A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Hello! Laying out Garden!

Hello all! I am new here, and it's time to begin laying out my garden. I have a plot that is about 12ft by 7 ft in front of my tall front porch. Because of the porch hight, this spot gets full sun for only part of the day (when the sun is on that side of the house), and not the rest of the day. I also have a 3.5 ft by 7 ft raised bed that gets direct sun. I've got some fall crops as well that I'd like to do an early spring planting, as well as a fall planting. I am wondering which plot would be best for which crops, and how to plant them in succession... Can anyone help? How would you do this? I plan on growing:

5 types of tomatoes
2 typed of bell peppers
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Eggplant
Okra
Basil
Kale
Spinach
Swish chard
2 Beans
Sweet Peas
Winter Butternut Squash
Anna Swartz Squash
Mixed Lettuce
Carrots
Leek

Thank You so much in advanced!! I am So excited!
n

Welcome, n.
That is an ambitious project for sure. It would help if we knew what zone you are in. Here in California it is already too late for the cool weather crops but they may work in colder areas where the snow is just melting.

Oh , right!!!! :) I am in NorthWest Ga... umm.. i *think* zone 7??? am i too late?

That may even be zone 8. It is hard to say if you are too late. If you are not planning on putting too much money into this project (like in live plants), if you are using seeds then it could be a very fun experiment for you.
I live in a different climate so my experience is a little different than some. So I hope someone comes along with better advice for you after I'm finished messing you up.
These are your full sun/warm weather crops:
5 types of tomatoes
2 typed of bell peppers
2 Beans
Basil
Eggplant
Okra

And these are your cooler weather crops that you may be able to start right now outdoors.
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kale
Spinach
Swish chard
Sweet Peas
Winter Butternut Squash
Mixed Lettuce
Carrots
Leek

And I'm not sure about this one, Anna Swartz Squash.

My basic rule of thumb is if your nursery or Home Depot have the plants out for sale it is time to plant out very soon. I know many are starting their tomato seeds indoors for planting out later right now.
I hope someone a little more knowledgeable comes along soon about which planter would be best for which plant. I live in a climate where i put my tomatoes in part shade for part of the day so they won't sunburn. Or I have built shade cloth 'roofs' over them to keep out the midday scorch.
But if you use the Google custom search box at the top of each page and put in your desired plant you may find a lot of useful info from all over this site.

Ok, even THAT has helped me a lot!! I see may around here with the summer crops in full sun, so maybe they should go out in the open.. with my fall crops in front of my porch to have some shade some of the time.. I hope someone else comes too, but you HAVE been a big help!!

n

I guess I should add that even cool weather crops need sun, just cooler temps. At least 6 hours a day.

Oh, awesome! Our house faces East, so the area in front of our front porch gets at least that much sun per day! thank you!

You sound good to go then. So plant those cool things soon.

Haven't you guys had an unusually cold, wet winter? You might be ok if you've already planted them or get them out immediately.

gOOD iDEA

MAYBE 2MARO