Pic of how I've started, ideas for future - Feedback please?

[JodiInVA-USA]

This is my new and evolving veg/fruit garden. in 2014 I started with 3 raised beds - two parallel along the fence line on the left for "permanent" asparagus, and perpendicular to that, a single bed for whatever else. I tried some tomatoes, lettuce, kale, a few different kinds of hot peppers, basil, cilantro, parsley, and marigolds, mostly from seeds. I had pretty good luck with some of the tomatoes, the kale, marigolds, parsley, and maybe the jalapenos. My long-term plan is to add three more beds parallel to the one multi-planting bed. I didn't want to overwhelm myself at first, so I tried just one or a few plants of each thing to see what would work, and learn some basics. Oh, I also have a mound at the close corner not shown in the photo with two tiny stick-like blueberry "bushes" that may or may not ever grow into actual bushes or produce berries, but I intend to have 2-3 productive blueberry bushes there eventually.

For 2015 I think I will build one more bed - same width as what I have, but longer to reach to the fence with the short end on the right where I plan to build a trellis for beans or other climbers. I think I'll try a few of the same things I did last year, and maybe try a couple other things - I'm thinking green beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, still in small trial-size quantities. This spring I think I also want to build trellises along the fence at the far side of the garden (parallel and close to the existing single bed) and plant some flower seeds like sweet peas and other climbers in the ground near the fence to make the space prettier, attract pollinators, etc. Then if all goes well, expand with the last two beds for 2016 and do a bit more variety and/or quantity of what we like best. The grand plan is to wind up with the total of 6 raised beds (2 devoted to asparagus, maybe one or half of one devoted to strawberries) so I can do a decent volume of planting, and rotate crops from year to year, plus add some vertical climbers and visual appeal with the trellises along the two solid/tall fence lines. And probably pea gravel on the ground between the beds to control weeds and make it look nice.

I have a small compost pile in an unseen corner of the space. Not enough to do a lot, but better than nothing. I figure I'll use it to top off the existing beds in the spring, and/or mix in with whatever I get to fill the new to-be-built bed.

If experienced gardeners have any suggestions, constructive criticism, validation of my thinking, etc., I would love to hear from you! Also, especially if there are Northern Virginia gardeners who have specific varieties of seeds to try (easy to grow in our area) for tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, etc., or good sources for soil I'll need to fill my new bed, that would be great.

[digitS']

A very good start, JodiInVA. You are likely to have lots of fun out there .

What is the native soil like? Is it clay?

My soil drains almost too well so I'm almost talking through my hat about a problem with drainage in raised beds. Here are the horticulturalists talking about some problems with bringing in soil, over existing soil: LINK.

Having a useful amount of compost is an ongoing effort for nearly all gardeners. The linked article touches on the loss of organic matter (OM) in purchased topsoil but, really, the same thing is happening in a compost pile. The compost is never quite "finished." It may be in a very useful condition for gardening purposes but it is always decomposing away.

You won't be able to squeeze in too many plants without building more beds . Have you been reading up on square foot gardening? I'm all for making good use of available ground but the regimen always seemed real tight without a great deal of attention to trellising and pruning. That and the attention to soil prep should pay off, however.

JodiInVA, it really seems that you are doing a good job getting yourself oriented with plans for a new gardening year! And speaking of orientation , what is the orientation and shade situations in your new garden?

Steve

[imafan26]

I think you have a great start Jodlin and a sensible garden plan. You did not say what the orientation of the garden is. Trellises should be placed on the North end along with the taller plants.

Starting slow, getting some experience is definitely the way to go. Adding a little at a time will help you figure out how to manage your time and you can rework the plants and combinations until you hit a combination that makes the garden efficient and fruitful.

Great job.

