Good Morning Justin, 

Thank you for contacting the U of M Extension Service. 

There are several areas I would like to address about your garden. Please click on the following link from the U of M Extension Yard and Garden website about home composting: https://extension.umn.edu/managing-soil-and-nutrients/composting-home-gardens

This information states: 

• Do not compost pet feces, meat, bones, grease, whole eggs and dairy products.

You should not add pet feces to the compost you intend to use on your garden. This alone will "burn" the plants. Pet feces should not be anywhere near your plants; vegetable or ornamental.  This could be your first and main problem. This could contaminate your garden produce. 

You should not be water sprinkling your plants two or three times a day. It is much better to water deeply once or twice a week. An exception to this is for container gardening. You might need to water your containers every day. 

The amount of rain and cloudy days we've had lately has had an effect on gardens. Yellow leaves may be a sign of too much water. 

If you soil test indicates you need nitrogen, and you add blood meal, do not put the blood meal up against the stem of the plants. READ THE LABEL. 

I did not understand the information about using distilled water. If you are testing your water for pH level, you should test the water you are using to water the plants. Not RO water or distilled water. 

Please click on the following link about growing the vegetable garden: https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/planting-vegetable-garden

Do not use herbicides or pesticides on your garden unless you have identified a specific problem. All of the information on the U of M Extension website is "research based" so you can rely on the information as being accurate and up to date. 

Good Luck!

I appreciate your prompt response. As far as adding fertilizer to the garden I was not aware that would be a problem considering I did try it last year and had zero problems. I will not add any of it to the garden going forward. 

As far as the watering goes that was something I did last year and it produced great results. However, I will not be doing it this year considering you have told me otherwise. 

As far as the water soil testing. I just simply did what the instructions told me. It recommends to use distilled water so I bought distilled water. However, I was not able to use it the first initial time and so that's why I bought it after thinking I might have got mixed results but the nitrogen levels were the only levels that were low even though I had given all of that fertilizer initially maybe I tested a area that wasn't full of it. 

To address the pesticide I am not entirely sure how to find out what pests I'm dealing with. I guess I could have them leave a note next time they dine and dash. 

I didn't see an answer whether or not someone would be able to come out to my property specifically to address any of the issues or even in the moment questions I might have. In general these questions are most likely easy to answer. However, there might be things on the fly that I would like to ask or point out or address. I think that this would be extremely beneficial for me if someone was able to come out to see my property and discuss specific things. 

Either way I appreciate your response previously and you have helped me out dramatically in regards to what not to do for the following years. Thank you and I await your next response

Good Morning Justin, 

The Extension Master Gardeners do not generally do home visits. 

There may be Extension Master Gardeners at your local farmer's market to answer gardening questions. 

All of the information on the U of M Extension Yard and Garden website is "research based" information. Here is a link: https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden

You can enter your specific questions in the search box. You can search for information about any type of vegetable in your garden and it will give you detailed information. All questions from watering vegetables to diseases and pests. 

If you believe your plants have a pest or disease, inspect the leaves and the soil at different times of the day to determine what might be affecting your plants. Nature is not perfect. The leaves of the plants may get beaten up by the wind/rain and sun but may still produce just fine. 

Good Luck!