Fall Garden Questions on my set up?

I have just about finished what I can on my fall garden and will describe the set up, show pics a little later and I do have some questions as I having quite the dilemna here.

Ok, we will start with the yardsale table furthest from my back door, it has a shelf under it also. On it I have 6 EBs and in the EBs I have planted head lettuce, romaine lettuce, broccoli (early dividend) and under it I have in smart pots planted on the shelf, Granex onions, bunching onions, and Detroit Deluxe beets.

Now about a foot and a half in front of that table is another one with 5 EBs on it, planted in them are cauliflower and broccoli (early dividend).

On the picnic table about a foot and a half away from that table I have 3 EBs on, and in two of them I have 20 spinach planted (correnta), I have 5 spinach plants left to plant but what can I plant with them since it will only fill half the last EB?

In the far corner of the yard, my okra is still doing well, slowing down; but, still producing and right behind it, in HEBs I have 4 of them planted with cabbages, (savoy, red and bonnie's best), there are still 4 HEBs in between the cabbages and okra to put something in, and behind the cabbage is my 2 black eggplants still producing.

Now, radishes I'd like to plant, I can't plant strawberries til November or Potatoes til January. Keeping in mind that radishes do not like cabbage, it like spinach, and beets, it also does not like cauliflower or broccoli, so now what? What do I fill the 5 slots in my spinach EB with and what do I fill the 4 HEBs in between the cabbages and okra with, keep in mind, the okra will quit producing soon, and I will another 3 HEBs and when the eggplant does, well, that's another HEB.

Any suggestions are welcome.
joy

Peas are good companions to most everything. I think the only thing they don't go with is Onions.

Ray: You are right there; but, I'm not going to plant peas. I've got in mind: strawberries, onions, carrots, beets, radishes or herbs. I think what I might do is move some of the HEBs away from the cabbages and then plant my radishes in them. But, what can I plant 5 startings of that will go with the spinach? I have only 5 spinaches to plant in the one EB, and don't want to waste any space. Since, the cauliflower and broccoli is about a foot and a half away from the spinach, would planting radishes that far away be far away enough I wonder? And having both radishes and spinach in the same EB, would that work? I know, I'm determined to plant those last 5 spinach startings in the last EB; but with what I wonder? LOL
joy

Joy, I think it's ok to have Radishes near cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower just as long as they aren't planted in the same soil. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think it has anything to do with proximity but more so sharing the same ground. Also, I just was reading this....

Ray: Would it make a difference that the radishes are root veggies and the spinach aren't I wonder? I was reading pretty much what you were, only I started a notebook, where I have a holepuncher and print stuff out I read and want to keep and then hole punch it and put it in a notebook. I got mine from http://toadstoolponds.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/why-plant-marigolds-in-your-vegetable-garden
It was a great article and so I printed it out and put it in my notebook that I use when planting my veggies. Also; if I plant the radishes, they would be from seed directly planted into the EB, and the spinach is a starting plant, would that make a difference?
joy

Just go for it Joy! You've grown veggies earlier this season. We all learn from our mistakes =).

Just have fun and try to keep things simple.

Mark, as always, awesome info.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Moonglow and Ray: To be on the safe side I think I might just plant the radishes in an HEB away from everything else; I'm also thinking about planting more onions also. In about two weeks should be seeing something pop up right? Let's hope so anyways. LOL
joy

Here is my fall garden setup:

Another shot of the 2 tables and picnic bench, the last table holds 6 EBs on top with right now there are 4 smart pots underneath with onions and beets planted in them:

Here is some close ups:

And here is another one: this one is spinach, I ran out of white covers and had to use my red ones, that I was reserving for maters this Spring.
joy



This message was edited Sep 26, 2009 5:05 PM

more: this is my cauliflauer and broccoli.



This message was edited Sep 26, 2009 5:06 PM

Another one:

And here is another one with lettuce in it, head lettuce and romaine:

Here are my cabbages, empties okra and eggplant.

Howdy, Joy...

I'm constantly amazed at some of the companion planting books and misnomers. As much as you like to experiment and "see for yourself" I'd highly recommend sowing some radish amongst anything you want to.

I took almost ten bunches of radish to the farmers' market today, where'd I pull them from? From the seeds I'd scattered around all my broccoli, cabbage, collards, Brussels's sprouts rows. I've done that for years and foresee doing so for years to come. I've also had great success planting peas next to onions, too. (See pic below)

As for your set up, I think if you have any failure it will be the crops you have growing under the tables. They'll need much more sun that what they are getting under there, even if there weren't tables a foot and a half in front of them. Those crops need full sun to do well.

Shoe

edited for typos, most likely due to trying to type at the same time I was pigging out on turnip/mustard greens cooked with a smoked hamhock!

This message was edited Sep 26, 2009 8:18 PM

That's great to hear Shoe! I'm not a big companion planter myself but it's nice to hear from people that have tried it. Sounds like you have pretty much debunked a lot of info we all have been reading. Thank you.

Joy, looks like you are rolling along just fine. Like Shoe suggested, definitely slide out the Smart pots from underneath the tables.

Ray der Phan (Mark?), I believe there are some merits to "companion planting" but at the same time have seen many times where it isn't as cut and dried as books might like you to think. There are many variables to take into consideration. I like the idea of it but at the same time realize much of it surely must've come about thru "chinese whispers" or something, not from accredited experience and sources. After all, if all the big commercial farms had to do was plant certain crops with (or without) other crops I'm sure they'd jump on it rather than contribute to a multi-billion dollar pesticide/herbicide/fertilizer program, eh?

Shoe

Yup, it's Mark. Agree on all your points. I've been highly skeptical of companion planting from the get go for the reason you mentioned. But I have heard a few stories that it has helped deter various bugs. Maybe it's more effective for small scale gardeners rather than large farms? I don't know. It does seem like that a lot of websites just copy from other websites and it continually keeps growing.....whether it's correct or not. I'm glad you chimed in and set the record straight about Radishes. Thanks.

This message was edited Sep 26, 2009 5:54 PM

"Maybe it's more effective for small scale gardeners rather than large farms? "

That's exactly why I first became interested in it back in the late 70's. Growing up and gardening under GrandParent's guidance and such sure got me off to a fine start! Somewhere over time I got so if someone said "you can't do that" a certain way it became a challenge to me to really find out. That sure has made gardening/farming fun!. (I see that also in Joy's exuberance with gardening.)

So, and before we get too far off topic, I'll attest to the fact that some plants can certainly help other plants, a few plants "may" inhibit the growth of another plant, and certain plants will definitely act as either trap crops, repellent crops (for a time), or nutrient hogs.

Joy, nice looking garden you have planned. Hope you keep that camera handy this season!

Best!
Shoe

"Somewhere over time I got so if someone said "you can't do that" a certain way it became a challenge to me to really find out. That sure has made gardening/farming fun!"

Isn't that the truth! Rules are made to be broken and if at first you don't succeed.....try and try again.

Shoe: Beautiful picture of your beautiful garden. Sounds like a lip smacking dinner too. LOL Everyone is right here to about the smart pots having to come off that bottom shelf. I had planted them there as they are cool weather veggies (onions and beets) and don't like too much sun; but noticed today that the beets are looking thin and aren't standing straight up, due to not enough sunlight, I'm sure of it now. LOL So; tomorrow I will haul them out from that shelf and I will plant radish seeds too tomorrow.
I gave away my first fruits today from the garden, which is something my dad used to do, he always gave the first of his fruits away to someone. I'm probably going on a salad diet this fall, without the maters (sniffles - I like my maters).
joy