Gardening, take another look before winter

I'd like to discuss how my garden is doing/not doing.
I would like to know how yours is doing also.
Edit to add, I'm in SW MIssouri.
With the "heat wave" alot of crops aren't going to make it. My garden is struggling. I water typically twice a day. I have lousy soil. I put 2 small dump truck loads of old horse manure on last year.

I'm a turbine mechanic and worked a combustion turbine job for 6 weeks this spring instead of getting my garden planted when most people around here did.
So mine is about 2 months behind.
My corn is mostly tassled, the best is about 6' tall.
Tomatoes are just beginning to produce, 1 or 2 smaller than a baseball per day now.
I have banana peppers out the fazoli. Green bells are becoming abundant. I planted over 50 pepper plants, about half of each. I tried cabbage again this year, doing ok till today, several almost melted into the ground with the rediculous solar radiation. I planted several Kayle pants, they seem impervious to both the heat and the grasshopper plague that is beginning, more on that later.

Several solar flares in the last few days, some quite significant. We still have our electric grid but we may not have any crops this fall.
I did not get much germination from my wonderful albino white zuchini, more tender than the black and grows faster, if you can believe that. 2 years ago one plant kept giving me white zuchini, I have been saving seed and this is my main zuchini crop.
Hubbard squash, first time last year did real well. I don't think it's going to come close this year. I need to put out traps for the racoons and possums, they love to eat the small squash leaves on the young plants in the middle of the night. Ticks me off. Amost completely decimated about 10 plants 2 weeks ago that were coming up real well. Stunted ever since, little or no growth. Still alive but barely.

Starting to see some corn ears forming too. Damn racoons can destroy alot of that just as it's about ready to pick. Last year had one coon destroy about 10 ears.

I think I'm going to have to start watering 3 times a day.
I had 2 or 3 hubbard squash plants that looked pretty good melt today.
Oddly, sometimes this week I see one plant disintegrate, while one identical next to it is fine, cosmic particle damage?
Crap i don't know but I've never seen anything like it.
Friggen grasshoppers are going to be bad this year. I don't like using poisons but I don't think I have any choice this year. Almost clouds of the little shits walking through the yard this afternoon. I spray around the yard peimeter and spend time almost every day chasing down the big flying adults and get personal by spraying each one individualy. I think word is getting around, fewer lately but the cloud of young concerns me. I've been misting my corn and tomatoes with permethrin. Keeps the hoppers off but isn't good for me or the bees.
How's your garden doing?

Last Edited by HnryBwmn on 11/01/2012 08:44 AM