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Innovative Vegetable Garden Plans
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by Diana Roberts |
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Category:
Vegetables
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| When it comes to planting a garden, many of us seem stuck in the old ways with long thin rows of vegetables, each marked with a sign to show what is in the row. Well, it's time to get out of the old ways and do something different! First, raised bed or wide row gardening is definitely the way to go. Second, don't limit your rows (if you stick with the rows) to only one vegetable per row, instead mix them up. |
Too much
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| So many times we get to the end of a season and find that we planted way too many of one or another type of vegetable. Then comes the problem of what to do with it all. You can only eat or process so much, and even giving them away is a problem at times. After all, how can you use up 30 heads of lettuce in a short time? You may be able to use a whole row of peas (kids love them, they can be frozen or canned).. Some vegetables are less likely to be canned these days, freezing them will leave them more palatable and probably higher in vitamins. Of course if you are able to get tomatoes to grow in your garden, you will never have too many to eat fresh or to can. |
Zucchini
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| Why not try putting in zucchini as well as other varieties of squash to give you a change. Zucchini is best used right away, but summer or winter squash can be kept for long periods of time, though they do take longer to mature. In raised beds, you can mix them up a bit and if you have wide rows, give each variety a section of their own. Plant all squash seeds 6 inches apart, then after three weeks of growth thin them to a foot or two apart. |
Potatoes
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| Potatoes are another vegetable which keeps well for long periods of time, so they deserve a row to themselves or even their own raised bed. Plant an early potato such as Red Norland, then start digging some early and enjoy tiny new potatoes all summer long. In the fall, store the large, mature potatoes in a cold room. |
Peas
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| Peas could use their own row, though you may want to put edible pod in half the row, then regular peas, such as Lincoln in the other half. In a raised garden, you may want to put peas on the north side and plant something lower, such as radishes or carrots to the south of them. Once the peas are finished, dig the vines into the soil and plant another crop of peas. Green pea vines decompose very quickly and feed the soil. |
Spinach
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Spinach is another vegetable which you may want to plant a whole row, especially if you use a lot of spinach for dips, lasagna or other delicious dishes. Spinach should be picked all summer long to use for salads and when you get tired of that, freeze it for use all winter. Once one crop of spinach is finished, plant another. |
Cabbage
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Cauliflower and cabbage could share a row or bed as they are large and solid and will only keep a limited amount of time. Of course if you like cabbage rolls or sauerkraut, both are processed options for your cabbage. Cauliflower freezes very well and eating it fresh is great. Cut the bigger heads of cabbage and cauliflower starting early in the year for a continuous supply all season.
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Onions
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Onions, garlic and shallots could be planted in the same row, though more space should be allowed for onion seeds and sets than for the others. Plant the onion sets two inches apart, then during the summer harvest every other one to allow room for the others to grow. You may want a row for herbs and similar types of plants. Dill, basil, shallots and parsley could all be given a couple feet each and ruby and green chard could each have double that amount. If you plant dill very early in the year, you should be able to harvest it to use when pickling cucumbers are ready.
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Beets and carrots
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Beets and carrots could share a row, though if you like both, I would tend to give beets a longer or bigger section of the garden as they take more room to grow. Pull some beets early and use the greens as well as the tiny beet; these make great borsch. Pulling some carrots early in the year will give you some wonderful baby carrots and leave room for the others to grow.
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Brussel sprouts
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If you like broccoli and Brussels sprouts, these could both be in the same row or section of a raised bed. Once you pick the main head from the broccoli, spend the rest of the season picking the side sprouts to eat fresh. If you keep picking the side sprouts of broccoli, they will continue to produce more. Brussels sprouts can be first picked when they are the size of marbles. The plants will start producing sprouts from the bottom of the plant. When it comes to lettuce it is easy to get carried away with planting. Try growing both head lettuce and leaf lettuce in the same row, and add some radishes which could be reseeded after a crop is harvested. If you would rather grow just head lettuce, go ahead and harvest a head whenever you need it, even though it may not be solid yet. In this way, at the end of the season you will not be left with 20 heads of lettuce all at once.
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