Okay! As promised, here are my plans for the veg beds this year. I saw a post the other day that recommended a (new?) site called Olioboard for putting together garden beds. I tried it and it works pretty well. It was easy to use and worked like I expected it would – and it’s free!
This is the first raised bed (the one that lives on the left side of the back garden):
From back to front, left to right, we have:
True Gold Sweet Corn (all the way across)
Emerald Giant Sweet Pepper x2 Anaheim Hot Pepper . Purple Beauty Sweet Pepper x2
Rocky Top Lettuce Mix . Iceberg Lettuce . Bloomsdale Spinach . Calabrese Broccoli
I’m hoping that I haven’t squished too much into the bed – I have definitely done that before. I think I’m okay on this one, though. The bed is approximately 8′x4′ (I think), and I think I’ve allowed for enough room. Not entirely sure I’ve done that on this next one, which lives on the right side of the back garden:
Here we have, from back to front, left to right:
Tom Thumb Popcorn (across half) Strawberry Popcorn (across the other half)
Early Russian Cucumber . Chadwick Cherry Tomato . Marketmore 76 Cucumber
. Mule Team Tomato . Brandywine Tomato
Atomic Red Carrot (across half) Muscade Carrot (across the other half)
I think this will be not too crowded, as long as I keep the tomato and cucumber vines in check. I also have the long veg bed along the fence. I’m switching up the spots where I’ve grown some of the same stuff in past years, so no part of the soil gets drained of something that a particular plant really likes. Here’s the long bed along the fence:
The left column, which will be on the fence side of this bed, has, from top to bottom:
The right side column has, from top to bottom:
Early Prolific Straightneck Squash
I just threw these into this plan, no reason for the order, because they all get the same relative amount of sun and nothing will be shading them, and I’m not sure if there’s any benefit to growing them in a particular order. Hints and tips appreciated, if anyone has any.
So that’s the plan! Roughly, anyway. I’ll also be planting some pretty red lettuce and cabbage in the front garden, hopefully, although last year I tried that and they never came to much. Here’s hoping they’ll turn out better this year. I’m going to make an updated map of the front garden using this software – keep an eye out for that here soon.
Sounds like a good plan! I have zero luck with melons, because of the evil squirrels in my neighborhood. I’m thinking of making little cages this year to put over any melons that form, in hopes of protecting at least a few of them so we can have some watermelon this year.
I hadn’t heard of Olio before — thanks for the tip! I’ll have to check it out.
Thanks, Colleen! Means a lot coming from you!
I have had moderate luck with melons before, but I have just had problems with them not having enough time to really produce for me, since I have always direct sowed in past years and was paranoid about sowing too early. Hopefully this year with the indoor seed starting I will have better luck. Having a dog out in the fenced back yard really helps us to avoid too many critters messing with my plants – I have had squirrels take a bite out of tomatoes, though! They always just take one bite, seems like. Cages seem like a good idea – worth a try at least!
Hooray for planning! I will have to check Olioboard out, because who doesn’t like free?
I am still in the “ordering seeds” stage, but last year I started things too early, so I hope that this late start will work better.
Free is awesome indeed! I think Olioboard is really designed for interior decorators, but it works for me for this. I had so many seeds left from last year that I gave myself a moratorium from ordering any more. (Swapping is still okay, though! hee)