Ok, here are the pics:
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One last question, jst bought these raspberry plants. I prned them a third, they are everbearing. Should I prune off ALL berries even if thats more then a third and will I get a spring/summer crop or not since I'm prning new growth right now?
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We were all new gardeners once, so I'll try to help give you reassurance that all is well in the garden. Don't worry too much about them. It looks like you've done a lot of work to make the beds & structures. You're doing a great job!

Since you asked a lot of questions about multiple crops I will do my best to reply, but might miss some. You might try reposting just one question & one photo at a time.

I don't want to discourage you, but you might be fussing too much. I see the woody matter if that's what you meant by unfinished compost. Your plants don't look like they're short of nutrients. Check soil moisture with your finger before watering. I don't water daily, but only when plants need it. You want the roots to go down deeper & you don't want to burnout as a gardener.

Transplants take time to get established & with your heat it may seem like they're not growing or doing what you think, but none look like they're dying now. Not sure if it was recovery from transplant shock, nutrients, or water that changed them from yellow. Were they hardened off? Going straight into full sun may have been a bit much for them. So many little things affect plant growth.

I saw trees in the 1st pic on the other side of the fence. Do they produce shade for part of the day? I have shade from trees, so my harvests are slower coming...

Plants may show a bit of stress & drop off leaves... specially strawberries as they're usually planted in early spring, not summer. You could check height of crowns. I couldn't see all of them. Not too deep, not too high. Could add mulch to keep moist. Might want to pinch runners this 1st year. I usually don't let 1st year SB plants set runners.

Don't move any of the plants or pick the blossoms off the beans. Let them mature without disturbing them.
Insects eat, but you can't stop every one. I hand pick the big ones I see. Spray off aphids with water, but nothing else.
Your zucchini looks just fine & since squash can be 3 together as a hill they will do ok.
Rasp - leave them be & pick what fruit ripens. You might not have much this year, but should next. Everbearing produce more if you cut all to ground in October then just have a fall crop of berries.

Maybe someone in your zone will reply about it being too late for peas. I can grow peas in summer if I give shade & lots of water. If plants dry out it's all over. If yours are dying then just snip them off & leave roots. The next crop will grow right next to them & roots will feed soil. It's pretty easy really. Don't stress!

Enjoy the process of growing as a gardener. We've all made mistakes & there's always next year. Soil just keeps improving year to year. I hope that helps. Sometimes taking pics helps you see that there is growth from week to week.

Corrine

I took your advice and split up all my questions. Thanks and thanks for the advice!

All of the plants I purchased were already outside or were in an open air nursery. I'm really pretty convinced my compost was the culprit becase as soon as I got some fertilizer in them they perked right up and the yellowing, stunted growth, and dying foliage lasted for a good 3-4 weeks. I feel really dumb that it took me that long to correct.

As far as shade/sun half the beds get mornign sun, all of them get midday sun and half of them get afternoon sun. Other wise they are completely shaded in the morning or afternoon.

I've been trying to get a hold of some clean straw fro mulching but having a hard time finding any that is def organic and doesn't have weeds and other junk in it. I had been using shredded newspaper for my alpine strawberries but it was really messy so I trashed it.

THe peas are shaded form the afternoon sun almost completely so I thought that might work but apparently not. They aren't dying, they're just not growing...or they're growing extremely slowly. Otherwise they look healthy. Idk what to do with them. I really wanted peas and don't know if I can do them as a fall crop in Nebraska.

Again, thank you for your reply.

When did you put that "soil" down and what was it?
Is there any life in that soil? Earthworms, Pill Bugs, Centipedes, Millipedes, etc?

It looks to me like your growing medium probably isn't ideal, as you suspect. Generally speaking, things yellowing and not growing much is a sign of excess acidity, although there could be other causes. The soil problem can be largely corrected with amendments over the winter for next year.

The peas IMO are much too late. Here in maritime z7 I plant in april. Deep in the continent where it gets hot much earlier people typically plant in mid-march. Also, for any legume, when planting for the first time it is quite important to inoculate the seed. You still have time to plant some beans or cowpeas in that spot. A feed store will probably have cowpea inoculant. Common beans (Phaseolus) and english peas use a different species of inoculant which you probably won't find locally.

The "soil" is a mix of peat, organic topsoil and cotton burr compost. I mixed some ewc into the last two boxes I built and the strawberry box is peat, topsoil and dr earths garden soil.. The raspberries are in dr earths fruit and nut tree soil.

Hi Mindyw3

For a first time gardener, I'd say your garden looks pretty good. You're fussing way too much IMO. Gardening is a learning curve. Every garden is different.

How often do you water? In your pictures, your soil looks too wet to me, unless you just watered. Do you stick your finger in the soil before deciding to water? Also, it may be that your sunlight for some plants isn't sufficient. The weather fluctuations you've had may also have contributed to slower growth than you were expecting.

Sit back and be patient and enjoy your attempts. Try not to over analyze everything. A few holes in a few leaves is part of nature. Often what has done the chewing is long gone and you end up killing beneficials if you're not careful.

I personally wouldn't bother pulling up your peas. You can learn from their growth or lack of growth and do better next year. Also, I've grown peas for years and never used inoculant. I soak the peas overnight before planting and that's it.

May I suggest you get a book to record your results? You may not remember everything you've tried this year, and it'll help you for next year.

Remember, gardening is fun. Don't stress. You'll be fine =:)

Hi again.

I forgot to mention a few websites you may enjoy and like to refer to.

www.beginner-gardening.com
www.douggreensgarden.com

These websites are written by Doug Green, who's written books, and has been in the gardening business for over 30 years. He has other websites also, plus some videos on YouTube. He writes in plain easy to understand language.

I'm in no way associated with him and/or his websites. I just find them interesting and informative.

Enjoy !

I think that you're over-worrying. I don't see a single truly unhealthy-looking plant in your pictures. It sounds like you're only getting half a day of sun, which could slow things down - there may be some things that you'll find that you can't grow effectively. But in general, I'd say stand back and let your garden grow.

"I've grown peas for years and never used inoculant"

Yes, that is what it takes to gradually build up the correct rhizobia species, is years. Or they never show up, in some regions and soils, which means that one does not get the advantage of N-fixing and the legume is a net depleter of N from the soil like non-legume crops. Peas can certainly be produced without the rhizobia, all it takes is fertilizer, that's how they are commercially produced.

Gardeners can do a lot better than commercial producers.

Unfortunately every neighbor has a huge tree so that is the sunniest area of the yard aside from dead center.

I rarely water, the ag extension told me I was watering too mch so I basically stopped. Plus it rains regularly here. I only water if plants look droopy or something was just planted out. I'm trying to relax and just watch....I really am. I just hate to have pt so much work and time and money into a garden to have something go wrong.

Neighboring trees do make for slower growth. Sometimes, our gardens have to be in less than ideal locations, but sounds like you have the gumption to make it work!

Peas: you could try presprouting them inside before planting. Soak overnight in water. Drain. Fold a damp dishcloth in 1/2 & put peas inside. Rinse 2x a day. In a few days you'll have little sprouts on the pea seeds. Then plant those out! Works for me when the soil temps are too cold in spring to sprout & then when too hot or dry in summer!

Another method explained... & gardening tips, too!

Here is a link that might be useful: pre-sprout peas