Garden Plan Help, Please!

Hi guys! I heard about SFG last year, but got a late start, so my garden didn't do very well. This year I'm going to expand a little, but I'd love your advice on placement because I've NEVER gardened and don't know how certain plants do together, etc.

I have 4 4x4s, 4 containers and then I'm going to add 2 2x4s.
North is always at the top. Also, I'm not sure exactly where they're going to be b/c I have to move them to get a little more sun.

Thanks in advance!

Alaina

Snap Peas (8+) Then Cucumbers (2)	Snap Peas (8+) Then Cucumbers (2)	Snap Peas (8+) Plant seeds	Snap Peas (8+)
Snap Peas (8+) Then Cucumbers (2)	Snap Peas (8+) Then Cucumbers (2)	Snap Peas (8+)	Snap Peas (8+)
Bush Beans (9)	Broccoli (1)	Broccoli (1)	Bush Beans (9)
Bush Beans (9)	Radishes (16) Then Lettuce (4)	Radishes (16) Then Lettuce (4)	Bush Beans (9)

Cucumber (2)	Cucumber (2)	Sweet Potato (4)	??
Cucumber (2)	Cucumber (2)	Sweet Potato (4)	??
Okra (1)	Okra (1)	Okra (1)	Collards (1)
Okra (1)	Okra (1)	Okra (1)	Collards (1)

Nasturtium?	Tomatoes	Red Pepper (1)	Banana Pepper (1)
Tomatoes, cherry (1)	Tomatoes	Green Pepper (1)	Banana Pepper (1)
Tomatoes	Tomatoes	Green Pepper (1)	Broccoli (1)
Nasturtium?	Tomatoes	Red Pepper (1)	Broccoli (1)

Spinach (9)	Watermelon (1)	----	Watermelon (1)
Spinach (9)	----	Watermelon (1)	----
Swiss Chard (4)	Watermelon (1)	----	Watermelon (1)
Swiss Chard (4)	----	Watermelon (1)	----

Carrots (16)	Onion (16)	Peanuts (1)	Kale (1)
Carrots (16)	Onion (16)	Peanuts (1)	Kale (1)

Squash (1)	----	Zucchini (1)	----
----	Zucchini (1)	----	Squash (1)

Sweet Potato (4)

Sweet Potato (4)

Peanuts (1)

Peanuts (1)

miscellaneous wrote:Hi guys! ...snip..I'd love your advice on placement...snip...
North is always at the top....snip...
Thanks in advance!

Alaina

Place your fastest, tallest, leafiest growers at the top, North.
Lee

I' m going to give a few thoughts on your garden. My okra was almost 7 ft. tall last yr. They put on a lot of okra per plant, so you may not need so many plants. I'd put lettuce, spinach, beets, anything needing shade, in the squares around the okra.

The okra plant is sort of prickly, some folks wear long sleeves to pick, at least gloves.

Unless you have lots of folks that like radishes, I'd only plant maybe 1/2 a square at a time, lettuce can be planted in the same sq. You can plant some each week, so you will have a fresh supply.

Cucumbers are a vine, and will need something to climb on. I would not put them near the okra or tomatoes. They will overtake everything.

I think I'd put the Sw. potatoes in the squares with the peas and move the cukes away from any thing tall. peas will quit producing when it gets warm and the sw. potatoes don't like cool soil, so will free up the squares when it starts to get warm.

The rest is good,the plants like SC!

Jo

Thanks for this help! My okra didn't do well last year, it only produced 2 pods at a time! Maybe it was too shaded. I forgot to put that those first three boxes each have a trellis - so for the peas, cucumber.
That does help for the radishes and lettuce. I was thinking about planting them staggered like that.
Planning on going to the garden center this weekend to get some seeds and start them indoors!

Also, I can tell you that the tomatoes will do better at the north side with a trellis. Even with cages they should at least be on an end rather than the second row. For accessibility and letting overgrowth go somewhere outside the box rather than smother everyone around them as they are wont to do.

I really need to update this plan so that shows where things are a little better. But, I have a trellis question. Last year I put a trellis on each bed kind of in the middle of the first 2 rows on the north side. So that the squares in rows 1 and 2 can each use. I looked for a picture, but don't have one where I can access at the moment (at work). It is a little like this picture taken from commonweeder.com. Would a trellis that just is on the north side work better? Or is this ok? If this post doesn't make sense let me know and I'll try and clarify and find a picture of my garden set up last year.

miscellaneous wrote:I really need to update this plan so that shows where things are a little better. But, I have a trellis question. Last year I put a trellis on each bed kind of in the middle of the first 2 rows on the north side. So that the squares in rows 1 and 2 can each use. I looked for a picture, but don't have one where I can access at the moment (at work). It is a little like this picture taken from commonweeder.com. Would a trellis that just is on the north side work better? Or is this ok? If this post doesn't make sense let me know and I'll try and clarify and find a picture of my garden set up last year.

I guess the question is, what are you growing in the fourth row? If you have four rows with row #1 being the southernmost and row #4 being the northernmost and rows two and three have tall plants growing on a trellis, is there enough sunlight in row #4? That is why more people have their trellises on row #4. To avoid shading anything else to the north of that row.

Chopper wrote:
I guess the question is, what are you growing in the fourth row? If you have four rows with row #1 being the southernmost and row #4 being the northernmost and rows two and three have tall plants growing on a trellis, is there enough sunlight in row #4? That is why more people have their trellises on row #4. To avoid shading anything else to the north of that row.

The way I have it set up the trellis is in the north, over rows #3 and #4, so there is nothing north of them and rows #2 and #1 (southernmost) are shorter not trellised plants.

I'm a lot further north but still, our vining crops don't need the competition being in adjoining rows so those tomatoes would have to be only along the north side, trellised. The same holds true for cucumbers and the peas. Two adjoining rows just doesn't work well for me. Too leafy and you can't work well with that 2nd inner row from the outside.

In a pinch, if I want to add more tomatoes, I've staked extras along the west outside row (even with others trellised along the north side) but never a double row of vining crops.



Above: Early June, snap peas are trellised on the north side (in back) with tomatoes staked on the west side (along the left) and they all did well with this configeration). I did this same thing with tomatoes on both the north and west sides in one bed, also. Worked just fine because they weren't 2 rows deep and crowding one another and the west row didn't shade out any plants.

I find that jigging the garden plan is a fun thing to do. You can work it on paper until it suits you so just keep replanning til you get it so it works for you. Good luck this, your first spring as an SFG'r.

But don't you worry, whatever you experience with your first year's garden will make next year's garden plan very clear. We learn by our mistakes was written for gardeners.

Also check out the voices of hard learned experience at this previous topic: If you could start over- what would you do differently?