September 9 update

Well Summer is finally almost over and time to get planting for Fall!!The Summer hasn't been too terribly hot like up north but it is hot none the less. We had a lot of rain at the end of August. I was able to start a few seeds and am now working on getting the beds ready for planting. I am having a mess load of concrete blocks and compost delivered tomorrow so I can make all the block beds two blocks high. Then I can finish my drip system and finally really concentrate on just growing. The building of the beds is definitely the hardest part

So let's see what has been going on out back in the garden the last few weeks. First here is a pic of some papaya I picked this morning. The papaya produced all Summer and every four or five days we had a ripe one or two to eat. Not bad considering how much they cost in the store and they are very easy to grow. Basically just plant in fertile soil, water and forget and they just do their thing.

Some of the seeds I started. The top two contain different varieties of peppers and the bottom are Mici Hybrid Asian cucumbers. They produced well for me in the Spring and the flavor was very good. Probably some of the best tasting cukes I have ever grown.

Here is a shot of the pineapple plants. Once they take root they really start growing well and don't need much attention at all. Then in about eighteen months you get a pineapple. Sure they take a long time to produce but if you plant a few every month then when they start producing you get a few every month and you can easily just keep the cycle going.

These are Derby Beans I planted about 10 days ago or so. The seed is a couple years old so not all germinated. I planted one seed at every drip emitter but probably should have planted two. I went on ahead today and planted two more seeds at every place where they didn't germinated. I'm hoping that being less than two weeks apart they will all be able to grow fine. We'll see what happens.
 

Here are the sweet potato beds finished now and ready to plant.

The bed where eight of the pepper plants are going to go. I am going to start them out under the shade cloth because even though Summer is almost over, the afternoon sun is still pretty intense.
 

Here is how I get the beds ready for planting. I start out with the bed.

Then rake any mulch off it. Then I fork it up to loosen the soil then rake it smooth.

Then begin adding the amendments. I start with about an inch or two of peat moss and spread it over the bed. Then begin spreading what I am going to use over the peat moss. In this case I liberally spread some fertilizer from Gardens Alive which is 4-3-1 organic fertilizer. Then a couple cups of Azomite and then Greensand.

  

The fertilizer in the orange bag is Peace of Mind Tomato and Vegetable fertilizer which I will add as I transplant the peppers and tomatoes and cucumbers.

Then I spread an inch or two of vermiculite over that and Then I fork it in real well and then rake it smooth.

 It ends up like this. Then I spread an inch or two of compost over it, fork it in and then rake it smooth. Now it's just ready to have the drip system laid over top of it and it is ready to plant. Now to get to work and finish more beds and get more seeds started. The Fall planting season is here.