In the fall the sun will be lower in the southern sky so plant your taller trellised veggies in the north end of the beds so the short stuff don't get shaded. In fall plantings they will need all the sun they can get. How you lay out the actual beds is not as important as planting what and where within the bed. The exception is the squash, cucumber and zucchini plants will want to run all over the place so leave the squash bed plenty of extra room from the other two beds around the edges because they will run right out of the raised bed.

Lou

What's a plan?

Amberroses,

You asked "What's a plan?". I cracked up laughing because my instant thought picture was you tossing seeds out willy-nilly to see what springs up.

I think mrs tlc wanted a picture plan as how to lay out those three beds which is very difficult to do without seeing her yard layout. I tried as best I could to help but my dang cat chewed up my magic wand and now whenever I wave it the hens stop laying and the peacocks run off.

Lou

Haha - my 'plans' are all in my head = J
I do try to group plants w/ similar requirements (i.e. shade vs. full sun) together & also follow some companion planting tips - such as keeping beans away from onions & planting basil near tomatoes, etc.

I try to mix things up - a.k.a. interplanting - to foil pests & diseases as much as poss. - no straight rows for me!

If you have new beds, you probly do not need to consider prior plantings (IOW, rotating crops), tho next season you might want to do that.

HTH

Carol typed;
"I try to mix things up - a.k.a. interplanting - to foil pests & diseases as much as poss. - no straight rows for me!"

I have to agree, the only thing that I've planted here in a straight row was my fence posts.

Lou

Mrs tlc - My garden changes constantly depending on the available beds and the seasons, no plan is set in stone with me, I try to do intensive gardening with the space that I have.

Let's take a walk in my garden to see some of the crops and look at how big they get so you have an idea while planning for your beds.

Snap peas, cabbage and fennel. Notice how big the cabbage get.

Broccoli get very big, maybe you can fit 3 on the half of the bed

2 zucchini plants in half of the bed

Trellis in the middle can be used for snap peas or cucumbers, on the sides you can plant carrots, kale, lettuce

{{gwi:44346}}

I would plant tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in containers, they use space. Onions try to fit them in small spaces, maybe around flower beds? I fit them around my bananas.

To avoid diseases always amend the soil after harvesting and try to rotate the crops. Good luck with your new beds!

Silvia

Thanks for the helpful info you guys........ and the chuckles.... I know I have a lot to learn and I suppose that messing up sometimes is the best way :) Trial & error...

What I learned from last year: trellis for sugar snap peas needs to be MUCH higher so they don't bend over and grow back down the other side! LOL ... AND...if we get a freeze this winter and I plan to cover my beds with sheets, I need to remember to turn OFF the sprinklers so they don't soak the sheets into a solid sheet of ice that then lands on and kills all of my plants.... LOL Oh well, I did have a great crop of sugar snap peas anyway...

I'll have to do some searching for more info on companion planting... sounds interesting. I have no idea why to keep onions away from beans, but I'll take your word for it Carol!! I have 3 varieties of carrots and was going to plant 1 in each bed, but with the thought of crop rotation I guess that would be a bad idea and I should probably plant all three in the same bed.

Sylvia - as usual I love seeing your pictures and they are Always a big help and inspriation!!!! I didn't realize that broccoli gets so big so that was really helpful.

Did some searching on the internet and other forums. Found this link that I thought was great and wanted to share. I hope it is helpful to others who are new to veg gardening.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planning your garden