This is my first posting so bear with me.

Last year my wife and I created a 8'x16 raised garden in the back yard using railroad ties and soil I trucked in from a local excavating company. The soil came from a small hill in the middle of their land and was mostly top soil.

The garden did very well. We had tomatoes, cukes and onions coming out of our ears, as well as some cabbage.

This year we decided to expand the garden to 24x16 again using railroad ties and soil trucked in from a different excavating company. This soil also came from a hill in the middle of their land, but it was a larger hill and had a bit more clay in it. The new section is also out of the shade of a nearby tree. It gets full sun while the old section is in shade until about noon.

We have now had our garden in since Mother's Day weekend. We have corn, lettuce, carrots, spinach, radishes and broccoli planted in the old section of the garden. The lettuce, carrots and spinach have been spotty, but the other crops are doing well.

We have tomatoes, peppers, onions and cabbage planted in the new section and all are doing well.

Along the entire perimeter of the garden we planted beans along the long sides and some peas on the short sides so they can use the fence for a trellis.

What we have noticed is how the peas and bean are growing differently in the two sections of the garden.

The beans (Kentucky Wonder) came up quickly and appeared to be doing well throughout the garden. Each plant grew to about four inches high and had four or five broad leaves on them.

The beans in the old section then started shooting off a second growth and are now 8-10 inches tall with light green leaves and look well on their way to producing.

The beans in the new section have stalled. They have failed to produce a second set of leaves and have turned dark green with shriveled leaves. Some plants have even dropped leaves and look on the verge of death.

The line of demarcation between healthy and not-so-healthy plants is at the border of old and new beds. Is it possible that there is something with the different soils? All of the other crops in the new bed are flourishing, including the peas, which actually have the opposite problem. They are fantastic in the new section but are very spotty in the old section.

Any thoughts?