Question
I have a garden that is showing signs of the same struggles I had last year even after fresh manure last fall and some garden lime and fertilizer this year.My main issue is with my beets and bell peppers(2 of our favorites) The beets came up nicely but seemed to have stalled and the peppers don't seem to be taking off at all.
Is there anything ican do or use to encourage growth?

also i seem to get leaf blight on my tomatoes each year(they're growing fine) what do you reccomend?
in upstate ny
have kept garden watered
have moved plants annualy in garden
thanx  will

Answer
Will:
There is little you can do to encourage growth, things take time. It's possible that the weather is just not yet warm enough for your peppers. You could try row covers or some other method to increase the heat around them, or just be patient and they will probably come around.

As for the beets, I'm not sure what you mean by "stalled". When did you plant them? Some varieties mature slower than others. do the leaves look healthy? You added manure and lime, but you don't say anything about bone meal (phosphorus), an important nutrient for vegetable crops. Adding it now won't help a whole lot, as it breaks down rather slowly.

Blight can be difficult to avoid in some areas, especially if the weather is cool and damp. In addition to rotating the crops, make sure you destroy infected plants. Be sure that you are not planting the tomatoes where any solanaceae were planted in the last two years, not just the tomatoes. If you have done all this, then I would just say do what you can to maximize airflow around the plants and try to avoid wetting the leaves when watering. Of course if it is rainy, there's not much you can do about that!

Elyse