Please critique my garden layout

Lord Phat · Mon May 23, 2011 12:59 pm

Ok, this is year 3 of my garden here in Upstate NY. We are late in starting due to rain and late frost. I am trying to be a bit more methodical this year and created a layout. I am growing mostly for food and cooking and I have a 10' x 10' plot in the local community garden. Below is my current plan, mostly planting what I have before. I want to maximize use of space since a lot seems unused right now. I might decide to swap out some peppers for tomatoes.

Each square is 1' x 1'. Thanks in advance for any help. Also, feel free to suggest I plant something not on here.

[url=https://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=t1ncoti9ef8qcq9&thumb=4][img]https://www4.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/fd3544b33cb76151562df5d1c7a89e176974faa32c9a51f85f26441ed202d4bf4g.jpg[/img][/url]

gumbo2176 · Mon May 23, 2011 1:42 pm

I see no tomatoes, cucumbers or pole beans. Cucumbers and pole beans don't need much space for their footprint and can be grown on a trellis to have them grow vertically. You just want to plant them so they don't interfere with the suns path over the garden by shading other plants.

Same with okra since it gets quite tall. By summers end my okra will be between 6-8 ft. tall and my rows are side by side with 15 plants in each section of row on the south side of my garden.

Have you considered eggplant. Varieties like Ichiban which produce fruit about the size of a good slicing cucumber grow on fairly compact plants. There's also Swiss Chard that produces spinach like greens that are heat tolerant and don't bolt like spinach does when it gets hot. Of course your growing zone is much different than mine since I'm in zone 9 in the deep south so bolting may not be an issue.

My main garden consists of 5 rows, each 45' long. Right now I have 4 different varieties of tomatoes, several varieties of sweet and hot peppers, Purple Japanese Yard Long Pole Beans, Dragon's Tongue Pole Beans, 2 varieties of cucumbers, Swiss Chard, Okra, 3 varieties of eggplant, Artichoke, Purple Mizuna for salad greens and several herbs I use for cooking and preserving. The garden is constantly evolving as things mature, are picked and removed for the next planting.

jal_ut · Mon May 23, 2011 6:37 pm

I would move the squash on the left over in line with the squash on the right. and likewise put all the okra in the line on the left side. Actually if it were my choice, I would not grow okra, but instead grow beans.

You may want to put the spinach/collards closer together and move the squash in to the next square. Those things get huge, and will encroach on the neighboring lot if planted only 18 inches from the line. Summer squash vines will get about 4 feet long, or more, by end of season. By the time they get big, your spinach and collards should be done.

Maybe bring the four peppers in the upper right over to the lower left near the other peppers and put a tomato or two on the upper right?

No use planting garlic now unless you just want it for pest deterrent. If that is what you want, you can put it anywhere. Garlic is best planted in the fall.

Try working some lettuce in there on the left side by the peppers. Plant a row or two of radishes along the right side. They will be done before the squash takes them over.

Have fun.

mansgirl · Mon May 23, 2011 6:38 pm

I will say this about growing Okra up north.. last year I gave it a try and my plants never got any taller than 3 feet max in zone 5. I'm guessing upstate New York is a 4 or 5 as well? I'm sure you won't have to worry about 6 foot tall okra, our summers just don't get that hot unfortunately. Its fun to grow though, have you done it before?

jal_ut · Mon May 23, 2011 6:44 pm

Same thing here on the okra. Then after I tasted it, I would not want any okra anyway. Yuk! Some things may claim to be edible, but that does not make them palatable.

Francis Barnswallow · Mon May 23, 2011 6:46 pm

I don't see a pic.....nevermind it's just my computer.

cynthia_h · Mon May 23, 2011 9:00 pm

jal_ut wrote:Same thing here on the okra. Then after I tasted it, I would not want any okra anyway. Yuk! Some things may claim to be edible, but that does not make them palatable.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sometimes I think I'm the only one in these parts (the forum) who can't deal with okra: too many badly cooked dishes of it, I thought it was, from one of my aunts.... Nothing has redeemed this vegetable for me. Maybe it generates lots of biomass?

But with only 96 sq. ft. of space here, biomass isn't a top priority. Non-edible crops? No way.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

hendi_alex · Mon May 23, 2011 9:07 pm

My wife and I love okra. But in the true southern cooking fashion is best when battered and fried. Stir fried with corn bread crumbs is great as well. We also like it when added to vegetable soup. Steamed wet or boiled, I can't handle the slimy result, but steamed dry and the pods are quite edible. Finally, there is pickled okra which is always a treat.

DoubleDogFarm · Mon May 23, 2011 9:11 pm

Same thing here on the okra. Then after I tasted it, I would not want any okra anyway. Yuk! Some things may claim to be edible, but that does not make them palatable.

James and Cynthia, I have to agree, nasty slimy stuff.

Eric

hendi_alex · Mon May 23, 2011 9:13 pm

It is never slimy, unless a person chooses to prepare it that way.

DoubleDogFarm · Mon May 23, 2011 9:18 pm

I may not be giving it a fair shake and I've never actually cooked it myself. In the few dish I've tried, I did not like.

Eric

jal_ut · Mon May 23, 2011 9:25 pm

Oh dear. Sorry for leading this post off on a tangent. I promise to stay on topic. (This post any way)

orgoveg · Mon May 23, 2011 9:38 pm

When my space was more limited, I planted my onions around the very edges and various places between other plants. They don't need much space unless you're trying to grow them to their maximum size. That could save a little space.

Aorourke · Mon May 23, 2011 9:53 pm

Can I ask? What did you plan you garden on? I can't seem to find anything that I can work with and have the ability to upload. Well without paying for it anyway!
Thanks!

Lord Phat · Tue May 24, 2011 8:52 am

I actually used Powerpoint. I can send you the template if you would like.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I like all the ideas about moving the plants together and I think I will work some tomatoes and beans in as well.

Mansgirl, I feel you on okra. I am in zone 5 so I have never gotten anything above 3 ft. either. I love fried okra though so I'm still going to try!

DeborahL · Tue May 24, 2011 12:01 pm

Speaking of okra, I can't believe I haven't made any enemies here - I don't like okra, sweet tomatoes, garlic or zucchini !
Are we still friends???

hendi_alex · Tue May 24, 2011 12:07 pm

My momma didn't care whether I liked it or not. [It is good for you, put a little bit on your plate, and no desert until you eat it!] I eventually learned like most everything. Though okra when boiled, still won't go down the gullet.

jal_ut · Tue May 24, 2011 1:11 pm

I have been playing with your layout. I tried to leave a spot here and there to place a foot so you could get at things. The beans are in groups of 4 so you can easily make teepees. (four bean poles tied at the top). I would plant 3 or 4 seed in each square on the beans.

I left good room for the squash. You could plant two squash plants in each of those squares.

I put fast maturing things around the squash thinking it would be done before the squash overtook it.

You could get determinate tomatoes and mulch and just let them sprawl, or get indeterminate tomatoes and cage them.

You could use tomato cages for the cukes. That is if you decide to grow cukes.

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