The Sad State of My Garden

I started out this spring with high hopes for my garden. It was the first time I've ever tried my hand at growing vegetables, and with the Square Foot method thought it would be a piece of cake. Well, things have not turned out as planned. The plants themselves have grown quite well - except for the peppers. The problem is that there appears to be difficulty in getting any fruit off of them to eat.

So far I have had 3 cucumbers that have been eatable - all the rest, by the time they are ripe, look like they have been eaten away by something.

My beans are growing rampant, and yet I've only picked two beans, in spite of all the potential the plant seems to have.

The one sickly looking pepper is still sickly looking and flyin' solo on the plant.

The tomatoes are the saddest of them all. I did not take into account how tomatoes really have to be staked (or caged) well. I did not do this, and the plants got very big and out of control. A lot of fruit appeared, but they seem to take forever for it to turn ripe. The other day I picked my first two ripe tomatoes, but they had huge black spots on them so I dumped them. One big stalk of the plant had about 4 or 5 big tomatoes on it, but it got too heavy and the stalk broke under the weight. Several of the other un-ripe tomatoes also have black spots on them.

I know there is probably something that could be done to help with these dilemmas. I am realizing though that perhaps gardening isn't my thing. I thought I would enjoy it, and was really excited about the possibility of harvesting all these great vegetables. Now I'm having second thoughts. Maybe because the rest of the yard is in such shambles I'm not motivated to tend to the garden.

I've decided to leave the vegetable growing to the experts, like those who peddle their goods at the Eastern Market. I haven't been down there yet all season. I need to go and make up for what I'm not getting from my backyard garden.