midocr said:

I brought in a pickup truck load of what appeared to be real good
compost from our township compost facility about 4 years ago and spread
it over the entire garden and tilled it in. The township collects grass
clippings, leaves in the fall, and shreds tree branches all year.
Composts it all through the winter and offers it back free to residents.
Everything did great the next couple of years. I don't make enough of
my own compost for the veggie garden, just my smaller flower beds. I
use Miracle Grow fertilizer but have not applied any yet this year. I
started out with Miracle Grow weed preventer with fertilizer this year
but did not use it last year and had the same problem. The garden is
flat with no slope.

Four years, and no more compost added?

I think next fall you had better get another load of compost brought in.
And plan for it at least every other year. Either that, or start collecting
leaves in the fall (you know, the ones your neighbors have conveniently
bagged for the township to collect) and till them in before winter. Add
some manure or alfalfa pellets at the same time, if you can.

*Every* time the soil is worked, you should be turning in some organic matter.

I suspect that your plants need more nitrogen (if you've been rained on like
we have here in Michigan, that's a certainty) and the slow ebbing of that four
years ago load of compost hasn't helped your soil hang onto the fertilizer
you've used.

You might want to consider using a slow-release, encapsulated fertilizer like
Osmocote for bedding plants and vegetables. It won't be leached away as
readily as Miracle Grow. (It doesn't have to be Osmocote brand; there are
similar products under different brand names.)

I mainly stick to organic fertilizers, myself, and where I don't I use Osmocote
(or the equivalent).
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)