pics first year garden

My garden consist of 2 4x4 plots and some potted plants. It got off to a rocky start. Seedlings did not make it so I purchased plants from a man down the street. All the plants for 10 dollars. I guess Mel was right not to bite off more then you can chew. Tomato's were pale and a tad yellow but now they look great. Peppers seem to be faded so light in color and not growing too fast. Too much sun? Il planted the seed for the Zukes and Cukes. The zukes are starting to take off.The cucumbers seem slow especially the mexican cukes. Most do not have their 3rd leaf yet and just seem at a stand still. I topped off the basil yesterday. Now that the tomatos are leafing out the basil seems happier. Next year I will try seeding again since my boxes will be easier to prepare now that all the hard work is done. I left the clover to attract the pollinators.
 
 

Very nice looking area you have there!   

You did good.  Nice garden.

Thanks Sanderson and Quiltbea!  Any advice on the pepper plants is welcome.

I would start with the 5 composts. What did you use? Or, did you buy ready-made Mel's Mix?

Shipping Mels mix was too expensive to use.For the compost I used 2 different brand of cow manure. Worm castings, mushroom,humus and chicken fertilizer.

flowering_fauna wrote:Shipping Mels mix was too expensive to use.For the compost I used 2 different brand of cow manure. Worm castings, mushroom,humus and chicken fertilizer.

Not perfect because of the 2 brands of cow manure, but I'll bet it works.  See if you can find a source of Quoddy Blend or Coast of Maine seafood compost.  I've heard good things about it from our New England folks because of the sea minerals.

Kay

Hey, looks great to me.  I started last year with two boxes and my tomatoes took over one cucumbers took over the other.  LOL  Enjoy!

Thanks giant_trainer! Loving my tomato's and basil and welcoming the attack of the killer tomato's.    Keeping my fingers crossed.

Kay  a search did come up with some local places that sell the quoddy blend. I would have to wait until next planting to add it to the squares. I think I could use some sort of boosting through fertilizer. I have heard that Miracle Grow is now marketing organic. I will have to look into this. Peppers and cukes do need a little something 

my first thought on the peppers are they look hungry.....can you give them some compost tea or fish emulsion? and also side dress them with some good rich compost to see if they can get their color back.

  the rest of your garden plants look great!

happy gardening
rose

Your peppers look a lot like a few of mine do, except mine look worse. They're planted in an area that was amended with an extremely woody "compost" that is probably sucking up quite a bit of nitrogen and denying it to the plants. I watered with fish fertilizer today and will look into further amendments, especially nitrogen, which I may have to use more than I'd like to this year, just to balance out all that wood. I just don't want to use so much that I encourage blossom end rot or too much focus on growing leaves instead of fruit.

"a search did come up with some local places that sell the quoddy blend. I would have to wait until next planting to add it to the squares"

Fauna, You can always top dress around a plant with good compost. Just don't cover up any more of the stem (unless it's a tomato).

Vigro is also now selling some organic plant foods if you think they're necessary.