Seven Cucumbers and Other Disappointments

I'm slowly getting over the cucumber fail, as summer is waning anyway. Too busy to pull them before vacation, I left them to do as they will, and they have managed to form about seven fruits. (Yes they are supposed to look like that--they are lemon cucumbers.)
A lot of the cucumber plagues look alike to me, but this seems more like downy mildew and not the bacterial wilt spread by cucumber beetles. I am quite familiar with that one! (Plus, this year I have not seen many cucumber beetles.)
I sent photos to the master gardeners' office, but they have not responded to my request for a diagnosis. I'd just like to know if I am correct, there is not much that can be done at this point.

With this disappointment combined with the others this season, I am a bit bummed, and more important on a mission to determine what I am doing wrong--do I have a drainage problem in my soil, or am I not watering enough? It could just be bad luck. I'll likely never know. That's gardening, I guess.

sickly cukes

The good news is, soon I will be removing all of the failed plants of this season and planting anew. I love cool-season gardening, when *fingers crossed, all I have to worry about are slugs. But then there's this.

The rabbit has moved on from the small red drying beans to the black eyed peas. They were decimated while we were away for a week. Time to build a fence? I've seen signs of mice activity also, and that is something I do not even want to ponder right now. Will my fava beans stand a chance?

My final lament is that the tomatoes never really bounced back from their various ailments. Pitiful!

 

The squash continue to produce, and the eggplant are doing quite well. My biggest success has been that I've been able to grow a respectable amount of sweet peppers (a first!). The key seems to be both giving them adequate food (organic fertilizer and fish emulsion at least monthly) as well as giving them a bit of respite from full sun (they are at the back of this bed. Hot peppers on the side do not completely block the sun).

If you've looked at this blog any before, you know I do this every year--whine about how I can't ever get it together timing-wise at every seasonal transition. Will this be the year? Not likely, as so far I have missed the date to sow broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts seeds inside, but I've got plenty of time to get all of my other root and leaf crops planted.