Hi, I'm Michael and I am posting for the first time. I'm a young and ignorant man but I do love plants and have been reading a few books on vegetable gardening to try to learn a bit more! My girlfriend and I just moved into a home in Atlanta that we're renting and we've also been given full autonomy with our yard. So I have researched the easier basics: how many of each type of plant a two-person home would need, soil conditions, doubling-digging vs no-till vs lasagna technique...like I said, I know the *easier* basics. The biggest obstacles that I am coming to now is designing the plots and plot size. Out of all of these books, and all of the guides online, no one has given me a good method of judging how much space ill need and how to procure the size needed with how many veggies I plan to grow. How big? How many rows? How to allign all of the rows keeping in mind the needs of the different spacings for the different neighboring plants? And also keeping in mind the succession spacings? Ahhh!
I really like the idea of providing enough for the two of us to not have to go to the store for these things and I have a good sized backyard. Am I being too ambitious for it being my first time gardening?
Here is what we would like to grow:
Tomatoes: 5 plants
Okra: 1-2 dozen.
lettuce: 2-5
corn: (probably in its own 4 X 4 or 5 X 5 plot)
cucumber: 4 plants
bok choy: 4-6 plants
beets: 25-40 plants
carrots: 30 plants?
peas: 20-40
summer squash: 5-6 plants.
collards:
peppers: 5-6 plants
cabbage: 5-10
radishes: 15-30
2 kale
6 chard.
What size plot(s),smallest possible, would you all intuit(as seasoned veterans) as a reasonable and accommodating size? Or would you all recommend particularly groupings in different plots?
Thanks so much for reading! And if you find yourself with a few free odd moments available to reply with any comments or suggestions, we would really appreciate it!
lmw0336 wrote:Hi, I'm Michael and I am posting for the first time. I'm a young and ignorant man but I do love plants and have been reading a few books on vegetable gardening to try to learn a bit more! My girlfriend and I just moved into a home in Atlanta that we're renting and we've also been given full autonomy with our yard. So I have researched the easier basics: how many of each type of plant a two-person home would need, soil conditions, doubling-digging vs no-till vs lasagna technique...like I said, I know the *easier* basics. The biggest obstacles that I am coming to now is designing the plots and plot size. Out of all of these books, and all of the guides online, no one has given me a good method of judging how much space ill need and how to procure the size needed with how many veggies I plan to grow. How big? How many rows? How to allign all of the rows keeping in mind the needs of the different spacings for the different neighboring plants? And also keeping in mind the succession spacings? Ahhh!
I really like the idea of providing enough for the two of us to not have to go to the store for these things and I have a good sized backyard. Am I being too ambitious for it being my first time gardening?
Here is what we would like to grow:
Tomatoes: 5 plants
Okra: 1-2 dozen.
lettuce: 2-5
corn: (probably in its own 4 X 4 or 5 X 5 plot)
cucumber: 4 plants
bok choy: 4-6 plants
beets: 25-40 plants
carrots: 30 plants?
peas: 20-40
summer squash: 5-6 plants.
collards:
peppers: 5-6 plants
cabbage: 5-10
radishes: 15-30
2 kale
6 chard.
What size plot(s),smallest possible, would you all intuit(as seasoned veterans) as a reasonable and accommodating size? Or would you all recommend particularly groupings in different plots?
Thanks so much for reading! And if you find yourself with a few free odd moments available to reply with any comments or suggestions, we would really appreciate it!
I'll address some of what you are planning on growing. Five tomato plants should be enough, especially if you are growing indeterminate varieties.
I grow okra and usually have about 3 dozen plants. That is way more than I alone need. I give away at least twice what I use with that many plants. Besides, okra plants get very tall, some reaching between 6-8 ft. in height.
Lettuce is a cooler weather crop and your summers are quite warm. Unless they are in the ground now, I doubt they will survive the summer heat of Atlanta. If you do decide to try some, I'd recommend the leaf variety for continues harvest of just removing the leaves you can use and allow the plant to produce more. Also, plant them among taller plants like tomatoes so they can offer some shade to extend their productivity.
Five to six summer squash is a lot for 2 people. When they start producing, you will be hard pressed to keep up with them. Hopefully you will not have an issue with Squash Vine Borers in your area. They are a bane to my area and kill the squash plants usually after the initial harvest.
Collards are more a cool weather crop also. Their taste is improved with some cold weather and I've never grown them in the summer months. I'll plant them in early fall for a 3-4 month harvest before removing them from my garden. I also don't grow cabbage or cauliflower because they are what I call a "One and done" plant. Once the heads are harvested you need to get rid of the plant. They are not like broccoli or Brussels sprouts where you can get an extended harvest. Cabbage is also a cool weather crop for me, if I choose to grow them.
You will want more cucumber plants than 4. They thrive on a trellis and that allows for more ground space to be used for something else. I'd put in at least a dozen or so cucumbers. You will likely lose some to pests along the way.
Kale and chard are great plants for salad greens and cooking greens. Chard grows pretty well in the heat. I'd think 6 chard and about the same in Kale are a good thing. I eat a lot of Kale and chard and have a few dozen plants of each, but I give a lot of it to friends, family and neighbors.
I don't grow corn since you need so many plants to help them pollinate each other and space considerations are involved for me.
Beets, carrots etc. can be planted now and I have them in my garden. Nothing like home grown beets in my opinion. One work of warning with beets. The packets of seed are actually a lot of clusters of many seeds and when they come up, they come up in clusters. Separate them early and do so very gently to give them the proper spacing to make a nice size bulb.
that's enough for now to keep you thinking. Good luck.
