Satsumas are in full production. We have been picking them and selling the surplus at the Bayou City Farmers Market–a nice bit of extra cash to pay for some needed items. Stand of carrots is mediocre; probably a combination of too much hot weather and not sprinkling the bed frequently enough. Lettuce is up and going. Pea bed is prepared for planting.
The final batch of beets was harvested and the onions are going fast. Beans are at their peak. The summer squash is growing well. The varieties planted are tahiti, tatsume, sunburst and calabasa (actually a gourd). These varieties are all reasonably immune to the dreaded vine borer. It is almost impossible to grow the traditional summer squash in Houston because of the borer. In the outlying areas larger planting seem to fare better.
The sweet potato slips are planted. We made a longitudinal mound in one of the beds and planted them around the top. The edamame are growing well. I have never raised the and am interested to see how they turn out. They take a long time to mature.
A lot of mulching was done using hay (obtain from Walbash on Washington Ave.). Easy and cheap, but not as good as native mulch (made from hardwood trimmings). I usually put newspapers under the hay to help block weeds, but we did not. Later we will get hardwood mulch and top off the mulch.