brownli,
Welcome! First off, don't worry too much. Sometimes the only way to really learn is to try. Most things grow pretty easily and you'll learn from your mistakes like we all do!

I think you should take a stab at the layout. You have a better idea of which vegetables are you favorites. A couple of hints:

I would put the strawberries in a bed by themselves since they're perennial. I would put the potatoes on their own too (but that's just me). Have you seen the potato bins or other methods of growing potatoes? Might be something to think about.

Don't make the same mistake I did with your onions. I planted them around my tomato, zucchini & cuke area and they were smothered by the rampant plants. I forgot how sprawling some things are. My onion & garlic are at the end of a bed this year and not near anything tall so they can get the sun they need.

Corn generally needs to be planted in a block 4 rows x 4 rows to have much chance at good pollination.

Don't be afraid to just start drawing it out. Feel free to ask for advice. We all do things a little different so just pick what you think will work the best for you. If you find you don't like that method, there's always next year... :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

I agree with greenbean, lay the beds out how you would like for them to be, then post a picture of it. It's easier to critique a plan if there's something to look at. Don't worry...you'll get lots of help here. :-)

EG

Ok, here's just one of my 100 plans thus far...the layout has remained the same each time but I just have no clue on plant placement...please critique...shout, laugh, poke fun...I'm tough enough to take it...I think...

Here's my daughter's design - broccili, carrot, tomato:

And here's how I'm trying to help her garden grow:

I don't know if there is a common legend to apply to the vegetable names, but here's my list:
BP = Bell Pepper
BR = Broccili
BS = Basil
CH = Chives
CL = Cilantro
CR = Carrot
CU = Cucumber
GL = Garlic
GLL = Green Leaf Lettuce
GO = Green Onion
LB = Lima Bean
MG = Marigold
OG = Oregano
PB = Pole Bean
PS = Parsley
RD = Radish
RLL = Red Leaf Lettuce
RM = Rosemary
SC = Swiss Chard
SO = Sweet Onion
SP = Spinach
STW = Strawberry
Ti = Tomato indeterminate
Z = Zucchini

Again, any advice will be appreciated. If I need to post this differently, please advise - hoping you can click and enlarge to read it better.

I'd put more carrots in those squares. You can easily do 16 carrots. I plan on 16, but end up planting 36 or more per square. I always want to eat a few young ones, so I can pull enough to thin the square out a bit. I'd increase the radishes too, but maybe not all in the same planting. You might plant half a square a week for four weeks.

I give the daughter an A+ in garden planning and also in nutrition...she has good companion plants, an interesting bed shape and great colors for her dinner plate.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

I really like the orientation of your boxes. Neat, and well organized. Honestly, I had to look over your drawing for a few minutes to understand what all of the different articles meant, but now I understand. Woo Hoo!

The first thing to do, is establish the prime location for the tallest plants (cucumbers and pole beans)

Box #1 - you're gonna want to place the vegetable that has the most dense foliage, and tallest growth on the north side of this particular box, against a trellis. In my opinion, this would be the pole beans, because the foliage can really get matted up, and the backside will definitely be shaded.

Box #2 - I'd place the cucumbers on the north side of this bed, against a trellis. The foliage isn't very thick, and the back side of the trellis shouldn't be shaded much at all.

Box #3 - against a trellis, on the north side - is where I'd place the indeterminate tomatoes. Unless you do alot of pruning, they will cover a trellis up pretty thick.

The placement of these particular vegetables in boxes 1, 2, and 3 will really open up the area between them to plenty of sunshine, and in my opinion be the ideal location, if it were my garden. I speak from experience, because my trellis placements go against standard practice - but grows stuff like crazy.

I'd dedicate boxes 4,5,6, and 7 to summer squash - that way, you don't have to worry about them taking over something else planted around them, and you'll only have to deal with the squashbugs (they'll definitely be there)in one location.

Everything else can be placed throughout the beds, always allowing the taller plants to reside in front of the trellised vegetables.

EG

Ok, thanks for the suggestions -
Anniesgranny - I've added more carrots and radishes - you've touched on something that was really confusing me - succession planting. I think until I've had a season or two and learn what grows well, some or not at all, until then I can't really put pen to paper on succession planting. I've been trying hard to figure out "ok, if I plant at this time, harvest at that time, I can plant something else at that time"....but for now I'll back down - learn a bit more. BUT YOUR suggestion to plant half a square each of radishes over a period of four weeks - now that I get! Simply stated - yea - I get it and think I can apply that forward! Thank you so much for your time today.

EG - thanks for your input as well - I've moved stuff about based on your suggestions but on one thing I'm holding stubborn until you guys blast me...the front of my garden faces due West (as currently designed). To have a trellis at each 'north' position of each sq bed - well, I wouldn't see much of my garden from the house except for the back of the trellises...oh sure, everyone roll their eyes..but, but...here in Texas the days are seemingly sooo looong and with so many hours of sun - I'm hoping that having the trellises on the fence side (east) will not damper the mood of my plants. So talk to me again - tell me if I'm making a huge mistake or if perhaps this could work. (I feel like I'm trying to cheat on my homework - sorry).

Here is an updated copy of my plan, with the suggestions applied - minus the move of trellis/north.

