If you can find and mow a large number of dead leaves, the leaf mold makes the best soil. You can mix it with regular soil, and/or manure, or composted (even partially) kitchen scraps or yard waste. Basically, anything goes. Something that helps is the introduction of a few earthworms in each box. They will go forth and multiply and create good soil for you out of unfinished organic matter, plus aeration and fertilization. I have earthworms in all my pots, and replenish them and their food every spring. One inch of organic matter per year is all they need to keep the soil fluffy and healthy. For year round veggies, lettuce (choose a variety that does not bolt easily), herbs and chard are good choices. Lettuce and chard will eventually bolt and will need reseeding, but not before they gave you a lot of leaves.

Hi GTN, How much money would you like to spend. Drip tape is the way to go. Soaker hoses clog and are more expensive over time because of replacement. Place PVC mainline with drip tape through the actual garden beds. Drip gives more even and controlled flow, handles pressure better and has cheaper fittings than emitter systems. The cheapest method is just 1/2" pvc sch 40 pipe through the beds with small hole drilled in it. Drill holes small, then larger and larger as you check the flow at various spots in the lateral until you are satisfied the plants are getting the amount and rate you want. Life is trial an error. GL Aloha

The rudbeckia [probably the family of your black-eyed Susans] would likely have done better if it were watered regularly... it will tolerate poorish soil, and likes the good drainage of a sandy soil, but it must have a regular drink! The problem with not using mulch is that the soil is bare and ready to incubate every passing weed seed, not to mention open to let all the inground weed seeds sprout. Using plants as a shade crop to help deter weeds requires that the plants used be spaced *very* closely [if you were growing vegs that method is called 'French intensive"] as well as requiring enough time that the desired plants can establish better/sturdier root systems than the invading weeds. Even when planted closely, weeding is required until the plants are near-grown (else the weeds take over) and also after the good guys are grown, because there will always be weed seeds sprouting, just not quite as many as there would be if the plants were spaced properly. In all cases, unmulched soil is going to grow weeds -- so if you don't want to mulch, you must either plan on the labor-intensive and time-consuming task of pulling those weeds, or develop a liking for weeds rather than conventional flowers. If you inspect those "old-fashioned" flowery meadows, you'll find they are mostly weeds (and their flowers are in bloom for limited periods). And, if you were to look closely at those lovely garden beds full of blossoms with no apparent mulch you will find one of three things: weeds; or a person with lots of time who is willing to pull weeds; or a well-planned bed with layers of plants properly spaced to make the bed look "full" which also conceals the mulch used! Also, remember that to use close-spacing of plants for shade-control also decreases the amount of air circulation (which will increase the chance of mildews etc) and increases the amount of water needed per square foot of garden. Lack of mulch also means any available water will evaporate more rapidly, which means far more water will be required (easily 50% more) just to meet basic needs. Read up on 'lasagna' to improve the soil; you can adapt the method to layer around existing plants (just not as many layers at once, and each layer very thin). And before you ask: you can spread any of the many chemical formulations, but they don't improve the soil-just provide specific nutrients for a specific (usually limited)period of time. There is no miraculous fairy-wand we can wave for weed-free gardens; but we can plan ahead, and expect to labor either before- when preparing the soil and spreading mulch, or during- while trying to grow the wanted plants and pulling weeds.

To follow up with the other comments - it sounds like you have a soil amendment on top of your actual soil. I would suggest dig down with a spade into the actual soil and turn that over and blend it in to the MG amendment. The combination of the two should be better than leaving them one on top of the other. Once they are blended, that is the mixture that you want to test. If you are not going to test, it is a rule of thumb that heavy feeding annuals like vegetables pull nutrients out of the soil that must be replaced in some way every year. If you are doing organic gardening, look for a complete organic fertilzer like Espoma Garden-tone or Dr Earth Tomato Vegetable fertilizer. Apply that in the early spring because the organic ingredients need to be broken down in the soil before the NPK is available to plants in May and June.