Help me plan what to plant

[LaurieG]

This is my first attempt at a larger garden and my little planting spaces from the past have never produced anything, so I'm basically totally new to gardening.

I ordered and received yesterday the Small Heirloom Package from Baker's Creek so we have lots of things to plant. I have no idea how much of anything would be the right amount for us though. We're a family of 5 with a history of being pretty boring with our veggies - we're looking to expand but I don't expect the kids to start asking for okra or radishes as a snack this year. So of the things we have only really peas and carrots are things the kids just love. Part of my goal is to expose them to new veggies and build their interest.

Here is the list of seeds that need to be started ASAP. How many seeds should I start and with the goal of how many plants?

Starting inside:
4 different kinds of tomatoes
2 kinds of bell peppers
carrots
eggplant
beets
red onion
spinach
collards
lettuce

Need to be started outside soon:
Cayenne pepper (might skip this one this year)
Radishes
Peas
Bok Choy

[LaurieG]

Sorry, ignore the categories above. My piles of "start indoor" vs. "start outdoor soon" got mixed up.

[rhianna813]

How much to plant is very dependant on the size of your garden. Here is a chart that shows how much to plant of each veggie for a family of four. Some things are calculated by foot, others per plant. Succession planting is ideal for keeping the food coming in.

http://gardening.about.com/od/vegeta...ch-Plant_2.htm

You will also need to research how space each plant and row needs.

For tomatoes, these will be your biggest plant. The website recommends 5 plants but we plant 6 – 8 because we love fresh tomatoes!

You can save space by interplanting many of the varieties you listed. This is what I am planning to do more of, as we're also expanding our garden.

Roots like carrots, beets and onions can planted in rows where you succession plant every 2-3 weeks. Radishes can be planted in same rows as carrots. They will grow before the carrot starts growing and help mark your rows, which helps with weeding.

Lettuce/spinach can also be interplanted with carrots. Peas can be trellised up the north side of the carrot bed too. They make good companions for carrots and lettuce.

Trellised peas *---------------------------------------* NORTH
Row 1 carrots and radish
Row 1 lettuce
Row 2 carrots and radish (3 weeks later)
Row 2 lettuce (3 weeks later)
Row 3 carrots and radish (3 weeks later)

Onions can be grown all at once, then cured and stored for the winter. Onions can grow near tomatoes as companions. Lettuce too.

Cabbagy type plants like Collards and Bok Choy – the website recommends 5 plants each. I know with kale you can pick leaves off during the season as the plant grows new ones. I am not sure collards is the same. Bok Choy is harvested as a whole head (I think – I am growing for the first time myself). So maybe you will want to succession plant that one too. You could plant these in the same bed as the beets, because they have shallow roots and make good companions. I think with onions too.

Trellised peas *---------------------------------------* NORTH
Row 1 beets
Row 1 Bok Choy and spinach @ x @ x @ x @
Row 2 beets (3 weeks later)
Row 1 Collards and spinach @ x @ x @ x @
Row 3 beets (3 weeks later)

Eggplants and peppers are smaller plants and can be interplanted near larger ones too. Website recommended 3 each but that seems too low. If you like them plant more if your space allows. Perhaps in the onion bed?

Hope this helps!

Rhianna
Oregon zone 8

[Literate]

Here's the best site ever: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...Plant-Now.aspx

You'll love it.

[LaurieG]

Great resources and info. Thanks!

I've got a lot of research to do it looks like, and I want to finish digging the garden and get a few things planted this weekend. Yikes!

[libbylovely]

Here's my two cents:

I am a big fan of not planting in rows. My opinion for them is that you end up with way too much of a specific crop at one time (read: way too many zucchinis than you know what to do with... so you end up baking zucchini bread, muffins, making casseroles, etc for weeks and then give a bunch away).

SO,

my favorite method is kind of modeled after the square foot gardening method/ not at all organized.

I have raised beds that are counter height and lower to the ground. I filled them with 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 organic compost mixture ala the square foot gardening method.

Then I plant one box with a mixture of different seeds. A couple plots of carrots and radishes (ones you can plant close together), and then maybe four of spinach, arugala, mustard greens, other lettuces. Five bell peppers. Something like that. Not a big method to the madness... I just follow the square foot gardening method loosely, and always end up with awesome veggies, right when I need and want them.. never too much at one time.

However, I will say that I WILL plant a bunch of one particular crop when I know I want to can/jar something... like beets or cabbage for saurkrout. You get the idea.

Get the square foot gardening mathod book at your library. Def worth it as a nice introduction to gardening, especially if you don't have tons of time to devote to your garden. I spend about two to three hours a week in the garden. Many weeks less. A couple days of the year, much more. Just depends.

[Ravin]

We're getting ready to put in a garden this weekend, and I googled the name of my county and "garden" and got a very helpful guide to what to plant. More general guidelines tend to be unhelpful in the desert. We're putting in a raised bed. I have square foot gardening, but our raised bed is going to be round, so I can only sorta kinda follow it. I want to inter-plant some things, but I also want to be able to tell which plants are which! We're thinking:

lettuce
spinach
tomatoes (we'll have to put in established plants)
peppers (ditto)
flowers
a few herbs
carrots
peas
melons

We've only got a 9' circle...