[JodiInVA-USA]

Thank you, Steve and Imafan. Yes, native soil is clay-y. Not a real word, I'm sure, but I don't think it would be considered pure clay. I will check out the link about bringing in soil over existing soil - much to learn there, I'm sure. What I did last spring under the three beds I have so far was to get the weeds and such out from under where the beds would go and tried to till it up a bit, and I think I added a little amendment, but I'm sure I didn't do all the right things. I bought a truckload of soil to fill the beds and make the blueberry mound, and it was supposed to be really good quality, and something like 30% compost. I was disappointed when it arrived that it had a lot of clay clods in it, so I think I need to do better with sourcing soil in the future.

Orientation. Good point! Now that you mention it, I realize I'll probably have trouble with those flower trellises I mentioned. That far fence is on the southwest side of the garden, facing northeast. So I suppose shading from the fence will be a problem. I already have a few packets of flower seeds I'd picked up on the cheap, so maybe I'll go ahead and try throwing them out there (wasted space otherwise) to see if anything will grow - but hold off on building multiple trellises. The fence along the right side faces southeast and seems to get a lot of sun, so I'm hopeful I'll be OK there. There's nothing too big shading the garden area as a whole.

As far as how much I can plant, I know it won't be a ton - especially compared to what I'm sure a lot of people on this forum do. But it will be a lot more home-grown goodies than we ever had before. I have heard/read a little bit about square foot gardening, but I haven't jumped all the way into that. I guess I figure "baby steps," and then once I know more I will work on how to maximize my space by what I choose to plant, how to configure it, moving some later-season things in as early-season things finish, etc. I also plan to use a few pots on the deck or around the available spaces, as I did with some success (tomatoes, mostly) last summer.

Here is an August 2014 pic of my "main (non-asparagus)" bed.

So much to learn! I will keep reading here and elsewhere, and hope to keep having some successes and learning from the mistakes.

[rainbowgardener]

Agree that orientation is important. It may be too late to do anything about it, but I would not have put the beds so close to the tall solid fence. It will shade beds close to it for more hours than if they were farther away from it, especially if the fence is running north-south. Also you didn't give yourself room to walk around the back side of the bed. Part of the idea of raised beds is you never walk on them, so you aren't compacting the soil. But I don't know how you will reach the back of those without walking on them.

To make the best use of your limited space, you need to learn succession planting - plant cold weather plants first and then as they finish, replace them with warm weather ones. One succession I like is to plant broccoli/cabbage/cauliflower near the outside of a bed as early as you can. (I start broccoli seed indoors very early and then put the plants in the ground a month earlier than my average last frost date.) Then once danger of frost is past, you can put tomato plants in the middle behind the broccoli. By the time the tomato plants are getting big and need the space, the broccoli is about done and can be pulled. Or you can plant a row of carrot seed down the outside edge and then later plant tomatoes behind them. The carrots don't get pulled as early as the broccoli, but they also don't take up nearly as much room and grow very well with tomatoes. Pop onion sets in any empty spaces through your beds. Good use of space and the onion helps keep pests away from your other plants. ETC.

[JodiInVA-USA]

Rainbowgardener, thank you for the really useful tips on succession planting! I will try the series you suggested.

You might be right that I'll regret the placement of those two beds... It didn't seem too bad last summer. You can't tell from the photo I attached, but the fence right behind them isn't solid - it's an open picket-style fence. Not sure if that makes much difference, but probably somewhat better than solid. It was a bit awkward working the far side of those beds, but fortunately I have long arms so I was able to to most of what I needed without stepping in the bed. Sometimes I found myself stepping on the back wooden rim of the box itself. I think those two beds will require a bit less day-to-day working since they're asparagus rather than annuals I'll be continually putting in and pulling out, but again, we'll see! Thanks again for the tips.

[digitS']

Succession is important for me also even if I have much larger gardens than average. It goes with my attempt to get everything in beds. At one time recently, my gardens shrunk. I was so pleased because everything that remained was in beds. There were no board frames anymore, just a permanent layout of paths and beds. This keeps me from bothering with ground that I'll be walking on and that grows no crops. By the way, my garden space expanded again and I'm back to having about 1/3rd in row crops ... However, the new tractor guy has demonstrated that he can stay on paths. Maybe I can get the garden extension into beds, too!

