Excited to be a part of forum

[Veganist]

Hi everyone,
I live in Manassas, Va, (Zone 7) and have seven square foot raised beds. Six in my backyard and one at a nearby community garden. My backyard beds are 8x4 and the community garden bed is 10x5. This is my second year doing square foot gardening and my third year as a home gardener. I therefore still consider myself a newbie. That is why I am real excited about the opportunity to learn from the collective experiences of the membership.

Thanks for having me.

Ken

[SwampTroll]

Welcome and I'm impressed.  It must have taken forever to mix and fill that many beds.
Just wow!

I wish I could have filled my back yard with raised beds, it'd be a beautiful and culinary delight to have that many!

I can only imagine the amazing things that come out of your garden.

[BeetlesPerSqFt]

Welcome Ken!
Sounds like you're off to a good start. Even though you see yourself as a newbie, I'm sure you'll find information and experiences to share. What's your favorite vegetable that you grow?

Regarding your question on plants back to back on a trellis - I'd suggest only pairing matching plants back to back, and I'd keep the (I presume vining-type) squash away from the other two. The reason for my advice is two-fold. One is that squash tendrils wrap around other plants as well as the trellis, and they may attach to your tomato vines if they are that close. I don't think that they'd strangle them, but they might put too much weight in the wrong spots. The other is that tomatoes need to be helped through the netting holes, or tied to it, and squash vines can be very prickly - they will scratch you, and might scratch the tender tomato leaves. Cucumbers aren't as hefty, and aren't as scratchy as squash.

Those are just my thoughts -- But maybe someone else here has tried this and can tell you how well it worked!

[AtlantaMarie]

Hi Ken. Marie from Atlanta, here. Welcome! Glad you found us. :-)

I'm sure you'll be able to help us out as well...

[Scorpio Rising]

Welcome Ken!

Sounds like a great set-up!  Lots of SF!  

I have done back-to-back pole beans.  They did fine.  Never combined different plants on the same trellis unless side by side.  Will be interesting--share and keep notes if you try it!

[sanderson]

Ken, Welcome to the Forum from California!

[Kelejan]

Veganist  
from Kelejan  in British Columbia

You sound an experienced gardener.  Thinking about the community garden bed that is five feet deep, a bit too wide for a small person like me.  I hope you have long arms to reach the middle of that bed. For myself I find that 6ft x 3ft suits me better than the standard 4ft x 4ft; it saves me from falling into the bed when I am weeding.

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