kill them.  

Today I planted flowers in the main bed!  hopefully I can keep them from being overrun by my abundance of squash plants.  :)  I planted Nasturtiums, snapdragons, sunflowers, zinnias, and poppies!  In addition, I filled in the gaps of my corn bed with new seeds.  Pretty soon it will be time to plant carrots and strawberries!