Looks good. Just a few comments.

Sage is a perennial so I would put it in a corner so that it doesn't have to be disturbed.

Garlic must overwinter, so I would put that in a row along an edge.

Radishes are small and used up quickly, so they can be put in between other veggies.

I'm not sure how you will support your tomatoes, but if you put them against the fence you could tie them to the fence and/or tie their cages (or tall supports) to the fence. Cukes can be grown up the fence, as could pole peas.

Linda

Is that a square foot garden? If so, looks pretty good.

I'm on my phone so I can't see the layout very clearly, what r the measurements of your box?

Have to agree with Floral on Kale IF they are happy they will grow more than 4/sqft, but will they get enuff sunlight there to be happy?

I am having trouble with the orientation and comparing it to the map.

I like to plant the basil next to tomatoes. Also, If it matters Nasterium is a vine.

Thanks for the input! Both pictures show it in the same direction, up being to the East, West to the bottom of both images.

Not sure the kale will get enough sun to be happy lol but we can just plant 1 instead. The box is 17x4 but we are putting in two walkways to reach things, so it leaves us with 2 4x4 boxes and 1 5x4 box. I could arrange all of the tomatoes and peas against the fence but am worried because I am told to plant talk to the North side. Is that true? How bad would t be for everything if I did that?

To me the deceiving part is looking at the walkway in the pic and the fence in the pic. Oh and I thought the trees you mentioned were those in the pic, no?

But either way - yes the tall plants to the north but that is when they are in direct sun for 6 or more hours each day.

Are you sure this are will get direct sun for 6 or more hours each day? That's not to say you can't grow things there if you don't.

And keep in mind that whatever you plant will grow and lean towards the sunlight.

Hey the 1st year is the hardest in a new spot. Keep a notebook - esp. for things that went well, things to improve on, and things to try next year cuz when next year comes will you remember?

<The box is 17x4 but we are putting in two walkways to reach things, so it leaves us with 2 4x4 boxes and 1 5x4 box.>

You can have a 17x4 IF you can reach to the middle all the way around. I forgot to ask how wide the walkway will be? I like mine to be 4ft wide.

Esp. when up against a wall or fence I would prob go only 2ft wide for the bed.

I understand you can't always have 4ft wide walkways but when plants get full grown and hang over into the walk you may wish you had more room.

Do what you can this year, if something doesn't work you can always change things next year. That's what the notebook is for. <smile>

I was assuming each of the smaller squares was one foot by 1ft. Thus the paths are 2 feet wide. If so only the back corner of the tomato area would be further than 2 feet from a path. I don't think it will be much of a problem. The plot is actually really quite small and I don't think a barrow will need to be taken into the middle of the beds. Surely a person can carry stuff four feet? I think the main challenge will be the trees to the East casting shade.

It seems that you would also reconsider the amount of tomatoes being planted in a 4x4 area. Tomatoes need room because they will get rather large and you would probably benefit from only planting 2 tomatoes.

Good points floral - just 4ft is my preference and may be something for others to consider. And maybe something for other readers to consider when planning a layout. As mentioned garden plans often change from year to year. <I understand you can't always have 4ft wide walkways....>

4 Tomato plants can feed the neighborhood - no clue if they are diff varieties? Or if it was to fill the space? But time will tell at harvest if there is enuff room to get at them all.

Is there time to make any changes this year? Just remember the notebook <smile>.

I would only put 1 kale, 1 parsley and 1 cilantro per square. I also only do 4 onions per square.

Edit: I forgot to add that I cannot kneel down to weed or plant in a 2ft. walkway. We tend to forget that when we are planning. But IF you can that is great.

I think the other important point about walkways is to keep them weed/grass free. The plants we are growing will extend roots out to (and beyond) the walkways and borders we setup for them.

Both weed/grass will compete with your plants for water and nutrients. In many cases I will water my plants in the walkway as plants feed from their root tips so that is like a moving target.

So mulch to help keep the walkways weed/grass FREE.

fwiw - To me grass is a perennial weed that invades my vegetable garden.

If each small square is indeed 1 ft x 1ft, each tomato has four of those squares ie 4 x 4.

All my paths are roughly the width of my push mower. I've not had any problems working from them. The grass is kept out by sharp edges.

You might want to post this over on the SQ Foot Gardening forum for feedback too. Many have discovered over time - myself included - that spacing MUST be increased and # of plants per square MUST be reduced for good production. IME with my sq. foot gardens I think you are trying to cram too much into such a small space and like others have learned that many times more space = more production rather than less. Especially with a space that s already sun challenged. EX: 3 cukes rather than 4 in the space you have allowed.

