Kyle, the shade cloth works wonders on my tomatoes, but it doesn't seem to be helping the beans yet. I have beans still covered in blooms, but they aren't making beans. I suspect the heat is causing the blooms to not set little bean pods.
Dennis, We used to grow huge watermelons in bottom land with deep sandy soil. I dug down 8' once and it was still the same kind of sand as on the surface. Of course this was on a place in Denton where we had wells less than 30' deep and a spring that never stopped running in the driest years. I remember planting big gardens and never watering a single thing. The gardens never burned up until late August. Now, my uncle had a place higher in elevation in the same area and he watered his garden and fruit trees every year.
My squash looked really bad for awhile until I started heavily watering. Suddenly, it perked up and started growing like crazy with blooms everywhere. Now, I did use Sevin and Malathion to kill off the squash bugs. I hardly ever see one anymore and I think I prevented the squash from getting the viruses they carry. This is just anecdotal, but it seems the Spinosad made the squash taste bitter. I don't know that for sure, but I discontinued it and the bitterness went away.:confused3:
Bird, is that farmer's market near downtown? Way back in the old days, there used to be what was called a "Trade Square" off the southeast corner of the square. You could buy produce, animals, or almost any farm related product there. I know at one time there was a farmer's market on the old K-mart parking lot, but Razor Ranch has taken over that area.