Agree w everyone. Peas did well even afterthe bunnies did a job on them. Lettuce was fine. I have one Red Knight Pepper with five fruit on it. Have fifteen heirloom tomato varieties which were very slow to set fruit but now have nice, blemish free tomatoes on them. Prudens Purple, Kellogs Breakfast, and Delicious seem to be doing the best. Garlic crop was super except I found bulbs/tops maturing at different times this year. The early drying ones are going into the use right away jar. I have planted a second and third crop of bush and pole beans, radishes, and hope to replant peas annd lettuce for a fall crop after I get the potatoes out. Love the Baby Romaine lettuce, Little Gem. All of this in five 4 X 8 foot raised beds. Summer squash and zukes doing OK but some critter loves my yellow squash blossoms and nips them off neatly each day. Fish emulsion seems to keep them away for a day or two but my yeild is down. First three apples on my dwarf apple trees (3) planted a couple years ago. Been gardening for over 60 years and this has been among the toughest so far: may get better.Just so thankful that I have had nine wonderful retirement years to mess around in the garden. Just wish there were more hours in the day. Gardening does awaken the spirit and open your eyes.

Back to being blue. The weather people in our area were initially forecasting some sunny weather this week. After a sunny 5th of July I thought that maybe we were out of the rain and out of the gray. Well today is suppose to be one of our "sunny" days. You guessed it. I woke up to rain and gray. They've changed the forecast from what it was 2 days ago and now we'll be lucky to get 2 days of sun out of the next 10 days. I just hate this weather!

Hello, we got some aged horse manure which we had delivered and placed right onto our garden beds - the problem is, we can't get in there to till because it has been so WET!! Every few days it rains, so we can't till it into the other soil. I have 40 tomato plants waiting to get in there which I feel like I am barely keeping alive! Can I plant directly into the manure to at least get them into the ground. We were able to till up several of our garden beds with the manure in them before the rains came, and all of those plants and seeds seem to be doing fine. What should I do?? Thanks so much! Deb

Wally - the fact that you're concerned about your plants during periods of extended rain, MAKES your question a soil-related one. Simply announcing that because plumeria growing in situ are often subject to extended periods of rain there is no cause for concern for your containerized plants when the same occurs is simply wrong. Plumeria occur in monsoonal zones, but they don't occur in monsoonal zones in areas where drainage is inappropriate, and in a container, the issue of drainage becomes even more critical. There are ways to increase water retention with minimal negative impact on aeration, and ways to increase water retention that have significant negative impact on aeration. Understanding the concept is the first step in being able to implement it, and no matter how you look at it, an understanding of the concept will serve you well for all your container applications - regardless of where you live. I'm going to suggest you keep an open mind on this matter. The strong disagreement is coming from a group that has a history of just that, but I'd like you to decide for yourself what does or doesn't make sense, or have merit based on your perception of your needs. Please take a moment to reread my initial post on your thread. If you have any interest in digging deeper into how soils work you should find this helpful. You'll find a large number of replies to the thread that should give you some kind of feeling how the information provided is received and accepted - a bit fairer than what occurred here. If you decide that you would rather stick to something from a bag, that's fine too. If you decide that, there are still ways that you can deal with excess water retention if you feel that's a concern. This thread addresses ways to minimize water retention by suggesting ways to help expel perched water from your soils. It is not water retention per se that negatively affects root function, it's perched water and the airless conditions it creates that is of primary concern. The best soils are those that are able to maximize water retention with minimal impact on aeration. By and large, soils that need more frequent watering offer your plants greater opportunity to grow as close to their genetic potential as possible, within the limits of other cultural factors. Growing is about balance, and here, the 'balance' is finding that combination of ingredients that gives your plants the aeration they need, while still providing you a watering interval you can live with. I'm not here to pressure you or harangue anyone. If you have no interest in the things I just said, that's fine with me. My interest in you is limited to doing my best to provide information you can use to determine your best course. If you have questions that you need answered about anything I said, please feel free. I won't continue to participate on this thread unless you feel I can help you. I wish you the best from your growing experience. Take care and please accept my apology for being involved in the ugliness. Al