Made a plan for my spring boxes

Long Island, NY (I think I'm in zone 7 not sure if it is 7a or 7b)
First box 4x4 6" deep

Top row: iceberg lettuce, Mesclun or Romain lettuce,Mesclun or Romain lettuce, iceberg lettuce
2nd Row: Arugula, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli Raab, Arugula
3rd row: Spinach, Broccoli Raab, Brussels sprouts, Spinach
4th row: Broccoli Raab, Snap peas, Snap peas, Broccoli Raab
If I don't get everything ready to go by next week then I might have to eliminate some of these. I'm afraid it might be too late for spinach and Brussels Sprouts.

2nd box 3x3 12"deep

Top row: potatoes, garlic, potatoes
Middle row: onion, carrots, shallots
Bottom row: lettuce, garlic lettuce
Again, I am afraid it might be too late to plant garlic but I'll give it a shot.

Now, if I decide to plant summer vine plants as the season changes (I'm thinking pole beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins and Cantelopes) on two sides of the box, will it provide enough shade to keep lettuce growing in the middle of the box during the summer?

Thanks for any advice you have for me.

Sounds great to me! best of luck and post some pics for us when you get things put together

gingeandhales

Typically you would want your tall or vining plants on the north side to avoid shading your other plants, so you want to know
which side is North on your bed. Is it row one or row 4 of the first bed? If you plant bush snap peas, that looks fine. If you are planting vining snap peas, you really want to plant them on the North side. Brussel Sprouts also grow a bit tall even if the don't need to be trellised. You might consider the North side for them too.

You asked about putting vining plants on two sides of your summer garden to help shade lettuces for extended harvest period. I know Mel suggests some shade and extra, extra watering to help cool weather crops make it a bit longer into the summer, but vining plants on two sides would also shade anything else in that box. Just something to consider.

Have fun!

If the 2 trellised sides are east OR west and north, you will still benefit from the south sun which is pretty much all day and the morning or afternoon sun. I'm using an existing 4' fence on the east side and putting up a 6' trellis on the north for my tomatos. I'm also trying a west trellis of beans on 1 box to see if the shade will allow me to grow greens during the hot summer. May be a bust, but I had some luck growing in the shade on the north side of the house last year during the hottest part of the year. Actually got some tomatos to set during some of the 98*-100+ weeks. Not many but some.

Kay

Thanks for all your feedback. The 4 row is the North Side (I laid it out the way I will see the box from my back door which is south facing). I decided to move all of the broccoli raab to the middle, and the brussels sprouts out to the fourth row.

I'll have to think more about what to do this summer. I would love to have lettuce throughout the summer. Maybe I will do one box that is vine plants and lettuce so don't have to worry about the vines shading the rest of the box. I was also considering a crazy looking bean teepee with lettuce in the middle, but getting into the middle to tend to the lettuce might be a hassle, although the kids might enjoy it. But then again, I don't know if it is a good idea to have the lettuce completely shaded all day. Maybe I will just do some lettuce in containers and keep it on my shady porch. Mel's mix probably is good for potted plants, right?

I guess I still have a little bit of time before I worry about the summer. Right now I should just concentrate on getting my spring boxes going. If it doesn't snow (which is frighteningly in the forecast for later this week, I plan to have it all up and running this weekend.

gingeandhales wrote:Maybe I will just do some lettuce in containers and keep it on my shady porch. Mel's mix probably is good for potted plants, right?

Mel's Mix is great for potted plants. I grew lettuce on my porch rail all last summer and picked my last lettuce for Christmas Dinner

Frizzy Headed Drunken Woman, Parris Island Coos Romaine, and new seedlings of Revolution Lettuces today (my round foot garden)

Last year's lettuces on the porch rail in containers
being attacked by my passion flower url=https://servimg.com/view/15320566/55][/url]

Looseleaf last year

Bronze Leaf and Parris Island Coos Romaine (one sacrificial Bulls Blood Beet for bugs)

Love the deck boxes Furbalsmom.

I had decent success keeping lettuce through the summer by
1) growing a more heat tolerant variety
2) keeping them watered regularly
3) using burlap as a shade cover

The burlap was much much cheaper than an agricultural shade cover, the holes are big enough to still let enough sunrays in to let the plant grow but keep it a bit cooler. That worked in NJ where it gets pretty hot in the summer, but I don't know if that would work in say zone 10... I just put a couple of bamboo sticks in the box and draped the burplap across and secured it.

Thanks for the idea of burlap as shade cloth. Too much sun is usually not a problem here in the PNW, but when I transplant new seedlings, I do want to provide a bit of sun protection at first,.

jerzyjen wrote:Love the deck boxes Furbalsmom.

I had decent success keeping lettuce through the summer by
1) growing a more heat tolerant variety
2) keeping them watered regularly
3) using burlap as a shade cover

The burlap was much much cheaper than an agricultural shade cover, the holes are big enough to still let enough sunrays in to let the plant grow but keep it a bit cooler. That worked in NJ where it gets pretty hot in the summer, but I don't know if that would work in say zone 10... I just put a couple of bamboo sticks in the box and draped the burplap across and secured it.

I love the burlap idea... adding that one to my notebook.

I use cheesecloth as my shade cover for lettuces, etc when it starts getting too warm.

I also use it to cover new seedlings against the direct sunlight for a few days after planting outdoors.
Works for me.

That lettuce is beautiful! So many colors. I'll have to keep the burlap and cheesecloth ideas in mind.