It's not too late to plant corn, but that's not the end of the story. You don't have enough room to grow corn. Corn is wind pollinated and you need a big block to get good pollination (or you would have to get out there and hand pollinate -- a tedious and iffy project at best). Go buy some pepper or eggplant transplants or just direct sow basil or something similar in that area instead. As for your radish failure, it might have been the soil tilth, as you suggest, or it might have been too much N. Did you fertilize? High N rates tend to boost top leafy growth at the expense of bulbing roots. Carrots are hard to grow without beautiful sandy loamy soil conditions, so don't beat yourself up about those. It's getting too late for broccoli now anyway, so write that off and plant a bullet-proof warmer season vegetable there instead, like bush beans or green vegetable soybeans.

Darby,

How frustrating. Mary is right about the corn, though I personally love to hand pollinate. But space wise you'd get about 4-6 plants in there. The radish problem could be due to low pH, not enough phosphate (which sometimes due to low pH) or a million other things. Sounds like you direct-seeded broccoli? In soil of dubious quality, putting in plants gives a better chance of success (and feeling of accomplishment) and opportunity to figure out what might be wrong. I suggest setting plants of tomato, pepper, or summer squash.

G'Day!
It might not be too late to plant slow bolting or heat tolerant lettuces, but you might do better to plant Malabar Spinache. That is actually a tropical annual vine that grows up about any support you offer it. It loves heat, its virtical habit will make the most of your limited space, and it is orniment al as well as tasty. There are both green and purple varieties available.

Happy gardening,
-vlad

Hi...
I suspect that the problem with the radishes is that you did not let them grow long enough. Most radishes will put out quite a bit of top growth before they bulb. I will admit that I have pulled some radishes this season, but they were "volunteers" self sown from last year's crop, so they germinated far far earlier than anything I sowed myself. I would guess that a radish with a 1" bulb will have 4-5 sets of leaves with the largest being 4-5" long and 3" wide.

If you are a new gardener, I would not recommend corn, especially for your very small space. Carrots can also be quite difficult to grow successfully, especially in clay. I second the idea of starting with plants.

If you like Italian food, your 2x2 foot space will hold 1 tomato, and a couple of basil plants on the corners. You will need something to support the tomato, to keep it from flopping over. They are vines. I would choose a "determinate" variety--that means it grows to a certain size and then stops.

For a good reference on vegetable gardening in a small space, go to the library and check out "Square-Foot Gardening"--it is the best.