{{gwi:1261407}}

Oh - and AnniesGranny - thanks for the A+ for my daughter - it's for her that I want to learn to garden. She loves outdoors and digging in the dirt - always fascinated by bugs and plants.

LindaB

Linda, if the green boxes on your drawing are actually where your boxes will be located, then the information I gave you is spot-on. Am I missing something?

EG

ooh my husband never lets me hold the map when he's driving because I always hold it relative to what I see as in front of me instead of holding the paper straight up North - the north on my garden is orientated to the left of my drawings - so if you meant that my tallest plants or those to be trellised had to be on the north side of each box, then that's what I'm trying to wiggle out of...as I want the trellis to be at the (what I call) back of the box which is east. Does this make sense? Here is my space oriented N/S proper, the fence and trellis on East side....stick with me...I need all the help I can get...I'm blonde (kinda) if that helps....

{{gwi:1261408}}

LindaB, succession planting can be pretty scary. I have my favorite book (I've been using the same one since 1977!) that has a range of planting dates for everything I grow. For instance, I know I can plant beets in my zone from March 20 until July 25. So I just plant some in March, some in April, some in May, etc., and have a supply of fresh, young beets all summer. By using the sf method (or something similar) I just grab an empty square whenever one becomes available, and I don't worry about exact dates as long as I'm in my planting range.

The link below will take you to my spring planting schedule. I won't be planting everything that's on the list at exactly those times, but it gives me a guide as to what I can plant if space opens up.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Spring Planting Schedule

Linda, I'm with ya....the info I gave you was correct, but you can probably do the trellises like you want them. Have you figured out how much direct sunlight exposure the garden would get? That will really determine the possibilities of trellis orientation.

EG

You said you garden in TX, so you really don't have to worry about the trellises shading things. When one gardens in TX, some shade is a very GOOD thing. I've had SgFt Gardens in San Antonio and Austin, and putting the trellises where they cast some shade worked out very well, saved having to buy shade cloth...

EG, again thanks for sticking with me - yes, I knew you were correct but was hoping that I could 'bend the rules'! The area for the garden does get full-on sun from probaby mid-late morning until...well, sunset. This is new for us - as previously the neighbors had trees that grew well over our space which shaded a larger portion. They have since removed the trees/bushes and this past summer I just stared and stared at the sun-rich space...thinking....uhm, a garden?

Now I'll most likely need to protect some plants from too much sun and am trying to read on that now...yes, nothing comes naturally to me regarding a garden...I'm cramming!

Thanks again for your time!

Oh Anniesgranny! Thanks for the useful information - your blogsite is awesome. If you are still relying on a book from 1977, then it must be a good one! I'll check that out as well.

And sb158 - yes, the need for shade I guess is something I'll learn quickly - the sun here can be relentless often toying in the low 100's even before June....but not always...I guess like most places, you never know what the weather is really going to be...until it's passed! Texas is a prime example of that...never the same, and often a few seasons can seem to come and go in a single day!

So today I've rounded out my pen/paper list of what/when to help me through some of the succession planning and my DH has completed all my boxes, save one...short 4 feet of lumber....my measurements, my bad! But he just rolled his eyes and said 'no problem'...and headed out for more!!!

Thanks again to all - keep teaching and I promise I'll keep learning.

We often get temperatures of 100-110 in July/August. I didn't have a bit of a problem with my lettuce-mesclun bed through the hot weather. I have a 4x4 sheet of white plastic "privacy" (small openings) lattice that I propped up on some boards laying across four 5-gallon buckets, and it provided just the right amount of shade while letting air and water reach the plants. They were still growing strong when I left on October 26th.

Do check out Crockett's Victory Garden (1977). I don't pay attention to all the bug killers he uses, but his planting advise is right on, and the guide in the back of the book is invaluable. It really is my one and only garden bible...even over Mel's. I just take a bit from Mel's book and put it with a lot from Crockett's. My garden, being in the same zone as the Victory Garden, makes it so easy to use...it's written month by month, with all the things that can/should be done each month. It is mostly vegetables, but has quite a few flowers and fruit. My copy is dog-eared and the margins are full of my notations...I honestly wouldn't garden without it.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Thanks! I'm looking for the book now. And Mesclun? I thought you could only get that in the produce section at stores!!! (lol) I may have to revisit my garden plans and see if I can wiggle some in...somewhere. Thanks again.
LindaB

LindaB, I pay about $5-6 for 10 ounces of mesclun at most grocery stores, for a pound of it at Costco. My pet rabbit goes through about two pounds a month, so that seed packet more than pays for itself! I scatter the seed across an entire bed (3'x4') and harvest it by cutting, as it grows again. I cut about 1/4 of the bed each week and have a constant supply as long as I'm there at my garden. When we left WA to go to AZ in October, I dug up a bunch and put it in plastic boxes and brought it with us, so Cookie had fresh mesclun through December.

The bunny bed was planted in mid-July, just as it was getting terribly hot. I covered it with the lattice on the hottest days, and here is what it looked like by the end of September (click to enlarge).

I planted this in 100% dairy compost (cow poop) with a few handfuls of rabbit food (alfalfa pellets) scattered over the top for slow release nitrogen. And this bed was a mere 5-1/2" deep, probably four inches of compost after it settled. It was the last bed I built with leftover deck lumber, and it was all the lumber I had left.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Today's New Blog