midsummer garden update

Hard to believe it's already the middle of summer. July is almost over, and we only have to slog through August before we (hopefully) begin to see hints of fall in the air. Hints are all I need to make those last hot weeks more bearable. This year has been a doozy, too. 112 degrees, say wha?!? So not cool. Haha. We've found ways to beat the heat, like the community pool (surprisingly nice considering that Englewood boasts 2 stoplights and not much else), and our own little blue frogpond  swimming pool. It may only be about 4 feet across, but filled with cool, cool water, it gets the job done.
We've been fortunate that we've had some rain this scorching summer. The beginning of July looked pretty bad - the pond was DRY, and the bog was mowable for the first time in I don't know how many years (thanks for mowing it, Papaw!) and we were beginning to wonder if our beautiful, promising spring was about to crash and burn. But then, miracle! we got 5 solid days of rain, and lots of little afternoon showers since then. The pond is back up (no more hauling trashcans full of water down to the garden!) and what with all those frequent rain showers we haven't really needed to water. Even if we do need to, it's much nicer to do so in 90-degree heat than 110.
We lost pretty much all the corn to this heat and drought. I managed to put up a dozen or so ears, but not nearly so much as I was hoping to. We still have our 3rd planting of corn, which is looking pretty good and should be ready in a few weeks, but it's a small patch, so I don't know how many ears we'll get. Here's hoping!
I harvested all of the beets and carrots this week - only got about a handful of each, but I wanted to get the garden ready for fall planting, and they were in the way. I also pulled the onions, but they were still so small that I decided to put them in water for a day or 2 and then replant them so they can fill out. Next year I will start them MUCH earlier.
Pulled up the peas finally, and I've got the row ready for beans now - I will hopefully get them planted tomorrow. I'm really hoping to get at least one round of greenbeans in.
The beans we planted in the cornfield were pretty much a total loss - my fault, too. They were drying beautifully on the vine, and then we got 5 days of rain.. they got moldy, and some of them even sprouted inside the pods. I should have picked them sooner. I'm saving what I can for next year's seed.
My feelings at this point on the 3-sisters planting style is that I don't like it for beans. Our corn wasn't strong enough to support the beans for their full growth cycle, and it's hard to find the beans to pick them. I'd much rather have them on a handy trellis.
The tomatoes and peppers are the real stars of the garden this year. They are LOVING this heat. I've already picked several basket-fulls and more on the way.

This week's goal is to get the fall veggies started, and maybe pick up a few pullets at the animal sale this weekend to replace 2 of my roosters.