Hi! First, those Zukes need more space - some say 3x3, some say 4x4, last year I just put them in a corner and let them grow over the side, and they were ok.

Second, where are your trellises? I see beans and peas in the middle of beds, cukes on the side ... Those guys need to climb in a SFG!

OK, I made some changes. The red is where trellis of some sort will go.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jAmb8opCxLxelEqbxTiK_Q?feat=directlink

The link is above if the html below doesn't work.

Thanks again!

I think in your first box, your lettuce is going to get too much shade. Brussels sprouts can grow upwards of 5 ft tall, and cabbage and broccoli on the other side may shade it too if it isn't a faster growing early variety.

Your tomatoes will crowd your second bed, and I'm guessing your carrots may not develop to be much of anything.

Thanks. For the carrots, there's a book out that says they compliment each other (actually the name of the book), so I put them there. I can move them over a bit if I consolidate my herbs a little. Are there any herbs that I should definitely leave in a box by itself or could combine easily in one box?

My sun will generally go from right to left with a structure blocking the evening sun. From what you're saying I will probably need to move my lettuce, kale, cabbage & onions to the right.

Here are the changes to the bottom box I mentioned above.

Make sure you can reach those peppers/carrots from the front or side if your're trellising the peas and tomatoes. The trellis back there will prohibit you from reaching to that third square.

I agree with ribbit.
The zucchini won't really grow up the trellis as it's a bush plant and if you want to, you can use pea sticks for the sugar snaps if you didn't want to make the trellis the whole length. I think if you put the trellis near the zucchini, it will push the zucc into your pepper. If you're going to try to keep it in one square foot, I'd plant to let it grow over the side. Mine tried to take over the end of the garden last year. I think I had 3 plants in a hill.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plan vs Reality

Thanks. I am planning only one zuke in the corner to overflow now. I will take your idea and shorten the trellis to end at the pees. I'm quite tall so getting to things in the 3rd square won't be much of an issue.

For the herbs though, I'd like to consolidate my herbs a little if I can. Are there any herbs that I should definitely leave in a box by itself or any I could combine easily in one box?

Hi your garden looks great to me but I am a newbie trying to plan my own :)

Can you tell me what TGN is??? I am thinking of ordering some seeds :) Thanks again

I have no idea where the acronym TGN is but it was a site someone here talked about in a budget discussion.. Pumpkin Nook.

I think it looks great. I have to agree that I had no idea that zucchini would be such a pain to trellis. It's more of a spider-ish plant and it wants to droop and grow out downward. I would put all the spider-limb things on the trellis (more like a tomato cage thing) and they'd fall down or develop more spider-limbs. Mine wasn't viney at all.

I've seen pictures of a zucchini that was staked so it grew more upright. I thought about doing that, but I decided just to take them out of the main bed and giving them their own space and see how that goes. I hope rabbits don't love zucchini...

This question kind of gets buried in the post, but is a definite thing I am curious about:

For the herbs though, I'd like to consolidate my herbs a little if I can. Are there any herbs that I should definitely leave in a box by itself or any I could combine easily in one box?

Mint will take over. Others can be mixed well. Any annual I think would be fine.

Sinf is very right. I've been told by several old gardeners to keep my mint in a container and regularly weed around it. I've heard the same thing about oregano, but I have yet to see it occur in my garden. My thoughts about herbs are that if you have a place where it's not going to get an ideal soil mix or lots of sun, that's a great place to plant an herb. Herbs are hardy beyond belief and will tolerate about anything. My herb bed is basically in sand. I've tried to grow other things there and only my herbs have taken hold. My sage, mint, rosemary and thyme (there's a song there somewhere...) didn't even flinch during our snow storm this year. As a matter of fact, they look to have thrived. Couldn't get the cabbages to grow there, but those herbs are here to stay.

Some notes on your herbs. Parsley is a biennial, so if you let it go through the winter, it will self seed the second year. Put it in a place you can give it some protection over the winter if you have many nights below 0*F. You will still be able to harvest it all winter. It will go to seed in mid spring the second year, and give you new seedlings in late summer or early fall. A shade cage in spring can keep the seeds in the same square without too much trouble.

Sage, dill and basil are all tall herbs. Often a couple feet or more. The more you trim and harvest them the bushier and more dense they will become. I would suggest you flip them with your carrots next to the tomatoes so they don't shade out your other plants. All three are good for tomatoes as companion plants. They won't compete for surface root space too bad (not like the total root share of tomatoes and carrots, but not a big deal). But they will help to deter pests, and the dill will attract bees if you let it go to seed. If not the dill is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, and does seem to help the tomatoes in that realm.

Oregano is a perennial in many areas. It is also low and spreading unless you have a hybrid bred for something else. Thyme is the same way. Both are a freaking pain to keep in a grid. If you can, those are two I would put in pots or somewhere else where they can creep all over and you don't have to hack at them constantly (harvesting leaves for use won't keep them confined, you have to cut back the new growth, which branches, etc.).

Rosemary likes it dry, and can be a perennial if you bring it indoors for any temperature below freezing. I only grow my rosemary in pots because I can drown it if I put it in beds with my other herbs. A pot with both rosemary and thyme in it would do well, as the rosemary would grow up with semi-shallow roots, and the thyme would go over the edge with deep roots and keep the roots cool. Both need rather dry soil.

Chamomile can naturalize and turn to a weed very quickly if you don't harvest the flowers. Plan to harvest very well when they are in bloom, or be aware of where it will drop seeds to keep it in control. BTW, chamomile and lettuce are in the same family, so you can use that as reference for companion planting.

Unfortunately, aside from removing some herbs, you really shouldn't crowd these down any further than they are. If you use them and trim them regularly then they will bush out and fill that entire square foot easily.

Thank you all! I will post pictures when I start getting everything in. I plan on growing everything from seed and just need to get the light up now, so this should be exciting. Hopefully while the seeds are growing I can manage to get Mel's mix into the boxes (still need to find, no one made me an offer to deliver from craigslist).

My wife thinks I'm nuts (and I'm starting to believe her!!)!!

I don't know anyone that blends Mel's Mix for sale. My local nursery blends several mixes, but none were close enough to Mel's mix for me. So I did a mixing party. Two of us broke up the pear clumps and mixed it with vermiculite while one went to get the bulk compost. Then we all blended it together on a huge tarp. We made 6.5 c yards last year. Not fun but you only do it once!

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure