If all the plants are short, then row orientation is irrelevant. Taller plants cast a shadow, and the footprint of that shadow - and its movement throughout the day - needs to be taken into account. I use both N-S and E-W orientation in my gardens. Whenever possible, I place the tallest plants in the North side of a bed, in E-W orientation. This results in a zone of permanent shadow, so E-W orientation in the middle of a bed will result in loss of usable space. Because of that, I often place paths in that location, or a block of corn. (And BTW, those shaded paths are most welcome in the dog days of summer.) If I use tall trellises in a N-S orientation, then I try to grow plants of medium height adjacent to them, so that shading will be less of an issue. These might be shorter trellises of cucumbers, or caged tomatoes. In areas with hot summers (such as when I gardened in SoCal) some plants can benefit from being planted on the East side of tall crops, so they will be protected from the afternoon heat. Tomatoes really seemed to like that arrangement, it caused a major reduction of sunscald. If you are planting a lot of tall crops, then the amount of shade increases, and wider row spacing is required to compensate for it. I often plant adjacent 6-foot trellises for various beans & gourds. With E-W orientation, the plants get full sun all day, but only on one side; and rows need to be spaced 3 1/2-4' apart. With N-S orientation, plants get equal sunlight on both sides... but the rows will shade each other both early & late in the day. If spaced too closely in either orientation, then the plants will be top heavy late in the season, with little growth - or yield - in the shaded zone. Shebear brought up a good reason to use tall crops, which is as wind breaks. I plant tall trellises on both the North side (running E-W) and the West side (running N-S) of my gardens, to protect from cool NW winds. Here in the North, heat-loving crops (such as okra, eggplant, and watermelon) do better in those protected micro-climates. Furthermore, those outside barriers usually sacrifice themselves to protect the interior from the first frost. I also use tall trellises as baffles, to block or re-direct pollinators for seed saving. In various locations, both N-S and E-W rows serve that purpose. So really, the question of row orientation is dependent upon your gardening philosophy. If you have limited space, then using only short crops - or a row of tall crops on the N side - is the best utilization of space. Rows can be closer together, so you can grow a greater variety... and orientation won't matter. But if you have more space, enjoy picking without bending over, or prefer to grow varieties that climb (as I do), then just consider that planting tall crops is planting shade, and plan for the shadows accordingly.

Well, this depends on your garden plot and what your are growing. in the summer i imagine it makes little difference. in the early spring or late fall the sun will be much farther to the south. folks with greenhouses or tunnels will often orient them east west so that they can take advantage of the south sun in the winter. if you grow tall vegetables or grow vegetables vertically up a trellis then orienting your beds north south can create shade on the other beds for as much as half the day. in such cases, most would recommend an east west bed with the trellis on the north side of it. then your trellis or tall vegetables can shade the path on the north side of the bed. in the summer i have sun from sunup to sundown so i don't mind my trellises shading my other beds for part of the day since they all get plenty of sun anyhow. i don't think there is a clear cut answer to this. design your garden how it pleases you and just plant accordingly. although i'd say that if you want to have a low tunnel or greenhouse to orient it east west for sure. jon

I've never seen an advantage to planting low growing plants like peanuts in either orientation. However, I did an analysis of inter-tree shading with walnut trees several years ago that showed very significant shading effects when trees were oriented in any way that reduced early morning or late evening sun. The summary is that you get best results if you take a line of sight to the sun just as it rises on June the 22nd and align the rows at right angles to that line. There are a lot of caveats that go with that statement so don't take it as an absolute. You can cause shading effects in other ways besides just the way the rows are aligned. Since I get to vote, I make a motion that you compromise by planting them at a 45 degree angle from true east. :D DarJones

>> Maybe you should look at small scale rice production? :) Small scale? I figure I ought to go big or go home! Dam the south side and the along the east and west walls (sliding) then fill it with water. Add rice and shrimp, turn it into an aquaponics grow! Hey, with every door that closes, a new one opens. I only have about 140 linear feet in my backyard I can donate to peas/beans but that's probably as good as the 400 linear feet at the other garden - at least it is much better ground, plus I can water it if I need to. Another plus - it happened now instead of this summer when not only would I have invested a bunch of time, but been counting on the produce. So I will be delayed a couple of weeks longer. Worse things can happen! Mike