Forgot to add: plans for a trellis at top, which is north.

editornj - you have nothing to fear in this forum, most of us are nice. The bed that you have drawn - what are the actual dimensions of it? Could you please list the varieties of each veggie, so that we'll know if the toms are determinate/indeterminate, and also the squash - is it bush or vining? Don't worry, you'll get lots of help in here.

EG

Here is a link that might be useful: EG's Garden Blog

I'm assuming PB is pole bean? Does x2 mean two plants or two squares?

Eek! Sorry about that.

PB is pole bean. x2 means two plants.

My space is 4x10, but this grid shows 4x5. I don't think I'll plant the whole box, since that might be overwhelming for me.

I got most of my seeds from Park Seed. I have no idea what I'm doing, and just chose seeds because they were on sale or the description sounded like it would work for me.

Squash: Summer Medley. Park says it's "upright" 3'x3'. (Does this need four squares? I wasn't sure...)
Vining tomato: Tomato Cherry Sweetie.
Bush tomato: Tomato Fabulous Hybrid, determinate.
Eggplant: Eggplant Lavender Touch Hybrid; upright 2.5'x3'

What else? Thank you SO much.

Oops, I forgot to add sweet peppers. Don't know where I'll stick them.

I think your tomatoes are too close together, and I doubt you'll get 4 in a square. I also think you could put more lettuce in your squares.

editornj - I agree with jleiwig on the bush tomatoes. It's just not possible to grow that many in that space. The cherry tomatoes will probably be ok, if you don't let them get bushy.I hope you have a tall trellis for those, because they'll easily get to 6-8 feet. Also, I wouldn't use that layout for the squash. A 2'x2' or 3'x3' space is more like it.

EG

Thanks. I don't know why I put that. I have the cheat sheet here that says one bush tomato plant per square.

I had no idea about the squash. Thanks for the tip.

Here's a revised layout. Thanks again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Attempted SFG layout II

You can do up to 9 lettuce in a SQ FT, but some don't like that close spacing..it depends on the variety. You can also plant more pole beans than just 2. Since I don't have the book in front of me, I seem to remember 9 being the magical number. Also I believe you can plant 16 carrots to the square. If the squash are on an edge, you can plant them in 1x2 area and let them go over the edge of the garden.

I did 4 lettuce per SF and they grew like gangbusters last spring. However, my brother sprinkles a packet down a trench and doesn't thin. He gets a hedge. I don't have the SFG book in front of me, but I think it recommends 4/SF. Trust me, if it's loose leaf lettuce, it should fill in the gaps nicely.

jleiwig - that's right on the spacings, 8 or 9 beans per sq., and 16 carrots. On the lettuce spacing, romaine is one that would be ok with more than 4 per sqft, but buttercrunch (bibb) would be pushing it.

You're welcome - editornj

EG

editornj - you need alot more pole beans than that - to even make planting them worthwhile. Just my opinion....

EG

Thank you, thank you!!!

What about the actual layout? Nothing will fight? And no one will hog someone else's sun?

I'll add more pole beans and carrots, and lettuce. So glad I didn't have to throw out my plan and start over. Yay!

editornj - In your latest drawing, are you intending on planting 2 squash plants in those 4 squares? I would only plant 1 - right in the center, and place a tomato cage over it (turned upside down). Concerning the shading possibilities....I think you're ok with most things, but the herbs are questionable. Maybe granny or someone else can chime in on that, because I've never grown any. Sorry.

EG

I think your herbs will be fine. My cilantro and basil both grew over 2 ft tall last year before going to seed.

editornj, I would suggest the following changes:

{{gwi:1263408}}

Granny

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

LOVE the suggestions. Thank you so much for your valuable advice, everyone.

(Fabulous blog, Granny. I'm bookmarking you!)

I think it looks very good for a beginer. My suggestions, give your tomatoes a sq ft each if your going to pinch out and only allow 1-2 main stems, more space if you are not. I would give most squash a 3x3' (9 sq ft) space if they are not a very compact variety. I would plant pole beans along the back up trellis w/ the vining tomatoes, as Granny suggest. I also agree that you need more than 2 bean plants. You can plant 8 pole beans or 9 bush beans in a sq ft.

My other general garden planning suggestion is to make sure that you can reach into the garden without stepping or leaning on the growing soil. I make my beds only 3ft wide, a much easier reach for me.

Good gardening, Mary

Thanks, Mary.

The squash seeds I have a for compact plants, so hopefully 2x2 will be OK?

Oh my, I have no idea what I'm doing. If plants start to grow from my seeds, then maybe I can Google how to prune plants and train vines. LOL. This is FUN!

Last year I did an experiment with my carrots. I successfully grew 25 in each square. I grew both the thumbelina variety and the nantes...just a way to get even more out of the garden....