[redforever]

Personally, I would have used a 3 in 1 mix, part soil, part peat and part compost. But since you never, add some compost, work it in with those 3 pronged hand rakes, and as someone else suggested, mulch the top of the surface.

Also, you are asking for trouble if you plant your peppers with other veggies. They need their own care and so if you try to give them generic care along with your other stuff, they pout and wilt, which you are witnessing. I plant mine, around 4 or 5 per pot, in one of those long rectangular trays. That way you can water and feed them separately. They like to be evenly moist, will tolerate a bit of drought, but will not tolerate over watering.

Is this bed in the open? or against some structure like your house or garage? I hope you planted your tomatoes on the north side of the bed or up against the north wall since they will get the tallest.....so if you planted them in front, the other plants behind them are going to pout too. Tomatoes as well like to be evenly moist - if they are subjected to periods of drought followed by periods of too much water, you will get bottom blossom rot on your tomatoes, sort of a brownish looking blister at the bottom of the tomato, which turns into sort of a rotten part as the tomato ripens. Tomatoes also like calcium and bone meal, I usually sprinkle a bit at the bottom before I plant mine, not too much and the roots should not be directly on the calcium or bonemeal. And tomatoes need to be fertilized very regularily, there is fertilizer just for tomatoes, found in most garden centers in Calgary. One other thing about tomatoes, they do not like to be watered from the top, in other words, along the leaves or flowers. Get a wand sprayer and water them from underneath.

Cucumbers do not like cool evenings. You should be ok with a south exposure, but watch for a fungus that they are susceptible to once we get cooler evenings in August. At that time of year, don't water in the evening, the moisture at that time of day along with the cool evenings promotes that fungus. It just looks like a greyish powder and your cucumbers might look wilted as if they are dry but that is not the case. If they get that fungus, not much you can do, so watch how and when you water. Cucumbers are going to spread a lot too, so they would be best if you planted them along the front of your bed.

I would not have planted strawberries in that bed. I would have built a bed just for the strawberries. They are a perennial and will send out runners which will form more strawberry plants. You can't let all the runners plant themselves because then they will grow so crowded that they won't bear much fruit. Cut some of the runners off, let some grow. And when your strawberries are too crowded, that will happen eventually, just save some of the runners and plant them in your new bed. Also, the advantage of a bed just for the strawberries is you can put a netting over it. That way, you will get the strawberries before the birds get them first thing in the morning. You will have to fight for those berries, birds find them in a hurry.

Depending on the kind of lettuce you planted, you might be able to have lettuce all summer long. Lettuce does like it a bit cooler than direct south all day long though, so it does better where it might get a bit of shade from some of the other stuff you planted. Not that it wont grow in direct south sun all day, but you will have to watch it for bitterness. Too much heat and sun and some lettuce goes bitter. When you start to harvest your lettuce, just cut it off or snip it off with a scissors, leaving an inch or two of the plant and stem. Most lettuce will reshoot out as long as you did not cut off the main growing stem and root.

Not sure what variety of onions you planted but if you want very quick green onions, a good variety is Multiplier. You could still plant some in some of the obscure corners or places where nothing else is growing. From one multiplier bulb, you will get 6-12 green onions. And they will be ready to eat in 4 to 6 weeks, so then when you pull them out, some of your other stuff will have grown bigger and will be ready to cover the places the onions were.

Blueberries do not do well in Calgary. Look around and see what kind of native fruit trees you see growing, those are the ones that do well here and if you try other stuff that say grows in northern Alberta, usually it is an exercise in frustration. If you want to know what kind of fruit trees do well here, phone the Saskatoon Farm located south of Calgary, just on the east side of #2 highway, close to Okotoks.