Garden update; everything but my cantaloupe and watermelon are doing fine, I had poor germination on the cantaloupe and no germination on the seedless watermelon so far.
I am experimenting with growing squash up a trellis, it will have to be tied up as the vines grow outward. Again, I saw this procedure on youtube and decided to give it a try.
Ordinarily I don't use fertilizer, just a little miracle grow when the plants first pop out of the ground. My garden is on a slope and it appears the good soil has migrated to the lower side, the upper side needs a couple of tons of barnyard fertilizer before winter greens season. The picture makes this very evident. It could also be tree roots from the wood line close by as well, it might be time for a ditch witch and a root barrier. The squash plants on the left have not been fertilized, I have been building up my soil for 20 years.
I have been using worn out hiking boots as my slip on garden shoes for years, this year the soles fell off of them. My stepdaughter gave me a nice LL Bean gift card for Christmas, pricey stuff but the best. A quick look in their catalog and I found the perfect garden shoe, slip on and off for that quick trip from the garage to the garden (the first order of every day) through wet just mowed grass and no tracking stuff back in the house. I love them, very comfortable.