End of summer cleanup correcting mistakes

I thought the garden would do better this year. I put so much work into it and added so much to it that I should have gotten more. Lots of mistakes this year to try to rebuild the garden though: I added a lot of compost/garden soil that made it drain so well that the plants are dying of thirst! I added peat moss for the same reason--more organic matter but it makes the soil dryer and again all the plants are thirsty and cannot catch the water as it goes by.

Yesterday I ordered 2 4 cu.ft. bags of vermiculite to add to the garden and have been lining some of the areas with weed cloth to try to retain the moisture in the garden and keep the weedy shrubs next door from sucking out all the moisture.

I did good with the rain barrels though. I have not used city water once on the garden and I still have about 60 gallons of water in a barrel and a couple of smaller buckets. It is about time to rain again. I would have connected the ones at the end of the line but still am not sure where I want them so maybe by spring I will be sure. I would love to put in the drip irrigation I planned next year. 

My new pickle cucumbers are blooming (corner blue-green pot) and the zucchini seems ready to bloom and has no bugs on it. The peppers are budding up all over the place but no putting on fruit--maybe in a week or so as it cools in the daytime. The eggplants are also blooming as I flood them daily with water. The lettuce and chard on my picnic table is doing well-maybe can go into the ground in September. 

The lettuce seemed to grow fine even with the heat--shady table gave it a high of about 94 instead of the 100+ in the garden. The green beans in tubs are also doing well--the ones in the ground died of thirst. 

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