Progress in the garden

Lots has been happening in the garden since I last posted.  About two weeks ago, I fertilized the garden with an 8-8-8 balanced fertilizer called Purely Organic.  Catchy name eh?  I did research this and it came out looking pretty good.  Again, I prefer organic and will seek it out and yes, I will pay a little more for it versus the chemical fertilizers.  It is blended for both quick and time release of nutrients to the plants.
I must say, the plants did respond to the fertilizer and have shown some real significant progress. The tomatoes and peppers have shot up like rockets and most of the tomatoes have put on both healthy growth and fruit buds.  I saw my first pepper that is about the size of a dime today.  Very exciting indeed!
All the other plants have also shown significant increases in growth to a point I think they have overcome our earlier stunted period in late May.  Since I haven't changed anything and the weather has only recently heated up, I can attribute this growth to the fertilizer.  Will I use it again?  Yes indeed.
I also did on two waterings of compost tea in the last 3 weeks and I think this, combined with the fertilizer, may have done the trick.  I have to keep an eye on things but it is definitely promising at this point in the season.
One other thing that I have done is to use a cover crop in the fall of each of the last two years.  I covered that in an earlier post but it bears repeating.  When it is cut and left to rot and then lightly rototilled in the spring, it enhances the overall nutrient levels in the soil and it also helps with the tilth of the soil.  A organization called the Rodale Institute in Kutztown Pa. has pioneered these processes and done the hard research for well over 60 years.  If you're in the area, you should visit them.  I plan on doing that in the near future myself.  If not, look at their website - rodaleinstitute.org.
I think that my soil has taken some big leaps since I went all in on organic.  I will post about that when the time comes in the fall to begin the next round of soil improvement.
And, the big news is, I have mason bees in the hive I hung up this past Spring.  Establishing the hive is, from what I have read, the hardest part.  Putting it simply, the bees just have to find the hive and they will do all the rest.  I am hoping since they found it, they will stay put.  If you have no idea what mason bees are about, do a little research and you might too want to establish a hive.  In all honesty, it was my wife that spurred this on by buying me a hive for Christmas.  I had no idea until then.
Well, that's about it for now.  I hope everyone's gardens are going great guns now.  Until next time, happy gardening!