First time garden layout, is this doable?

by Peggy
(northeast Arkansas)

First time vegetable gardener. I have a bed about 20ft long 14ft wide with rows running east to west, full sun,zone 7/8. Soil is high in clay but I have amended with peat moss and cow manure and tilled. That's all so far. I like : okra, tomatos, beans or peas of some sort, squash, sweet peppers, cabbage, watermelon, cantalope, carrots, lettuce of some sort, strawberries, potatoes.

I'd like your advice what combo of these would work best and what do I put where? I know I don't have room for all of these.

Doug says go back and watch the video. That will tell you roughly what to plant in each section of your garden. Which of the plants above are leafy and which are vines etc. Then put them in those quadrants of the garden.

Which combo? I have no idea because I don't know what you like to eat. In my garden, I can tell you that Okra would be compost very quickly - so it "might" be one plant but you might like to eat it so.... Plant what you like. Emphasize what you like. Do not worry about trying to do companion planting etc - just divide as per the video.

Don't have space? Welcome to the wonderful world of gardening. We *never* have enough space which is why we're constantly all building new garden areas. :-) You'll have to fit what you can - and spacing is included on the seed packages or labels of the plants. :-)

Good luck on your new adventure.




Comments for
First time garden layout, is this doable?

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directions
by: Karen

We moved into a house that is on an angle to the compass - garden is on the SE facing side. Absolutely love it because have no dark north side to deal with. I think anything can work so long as you are aware of how much sun each spot gets.
First time garden layout
by: Kate

I plant peas then two rows of lettuce and then another row of peas. It shades the lettuce and stops them from bolting. I also use tomato stakes for cukes. This year I am going to use one of those upside down hangers for tomatoes I got it as a gift. Speaking of gifts a friend gave me a hornet/wasp bag that you stuff with newspaper so it looks their nest. I got it three years ago and have never had a problem with them since. They are cheap like around 10.00 and far better for the garden that chemicals
north/south planting
by: Anonymous

Regarding north/south planting. It is not done for position of the sun - it is because of the magnetic field - the north/south pull. Not saying I always use it, but that's the reason


N=S E=W
by: Janet

Hello everyone, I have been planting a very small garden for several years now and I did not know about North and South and vise vesa,missed this one. Guess I am lazy because for the last few years all I have done is put down a sheet of black plastic and cut holes for the plants and water tp get in. I have so much shade it is hard to make it really big.Works for me. Tomatoes,peppers are what I plant most of the time. Now mt brother does his bigger garden this way,but he does till first and puts straw on top. I think his way is better than mine.
Cucumbers
by: Jackie

I have had great luck planting the cucumbers and putting tomato baskets over them so they can climb up the baskets. This way the cucumbers don't lay on the ground.
square garden
by: Debby

same conditions here. I find 3ft sq. areas work great -and easy to reach veggies. I mulch with newspaper before planting and that reduces weeds. Also use verticle planting for your vining stuff and you get more space and cleaner veggies.
Learning as I go
by: Mike from CT

I just coverer my 30'X30' garden with landscapers fabric< i hope this will be a year i can enjoy my garden and not hate weeding.
I will grow Tomatoes, corn, lettus, beans, peas, broccli, cauliflower, and cucumbers. those that vine or grow i will try using a trellis or something for it to climb. on the south end is my garage and far west is the large oak tree that casts a late day shadow. I use the shadows as a guide where to plant lower light plants. The only rule i followed was to move my tomatoes around to a new spot each year because the rob the soil of nutrients. I have been composting and will use this to cover the base of the plants, this will feed the plants and add nutirents back to the soil so i will not have to move tomatoes each year.
Squash
by: Anonymous

Squash, melons, cukes, etc. are real sprqwlers. You need to leave a huge amount of room when you plant them to account for it. I would definitely stick them at one end of the bed so that at least half the sprawl won't take up planting room.
0kra
by: Anonymous

i've always had terrific luck with okra, somewhat surprisingly because it's a hot weather crop, and other hot weather crops like tomatoes and peppers and eggplants have always been a little iffy for me (connecticut). luckily for me i like okra and like various different ways to prepare it. it's also a really gorgeous flower.
in my garden
by: Doug

Re rows running north to south. Interesting old wive's tale when it comes to actual sun position. The sun is so high during the summer months that this normally isn't a problem. But more folks seem to think it really is the same thing as low-light level months in a greenhouse. If you want to run E-W (we do) and you're concerned, then simply don't plant something really short "right" behind the really tall. Even then, I tend to plant lettuce etc at the base of staked tomato plants and they do fine in the somewhat lowered light levels.
run rows north to south
by: Anonymous

your rows should always be running north-south. Same as if you build a greenhouse. house should run north to south, for optimum sun coverage

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