Q. This summer I had a terrific garden with lots of
tomatoes, but my zucchini died by mid-summer, green beans were lush and
beautiful but produced nothing, and just a couple of fruit from my cantaloupe
but no watermelon. I’m not sure if the roots of my carrots and beets have
gotten bigger but they sure have beautiful tops! I rototilled in a bag of
manure, waited two weeks, and rototilled again.
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Be careful when adding bagged steer manure to a garden area. It has not been composted and so is considered “raw”. Let it “rot” in the garden.
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A. Several things may have gone wrong for you. In a
longer email you said they were planted at the right time of year. I’m not so
sure. When it’s hot you should have finished harvesting your beans, carrots,
and beets a long time ago. You could be planting for a second crop of these
just before cool weather arrives, but you shouldn’t be seeing tops now. These
are cool season crops.
I don’t
know where you got your planting schedule, but I am sending you one that I
created for a local company. It’s adjusted for 1000, 2000, and 3000-foot
elevations. It also tells you which vegetables you can plant from seed and
those from transplants only. You still need to adjust it for your local weather
microclimates but it’s correct otherwise. I will be happy to send you a copy by
email and to anyone who wants one.
Zucchini and melons are warm season
vegetables. It sounds like they were planted at the right time. You don’t
mention the varieties of vegetables you planted. Maybe you chose the wrong
variety. Selecting a good variety for the hot desert and planting cool season
vegetables just before cool weather arrives, is a must for successful gardens.
I am
also sending you a copy of a local vegetable guide that suggests some
successful varieties that you can try first. Record what you try and when you
plant it. Plant trusted varieties first and experiment with unknown varieties
in small numbers.
Sounds
like you rototilled steer manure into your garden area. Nothing wrong with
that. Sounds like the two weeks that you waited before cultivating a second
time worked for you. Steer manure is not a bad choice it just depends on where
it came from, how it was processed and, taking these into consideration, your
level of comfort using it. Make sure you wash all of your vegetables before
eating them.