Plus in your zone it is awfully late to plant peas, spinach, lettuce and the early spring crops so use that space for summer crops instead.

And I agree that too much space is wasted on paths. 1' is enough for access and often you don't even need that.

JMO

Dave

Go ahead and plant 4 kale per square. Plant 6 if you want. Start harvesting while young and thin them gradually until you are left with one per square. Same principal applies for parsley, basil, cilantro, lettuce, and onions.

Biggest problem I see is that you have perennial herbs mixed in with annuals. Oh, and that you'll have a bunch of empty squares come midsummer when the cool season stuff bolts. And that garlic is planted in the fall so you can plant something else there right now.

Rodney

My feet are 1ft. w/o shoes on. I am resolutely certain a 1ft walkway would be a challenge in any sized garden before and during harvest time.

Now the reality check would be how & where would you kneel down to plant or weed?

I have less problems with my feet than my butt knocking into things behind me while trying to deal with something in front of me when my paths are too narrow. Although I can't really see that being a problem for the OP, looks like just grass behind the path. Plus they have a really nice little ledge to sit on and work sideways if necessary, butt planted safely.

The only thing I gasped at was purposely planting nasturtium in a garden bed. Here, that entire box would become a nasturtium bed, forever and ever, amen.

Maybe I've been looking at this all wrong is the bed going to be the soil area within the paving stones? Are those stones 1ft? IF so that bed is even smaller than I thought. And some of those blocks in the layout are then only 6in?

The OP already said the bed was 17x4 feet. Meaning that each block in the layout is 1 square foot. That also means the cap stones are 2 feet long (17 feet divided by 8.5 stones).

Rodney

I know what the OP said but I thought they were building a new bed. So IF you know is that the finished bed in the pic? To me it just looks smaller than those dimensions given. Look at the fence behind it.

The bed is 17x4 unless my partner measured wrong. Now you have me worried! But no, I think it's 17x4. Each box in my diagram is a square foot. The walkways are 2 feet wide which Mel's book said was minimum. Sounds like you all are a bit divided but since I can't get the back half of the garden due to the fence/not accessible, I wanted to be sure I could get back there easily. I just plan to put paving stones on top of the dirt when we lay the 4x4, 4x4 and 5x4 square foot grids. Might be a wasteful way to do it given there is good expensive mix under hose stones but that's how my partner wanted to do it and we should pick our battles in life! Can always change later if it's wrong.

The perennial vs annual point is a great one and I didn't think of that! I will replan so those things can be left permanently.

Also good point regarding spacing. The stuff you mentioned I think is planted closely in sq foot gardening so you just constantly pick it. But maybe I'll scale those numbers back for the things mentioned just to be safe. Given that this is the only place to plant and we don't get the best sun there I am skeptical of what will grow.

Also good point regarding the bolting. I was out of the country and couldn't do peas until now and they are my favorites and I know I'm probably being silly but I'm going to plant them anyways and see what happens. Even if I just get pea shoots, those are good. The lettuce I thought maybe we plant starts so it could get underway.

Loving everyone's suggestions. Good info for a newbie like me. If anything manages to grow this season (ha!) I will have to plan earlier and more thoughtfully next one.

<Each box in my diagram is a square foot.> I see two diff size boxes in the diagram - one for the tomatoes and a smaller box for everything else.

Having good soil under the pavers is not a bad thing, it just makes it a bit smaller.

I would plant the peas anyway. It seems each year can be a bit diff.

The wonderful thing about gardening is YOU can do it anyway you want - after all it is your garden. AND things can always be changed next year - for better or worse.

The tomatoes each have 4 x 1ft squares. It's just that the dividing lines haven't been drawn in.

There are some tomatoes for your area. I seem to recall a San Francisco Fog Tomato (not sure this is the right name, it was years ago I saw it). With your wet cool weather,you might be OK with some peas. I haven't grown them, but I recall shucking them as a kid you need a whole lot just for one meal!

NO NO NO Nasty nasturtiums in the vege garden! As Humsi said, it'll become a forever nasty bed!

I do have nasturtiums several feet away in my potted herb garden, but have to rip them out several times each growing season! Any nasties I see in the vege garden are plucked immediately!

I made the mistake of doing 2' paths between my first beds! It really makes it difficult to get a wheelbarrow in there to dump compost or new soil as your beds drop.

There are non-vining Nasturtiums but I agree I wouldn't waste rich garden soil on them. They'll grow in any odd cornier.