My fill-in plants are mostly bok choy and lettuce. This is a short-season area but I can still do some succession planting. Only very, very few things need all of their space for the entire season. Well, right now I can't think of any other than the pumpkins and winter squash. That's just because I was too lazy to squeeze something between them during the first few weeks before they began to vine.

Even if I can't make use of all the mustard greens in the sweet corn, they till in, are better than weeds, and, because one saved plant will produce a double handful of seeds, cost me nothing.

Steve

[tomc]

Welcome to the wonderful world of leaf stealin'. On trash day you won't be the only person out at the curb picking up the neighbors bags to weight them of leafy content. Ask before you swipe them if it will make you feel better.

Give your self space on both sides of your beds to set your tochis down. Or do that for as many beds as you can. You will thank yourself later.

[applestar]

Yes, it's a good start and possibilities abound for future planting. You are getting lots of great advice and I agree 100% about succession planting for best use of the available space. I also like that you have started composting.

I want to mention one more reason for staying away from butting the beds up against the fence/border with the neighbor -- although positioning the garden beds along the property line is a fairly common choice. You have no control over how the neighbors treat their yard, and anything along the borderline is subject to chemical over sprays and ground leaching... Also if the neighbors have male dogs, ...well you get the picture . They may also decide to plant a tree or build a shed just on the other side of the line, or, or, or....

So even a small buffer zone of a path along the fence on the other side of the beds is a good idea, and not only for sun exposure or accessibility.

[JodiInVA-USA]

Tomc, my pilfering of garden crews' bags at the curb has already begun! I've swiped a few bags of leaves and/or grass clippings. Then I wondered about this, though - especially the grass clippings: Not knowing what these neighbors' lawn services might use in terms of chemicals, maybe I'm introducing poison into my property? Or am I being too paranoid? In any case, after taking one or two bags of clippings, I stopped for that reason. And those clippings went into an ornamental (non-edible) part of the yard outside the fruit/veg area, so hopefully not too much damage done, in worst case scenario.

Applestar: Those are additional good thoughts about not butting up against the neighbors' property line. Actually, that fence just separates one part of our back yard from another part (swimming pool area). And we don't have a male dog. But I will need to be thoughtful about what we do just on the other side of the fence. The pool is at a bit of a distance, so I'm hoping there won't be pool water making its way over. I don't plan to use any nasty chemicals on the ground or plants on our property, but there may be other choices I need to think about, given the proximity to the asparagus, including not blocking the sun.

[imafan26]

Since you have not put in the other beds yet, you might map out with flour on the ground a North South orientation. Think outside of the box, you can do diagonals too. I have a small home garden 8x16 ft oval. I actually get a lot out of it but with this shape I do have to walk in it. Not ideal but the bed came with the house. I converted the former rock garden into a veggie garden. I plant a lot of the bigger things in pots in other parts of the yard and outside the garden to conserve garden space.

Square foot gardening is great and many people do that to maximize their production. I found the concentration of plants to be a little too tight and over the years I have spaced things out more and decided that some things like carrots were not easy for me to grow and relatively cheap to buy, so I only grow that when I have the space for it. I can only grow it at this time of the year anyway. I had to restart my asparagus patch but it should do fine next to a fence that is not solid. Mine is up against a wire fence and it doubles as a border hedge in my community garden. Bigger plants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and Toscano kale are planted in pots outside the garden to save space. I don't like to mix annuals and perennials so I put long term plant like hot peppers, chives, green onions, parsley together in one section. I also only need one clump (o.k. it is a large clump) of chives and a couple of gallon pots of green onions to provide all I need. I get the best value from my space from cut and come again and multiple harvest plants. Swiss chard, kale, cutting celery, chayote (fruit and tips), beans, squash (on an overhead trellis), and the culinary herbs. Plan to plant only as much of the short harvest crops as you can use and plant in succession. (Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, radish). Invasive plants need to be isolated in pots.