New Plants

I am going to plant 5 new (for me) crops this year. I built two new 4x8 beds, one with an 8 ft. trellis. In the back I will plant snow peas which we have done for years. For the next three rows I think I will plant broccoli, beets and then kale in that order. I have never planted those three before so I just wondered if that was correct. Also new for me this year are sorrel and tomatillos. The sorrel is garden sorel and I don't know how many per square or how high the plant grows or even what it looks like. The same goes for the tomatillos, I think they are not as large as tomatoes or as tall.

I read a thread a while back about tomatillos and from what I remember I think the plant can get quite big. And the peas, broccoli, and I think kale like cooler spring and fall weather so you could probably, have some room for summer crops in between. Your beets should do just fine through the summer. A lot of people have more success with broccoli planted for the fall season so it doesn't bolt during the hot summer days! Have fun and good luck!

I have never grown beets between my broccoli and kale but it seems a very good idea. The kale and broccoli take up a bit more than a square, in my experience. So if you think of the beets as an under crop of the them that might work well. I have done this with potatoes with good results and this year am going to try rutabagas, same idea. Depending on your climate broccoli can be an all season plant with many pickings of side shoots so I would put it next to the edge and kale further in. The kale leaves I think would be easier to a harvest from further away....

The wild sorrel that grows in my garden is about 2-4/sq. I don't intentionally plant it though, but do use it.

Tomatiilos are about like growing a determinate tomato or pepper. They do not keep into 1 sq but don't mind intermixing a few branches with neighboring peppers. There is some variation though in varieties. I grow the grande verde, other ones are more like a ground cherry and want to make more of a mat. I grew the pineapple tomatillo last year and it was much more of a ground cover somehow. It worked under the trellised melons.
Good luck

The variety of tomatillo I grew last year, Toma Verde, grew to about 5 1/2 feet tall and was very bushy--and that was even with some modest pruning. I found the tomatillos grow upward very quickly and then continue to bush out--much faster than my tomatoes actually. We got about 20# tomatillos from 2 plants.

Last year (2011) my kale lasted through the heat of the summer, the mild winter we had and produced until spring 2012. I kept it covered with tulle for bug control or plastic for frost control the whole time. I didn't replant in spring 2012 and was late putting in my fall crop. It is surviving, but not tall and lush like the 2011 winter crop. I have high hopes it will take off when the days get longer this spring. planted 2 to a square/

Kay