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jal_ut
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7447
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
Hi Michael. Welcome to the forum.
If you want to dig up a plot 20 feet by 25 feet, you can do something like this and grow a lot of good food.
[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/Image-01.JPG[/img]
I know a lot of folks are doing raised beds and containers, however I just grow in a big plot. Works well for me. If you have any kind of decent soil on the lot, it is probably better to use that than buy soil to fill containers. This size plot is do-able with just a digging fork and some elbow grease.
If you want to dig up a plot 20 feet by 25 feet, you can do something like this and grow a lot of good food.
[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/Image-01.JPG[/img]
I know a lot of folks are doing raised beds and containers, however I just grow in a big plot. Works well for me. If you have any kind of decent soil on the lot, it is probably better to use that than buy soil to fill containers. This size plot is do-able with just a digging fork and some elbow grease.
Since nobody else has responded, I thought I'd try to help you with spacing issues.
I space tomato plants about 30 inches apart but you could probably get by with about 24 inch spacing. I prefer to give them more space for better air circulation between plants.
Squash need no less than 3 ft. between plant hills since they get so huge. I'll put 3-4 seeds in one plot of about a 12 inch circle, space the planting circles about 3 ft. apart. I'll usually thin the plants to only 2 per circle.
Bell, sweet, hot peppers I generally plant in a zig-zag pattern on my rows with about 18 inches between each plant on each side of the row.
Lettuces, carrots, beets can all be planted between and around the tomato plants to save space. Give the lettuce about 6 inches between plants on all sides. I thin beets to give them about 4 inches all around clearance, carrots can be a bit tighter in spacing.
Chard and Kale can grow fairly compact and I have no problem with them producing with about 8 inches between plants all around. Both these plants get pretty large if allowed to.
Cucumbers are grown on a trellis and I thin them to about 6 inches apart on the row and allow them to climb and set fruit. If you decide to grow some pole beans, they can be planted a bit closer. I grow a variety called Asparagus Beans, also know as Japanese Yard Longs and they are spaced about 3 inches apart and allowed to climb my trellis. These beans are the best producing I've ever grown and a must for my summer garden. My next choice would be Rattlesnake Beans for the pole variety. They produce a fairly large pod with good size beans that can be eaten in its entirety.
Okra can be planted fairly densely considering the size of the plant. I plant them in a row and thin them to about 18 inches between plants. They do get large but do well growing that close to one another.
As for my rows, I have five of them about 45 ft. long. Each row is elevated about 6 inches above the pathway between them and I flatten the tops of my rows to a width of about 24 inches across. This allows for planting 4 lettuce plants across the row. So in a space 2 ft. wide x 5 ft. long I can easily fit 30 lettuce plants.
Figure out how much you want to plant, figure the spacing between rows and plants and that is what you need to make your garden.
I have enough space between my rows that I can walk between them and not have to fight plants to do so.
I space tomato plants about 30 inches apart but you could probably get by with about 24 inch spacing. I prefer to give them more space for better air circulation between plants.
Squash need no less than 3 ft. between plant hills since they get so huge. I'll put 3-4 seeds in one plot of about a 12 inch circle, space the planting circles about 3 ft. apart. I'll usually thin the plants to only 2 per circle.
Bell, sweet, hot peppers I generally plant in a zig-zag pattern on my rows with about 18 inches between each plant on each side of the row.
Lettuces, carrots, beets can all be planted between and around the tomato plants to save space. Give the lettuce about 6 inches between plants on all sides. I thin beets to give them about 4 inches all around clearance, carrots can be a bit tighter in spacing.
Chard and Kale can grow fairly compact and I have no problem with them producing with about 8 inches between plants all around. Both these plants get pretty large if allowed to.
Cucumbers are grown on a trellis and I thin them to about 6 inches apart on the row and allow them to climb and set fruit. If you decide to grow some pole beans, they can be planted a bit closer. I grow a variety called Asparagus Beans, also know as Japanese Yard Longs and they are spaced about 3 inches apart and allowed to climb my trellis. These beans are the best producing I've ever grown and a must for my summer garden. My next choice would be Rattlesnake Beans for the pole variety. They produce a fairly large pod with good size beans that can be eaten in its entirety.
Okra can be planted fairly densely considering the size of the plant. I plant them in a row and thin them to about 18 inches between plants. They do get large but do well growing that close to one another.
As for my rows, I have five of them about 45 ft. long. Each row is elevated about 6 inches above the pathway between them and I flatten the tops of my rows to a width of about 24 inches across. This allows for planting 4 lettuce plants across the row. So in a space 2 ft. wide x 5 ft. long I can easily fit 30 lettuce plants.
Figure out how much you want to plant, figure the spacing between rows and plants and that is what you need to make your garden.
I have enough space between my rows that I can walk between them and not have to fight plants to do so.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
You've gotten tons of great info already, so I'm not going to add to it, except that I think down there in atlanta it is already too late for you to plant lettuce, peas, and cabbage, which are cold weather crops and don't do well once it gets hot.
All the rest of it should do fine, but I would suggest looking for well started tomato and pepper plants (find a good nursery, not the big boxes, where they don't take care of their plants well). It is late in the season to start those from seed. The rest can still be planted from seed, direct seeded in the ground once the soil has warmed up enough.
The lettuce and cabbage you can plant in late summer for a fall/winter crop.
All the rest of it should do fine, but I would suggest looking for well started tomato and pepper plants (find a good nursery, not the big boxes, where they don't take care of their plants well). It is late in the season to start those from seed. The rest can still be planted from seed, direct seeded in the ground once the soil has warmed up enough.
The lettuce and cabbage you can plant in late summer for a fall/winter crop.