Prepping for the fall garden

Even though it's still hot as blazes (105 a few days ago) I am getting the garden ready for fall. The zinnias are wearing out, and the watermelon and cantaloupe were ready to come out once we picked the fruit. There are plenty of summer stragglers still hanging in there, like my cucumbers and tomatoes. The peppers appeared to be dying out 3 weeks ago, and now have surged back to life and are full of peppers. I'm glad we're getting another round of peppers. My summer squash is still going strong as well. I also have 4 new black beauty eggplants well underway, which makes 16 large eggplants on one plant over the summer. What a great yield for a lovely plant. The Ichiban has more fruits almost ready as well. Guess we won't be toughing any members of the nightshade family yet.

I've started broccoli inside and will put it out in a month or so when it cools off a bit more. I have beets, carrots, and turnips to start in the ground now. We're trying Chioggia beets and a couple types of turnips, the typical purple top white globe and a Tokyo white. Around mid September I'm starting the swiss chard, romaine, bok choy, and the peas.

Right now I'm amending and adding new good stuff to the soil, cutting out the old growth, and adding a few soaker hoses to the beds not on the drip line.

What Does/Doesn't Do Well- Summer Crops & Flowers

USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 14

The Good:

Butterstick Hybrid summer squash
Black Beauty Eggplant
Super Sweet 100 cherry tomato
Lemon Boy tomato
Lemon Cucumber
Sweet Genovese Basil
Zinnias

The not so good:

Blue Lake pole bean
Purple Peacock bean
Roc d'Or wax bean
Ichiban eggplant
Cool Breeze cucumber
Gerbera daisy
Sweet and Early hybrid cantaloupe
Sugar Baby watermelon

Ok:
Sweet Banana Pepper
California Wonder pepper (ok if picked green, not if you wait for the red)

New year, new garden!

It's been well over a year and I'm updating my garden blog. We've been at the new place for over a year now and my garden is looking great. I have 4 large raised beds full of flowers and vegetables. I'm loosely using the Square Foot Gardening methods, although some of my plants seem a bit vigorous for that. Here are a few pics of my beds from early May through July.