February 18, 2014 - Preliminary Garden Plans

I'm just doing a bit of daydreaming and planning the 2014 garden.  I'll likely change my mind a hundred times, but so far...............

The East Garden.  I'm not sure of the exact measurements, so the beds may end up being a bit shorter, or a bit narrower, but this is basically what will be planted there.  Oh, those are "Mokum" carrots, not "Moku", LOL!  Seems I missed an M in there!  Also, the lettuces won't be planted as close together as shown. There will probably be six plants of each variety, and I'll harvest the early outer leaves.

The Kennel Garden (you should be able to right click on the picture and open it in another tab to view it larger).  I might try planting melons or cucumbers in the compost barrel, now that the neighbor has thinned out her trees to allow more sunlight in this area.


North garden indeterminate tomato beds.  Bush cukes are iffy for this area, but the tomatoes will be grown in the bottomless buckets, so there just might be enough room.  Maybe.  If not, I'll add a bit more basil.

 West Fence garden compact indeterminate tomatoes.  These won't grow as tall as the others, so I'll snuggle three plants in behind the June bearing strawberries.  They will also be grown in the bottomless buckets so the strawberries can grow all around them.

These will be my main crop of determinate tomatoes, planted all along the side of the house and patio in what I fondly call "Tomato Alley".  As with the others, these will be grown in buckets so they don't flop all over the pathway down the side of the house.

I have a few more varieties of tomatoes that I might grow, or I might just pick out three or four of some extra plants to put along the side of the shed.  I always grow too many seedlings, so I know I'll have extras from which to choose.  Or maybe I'll grow a couple of cherry tomatoes there, such as Sun Gold and Black Cherry, since both are favorites.

I've chosen multi-colored morning glories for the back fence, and will try to fit in some snapdragons, cosmos, nasturtiums and zinnias. Of course there will also be marigolds.

Now I need to figure out where the remaining crops will be planted.....corn, squash, melons, broccoli and lots and lots of sweet peppers.


9 comments:

  1. Wow that is a lot of onions. Most people that grow a large quantity of food seem to grow so many more onions than I do. I feel I have a lot of them as is and use them in everything. I'd be hard pressed to use more. They are starting to run out about now. Sadly. But some of them are thinking of sprouting too, so it is probably good not to grow more as they won't be edible later. I really need a cooler place to store them when I harvest them in the summer. And I should make a place near the floor for some of them. Right now I hang them too high so they get too warm. I wonder if I ought to put around some of my thermometers and find the coldest spot in the basement and make a little onion storage area for them.

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    1. Daphne, that is a bit more than I usually plant. I always put in about 120 Walla Walla plants, and probably about that many bunching and storage onions combined, but this is the first time I'm growing the storage onions from seed, and sets have never produced well for me in the past. The red onions are also a new addition this year, but the seeds were free (a gift) and germination was great. I never seem to end up with extra onions, as I grow them for my kids to use as well as our own supply.

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    1. Cloud, that will actually be fewer than I planted last year, as these beds can be a max of 8' long. Last year the two potato beds were 12' long in the North Garden. I'm hoping I can squeeze in yet another 8' bed!

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  3. Wow, that's impressive. I'm finalizing my layout, not using all the raised beds this first season, want to start manageable and see how it goes. Of course in my dreams I'd LOVE to have as much as you, but baby steps, I have to remind myself, baby steps, ha.

    Potatoes don't grow well down these parts. Sweet Potatoes do and I've got some slips growing now, going to try that in some containers. We'll see.

    Can't wait to watch your garden grow! :-)

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    1. 1st. Man, we all have things that don't do well in our gardens. I have never had luck with sweet potatoes! Can't grow turnips, or decent cauliflower or Brussels sprouts. I'm giving turnips one more chance this year, IF I have enough room. They are right at the bottom of my"want" list.

      I can't wait to watch YOUR garden grow!

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  4. Just beautiful! What a great garden plan- I am just finishing up my cole crop seedling that will go out in March-April here in zone 5 when our snow goes away! lol..that will be the day-spring seems too far off:-) In March I start my summer crops, but that just seems so far away right now with all that snow on the ground and more coming!

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    1. Robbie, last week we had two days of windy weather in the 50s, and it melted every bit of snow. I'm beginning to think we might have a spring yet! I won't start my cole crops for another week or two, aiming for a late April planting.

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  5. looking good. Gets me excited to start planting!

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