Hi. I want to put in a vegetable garden for next year. Could anyboby give me some sound ideas and pictures for a plot that is 6 x 8 with fencing to keep most of the critters out. It has southern exposure with no afternoon shade. I would like to grow some heirloom tomatoes; green beans; peppers of all kinds and some herbs. Thanks for your help with this. I would like to start preparing the soil for next years planting.
pearl
Any pictures or design ideas for a vegetable garden.
With a small vegetable plot, you will probably want to get as much out of it as you can. One way to do that is to put in trellises to grow your tomatoes and beans on. A book called 'Square Foot Gardening' by Mel Bartholomew has some good ideas about strong, inexpensive trellises that are easy to build using electrical conduit pipes (anchored on rebar).
Depending on how you want to configure your 6 by 8 space, you could make two 3 ft. by 6 ft. beds with a 2 ft. walkway between. Or you could make two longer and narrower 2 ft. by 8 ft. beds with a 2 ft. wide walkway between. Raised beds are probably a good idea so you can have plenty of good soil volume. You can amend your soil with compost now, mulch it (grass clippings, straw, or leaves) or plant a cover crop that grows over the winter (like fava beans), and be all ready for spring planting. I guess that comes pretty early in Florida. You might want to check in with the Southern forums for planting date info.
You can plant a lot in raised beds. Your tomatoes and beans, and even cucumbers if you'd like, can be planted on trellises along the north side of your beds. Pepper plants can be put in about a foot apart from each other. Lettuces can be 6 inches apart. Herbs can usually be kept pretty tidy if you are harvesting to cook with or dry for later on a regular basis.
Is your fence directly around the 6 by 8 plot, or do you have some space for maneuvering around the outside edge of the plot within the fenced area?
Here is a link to a site with videos about gardening in a small area.. And more.. One of my favorite and most inspiring sites.. http://www.gardengirltv.com/
You might also want to consult a book or website that discusses companion planting, so that you'll know which plants grow best together in close proximity and which plants don't. I'm sorry that I don't have any specific resources to recommend, but you should be able to find information on this subject by doing a search on this site, for starters.
I recently bought this book http://www.amazon.com/Gardeners-Guide-Growing-Organic-Food/dp/1580173705/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222892157&sr=1-12 and what I've read of it so far is wonderful. And it does include information on companions.
Also, if you're growing vegetables that need to be pollinated, sticking a few flowers in here and there can help attract the bees that you'll need for that.
Thanks for your help and all the information. I remember "Square Foot Gardening" when it was running on PBS. I wonder why they don't show it anymore?
Also be sure and read up on companion planting! Louise Riotte is the author but there are also threads on DG about it.
pearl, I recommend starting with a square foot garden layout. 6x8 gives you 48 sq ft to grown in. Our plot in the local municipal community garden is 3 x16, so about the same size. We harvested about 100 lbs of vegetables in four months from that plot.
Place the taller plants like trellised beans, tomatoes and squash (yes, zucchini, melons and winter squash can be grown vertically!) on the north side, with the shorter plants on the south side of the plot.
If you are preparing the soil for next years planting, you may want to consider a soil building cover crop.
For southern exposure with no shade, I might suggest you create your own shade for some of the plants. Either plant tall plants that prefer sun perhaps okra or corn on the west side to give some of the more tender herbs afternoon relief. Or, the type of fence I used was cattle panels which were four feet tall and would allow vines like cucumbers or squash to climb and provide shade as well.
Good point there pod. I should have looked at pearl's location. With the way the weather has been lately, I'd be prepared for using both shade cloth and frost blankets at short notice. I saw snow in Miami once. Made a mess of the landscaping.
Thanks again for all the information. I do have a southern exposure; and during the heat of the summer the plants around here tend to suffer from the heat. So having a trelllised plants would be very beneficial for the garden. garden-mermaid what would be a good cover crop?
I like to use the Soil Builder Mix from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. This is a mixture of legumes and oats. You may want to call them and see how it does in the heat.
www.groworganic.com
Pearl, may I suggest you get a Square Foot Gardening book (the latest edition) from your library or from Amazon (cheap). I am just finishing 2 years with my SFG, and I would never use any other method. It works so well and with much less effort than the conventional methods! If you check this out and are really interested, I could give you lots more hints about this method, not that I am an expert gardener, but what I have learned through experience. My garden flourished so well that my 14 yr old granddaughter said, "Gramma did you intend those plants to grow all over out of the boxes like that or did it just happen?" I have had plenty of tomatoes for my husband and I and many for friends, plenty of green beans, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, potatoes, onions, parsley, and many more-- in just three 4' x 4' boxes. We have used wooden trellises for our tomatoes, and we lay strips of lattice outside of the boses for cucumbers and cantaloupes to "run" on, making a very pretty sight. (If I can figure out how to send photos to DG I will try to do it.)
Esther: When you want to post a photo, just scroll the page down a bit when you're writing the message and click the Browse button. That brings up a box where you can find the picture where you saved it on your computer. Just select the picture and make sure the location appears in the Image box, and you're ready to Preview or Send the message and photo.
Yes, Esther -- get some photos up here! I'd love to see your gardens!