I finally got around to snapping a pic of my peas (Vigna unguiculata).  That bush in the left center background is a Thai eggplant.  The vines haven't started bearing peas yet, I think they're still growing.  It was a lot of work to blend all that soil with compost and rock powder in the wheelbarrow, but obviously the tactic works, so I'll likely be doing more of it.

Lately I've been focusing on my containers.  Some of my favorite warm-season crops like okra and sweet potatoes produce much more reliably in potting soil.  For the past few days, I've been yanking out unproductive plants and dumping the soil on plastic sheets for storage and fallowing.  I also cover with agricultural plastic for moisture conservation.  Plant pests like RKN, root-knot nematodes, go dormant in dry soil.  I want them to stay active with no plant roots to feed on.  This simple tactic seems to be the best nematode control I've used.

I just might give up growing carrots.  They tend to grow slowly and get infested with RKN.  I had one really good crop in the South Garden, nothing really worthwhile since then.  I've tried about a dozen different varieties, but carrots might just be a crop better suited to higher latitudes or higher elevations.  I don't believe in working against the grain, so to speak...not without good reason. Carrots aren't my favorite vegetable anyway, they tend to bother my teeth with all that sugar.  I just use them sparingly in soup now.

Sweet potatoes are a much better root crop under the conditions in my area.  They grow like weeds here.  This year I'm growing three different varieties...Sumor, Liberty, and Porto Rico.  I know how to spell Puerto Rico, that's the name the variety goes by...no "e".  I like Porto Rico, but it's exceptionally sweet, so it bothers my teeth if I eat too much of it.  I'm pinning my hopes on Liberty, which is a variety of boniato, a Cuban sweet potato.  It's been growing like mad, very healthy vines...haven't tried digging out any tubers yet.

My next-door neighbor ripped out everything in his veggie garden and rolled up the fencing.  That's customary here.  I've always grown year-round, however, and had no trouble with crop failures.  In fact I much prefer the warm-season crops like okra and long bean to the cool-season crops like kale and mustard.  My neighbor likes to grow tomatoes and melons mostly...I don't grow either one of those anymore. Tomatoes are toxic to me and melons are too sweet.

It's not easy to garden this time of year, I'll give you that.  This afternoon it's been hanging at 35 degrees Celsius for hours, and it's as muggy as a sauna.  That's 95 in Fahrenheit for those who cling to obsolete ways of doing things.  If I do anything outside in the evening, I wait until the sun nears the horizon. Otherwise I just give myself a headache.  Wouldn't be much point to gardening if I die of heat stroke and can't eat any of it. 

I've been cooking my veggies from the garden in soups mostly.  I do love a good soup made from okra, green onion, molokhia, sweet potato, and long bean picked fresh from the garden.  I use a wide variety of things in my soups so they're never quite the same.  This time of year soups keep me hydrated.  After the first liter or so, water loses its charm...when it's 35 degrees you need a lot of water each day.