Your setup looks reasonable, much better than trying to cram everything into one or two beds.

It's getting a little late to start tomatoes from seed. Brussels have a very long timeline; it may not matter. Carrot seeds are definitely OK.

You might squeeze 4 different determinate-type tomatoes in the center of any one bed; just 2 indeterminate types (or even one) would easily take over the central area of the bed. Plant tomatoes one foot or more in from the bed edge.

Lettuce has been hard for me to grow because of the slugs, I start it and let it get bigger before setting out. I find leafy cole crops easier to grow, like kale, especially wild red kale, and collards. If they are started before July 15, they will overwinter and can be cut in spring, or the small flower stalks can be cut like broccoli. I also like to grow turnips and leave some in the gound to overwinter for early spring greens. Spinach can take cool spring weather, but will bolt when things warm up. Some Asian greens such as bok choy like to be planted in summer as they bolt quickly from a spring planting.

Basil can be started early and planted out when things warm up.

Lettuce may have more luck in a raised bed where slugs are often easier to control.

Your plan looks pretty good. I would echo the comments on trying some determinate tomato varieties but be sure to try at least one of the beds with two indeterminates. They often produce over a longer period and are often easier to pick. Caging, pruning and tying them is another matter.

Many, many crops can and should be started from seed and it is not too late at all. The only things that are too late to start from seed are tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Brussels sprouts should be started no later than mid-June and can be tough to grow. You must control cabbage root maggots and Cabbage White caterpillars, esp. while the plants are small. Best plan is to cover them with a "floating row cloth" (sorta like gauze) until they're about 1-2' high. As they get bigger you have to control the blue-colored aphids that infest the crown leaves and the young sprouts that are just barely starting to form. That may sound daunting but its really not hard. Just requires attention and a little extra time.

Some other ideas for a new gardener are French bush beans, cucumbers, radishes, spinach and swiss chard. These are all easy to grow and the quality is noticeably superior to store-bought, assuming your thumb is at least slightly green-tinged ;-)

P.S. With radishes make sure you have good soil fertility, water often, thin them religously and eat them young. That way they grow fast and you get em while they have just that hint of heat. Yum!

Wonderful feedback. This is just what i needed! Thank you, all.

I will say, with every little thing i read, there's more i want to grow. Would it be unwise for a fledgling veggie gardener like myself to cramp the beds?

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Note that this is just "doodle" and not actual design.

Well, now we've gone a little overboard. And I'm going easy on you because rhubarb wasn't included! Melons, squash, and cucumbers each could take up a whole bed. And they would want to climb over the other plants, they have no sense of direction. You would have no option to water just the soil instead of wetting the foliage every watering (this can sometimes cause problems depending on the watering timing). Any squash should stand alone because their leaves will mildew and possibly affect the other vegetables. It's not that you couldn't get everything listed to grow, but harvesting could become a problem (spotting ripening produce at an optimal time and size), pests could be going strong before you would notice them, etc. You may be able to group onions/carrots and spinach/lettuce in the top graphic, leaving room for two more vegetables.

All the plants listed in the 2nd graphic could be fit in a typical community garden plot of 20x15 feet.

But then I'm thinking in terms of a row of this and that. Perhaps you are wanting to plant a sampling of each veggie.

Thanks for tossing me that life preserver, Larry - i needed to be saved from myself. :) I'll do a little editing based on what seeds and starts i find this weekend.

hello estrya curious if your in the Longview/Kelso area or Vancouver?? or where.. My wife is from Kelso and her family are avid gardeners and you'll have a good deal more summer heat than most of us in the Puget Sound area. So find your local Farmer's Market as they'll have outstanding vegetable starts at a reasonable price and a ton of great advice for your 'micro' climate. They love to share! Lastly, you can beat slugs with an organic slug killer such as Sluggo without endangering the environment. Good luck!

Hi Estreya,

I would highly reccommend restraint in planting. Try writing down the suggested row spacing for some crops and then going out with a ruler and seeing what is practical. There is NEVER enough room in your garden - the sad but true fact of life :-(

Mildew on squash and cukes is not likely to spread to other plants. Most plants don't get mildew. Also, your squash and cukes won't get it in the first place if they are spaced decently and watered thoroughly. They actually get it when they are under stress, especially from lack of water. It's counter-intuitive as most people will say it's mildew and comes from wet leaves. That's just not so.

Good luck! Remember to only plant what you think you REALLY want to eat and is better than store-bought. That's a good starting point when you consider what to plant and what to leave out.

In trying to keep it brief, you could construe that I equated foliage watering with mildew, but pepperdude is correct that it is not cause and effect. However, the occurance of mildew varies enormously by locale and year; every squash we have planted and was not stressed ended up very mildewy by the end of the season. There is regular debate on when and where to water vegetables and the potential problems involved, and that varies from veg to veg. After all, it's hard to water carrots without getting the greens wet!

Cukes can be trained to run amongst the other plants; and rather than allow squash and melons to vine out to their full length, once there are some tennis-ball sized fruits present, you can prune off any further growth, say one more leaf past the squash/melon. Late-setting vegetables (late August thru September) usually don't make it past the "cute" stage to maturity in our climate.

I think some of what you've got there would be challenging. Strawberries creep, and put out runners that establish themselves and then keep creeping. I would suggest keeping them separate from other stuff.

Herbs with tomatoes work well, especially basil, which can deter some parasites.

Squash and melons, as mentioned before, wouldn't work too well with the tomatoes. Also realize that the tomatoes, if indeterminate, can really go wild, which can be good, but you need to keep them up, supported, and off the other plants. Larry's advice overall was dead-on.
Last year I built a small greenhouse (20'x8') and also planted the same plants outside, all in raised beds. The difference was staggering. The plants in the greenhouse pretty much wanted to burst out of the thing (and I still had tomatoes into early December), while the outside plants, unprotected from variations in water (several heavy rains) and wind ended up average at best. The control of conditions is very important. If you can't build a greenhouse or a cloche (a personal greenhouse for the plant row), try to find some way to protect your plants from excesses of water and wind.

This year I'm just finishing up my 45' x 25' new greenhouse, because last year made such an impact on me. One thing to watch out for if you do a greenhouse and plant peppers is aphids--have to spray for them frequently.