WOW!! You have your work cut out for you! Getting summer/Fall/winter/spring veges all ready at the same time?????
I'm helping my neighbor do some container gardens for Kaiser, mostly wine barrels since we live in wine country.
I'm helping her grow some herbs and giving her some recipes that are low fat low calorie etc. There are so many ways to use herbs for yummy sauces etc!!!
Good luck to you and please post your results, cause I live next door to the director of the flower show for the Sonoma County Fair, and he love this stuff!

ninja,

I plan on documenting everything with pictures. Probably to the excess, though I will link them to a web site for the most part.

The scary part is I have never, ever, grown anything in a raised bed nor have I tried growing most of the plants even in the garden.

But the way I look at it, I'm only 55 and I will not learn this stuff any younger so I may as well try it now. Besides, if it is a complete failure, I can always say it was done by someone else!

Mike

Throw a few flowers in here or there. It will add a lot of color and appeal to the bed.

Hi, don't know what your climate is, but it might be tough having peas, spinach and lettuce fit for primetime during August. Otherwise, it sounds like a great project. You might wrap your clear containers with an opaque material until you're ready for the exhibition; otherwise, the roots might avoid the sides of the containers.

I agree that a few flowers would be a nice addition - I'd go for marigolds, zinnia and nasturtiums to start. The nasturtiums are also edible. Good luck and be sure to post about it this summer!

Agree with lantana: Scratch out all cool crops (peas, lettuce, kale, spinach ...)

Agree with "beeone": plant some flowers to cascade; like allysum, nastotiums,..You can add some flowers later, couple of weeks before the fair event.

Depending on the orientatio/layout/direction of the bed, you will need to construct some trellis for the climbers.

One word of advice: You have to have some back up plants growing in pots elsewher. So that in the event some plants get bad or die, to replace them.

One of the types of peas I plan - the Lincoln Garden is suppose to be heat tolerant. The Oregon Sugar Pod I will probably have to plant a couple of times, unless this year is like 2009. June was far warmer than either July or August!

I do plant on some trellis for plants that need it and will have backup plants also.

Plus, I had thought about the clear containers and the roots. Until the fair, I will keep them covered, probably with Mylar (that emergency blanket type) not only to protect them from the sun but also to help keep the soil temp a bit lower.

Not sold on flowers, not that they wouldn't look great - I have a phobia of bees!

Mike

You have a phobia of bees, and you're trying to plant a garden. That doesn't sound right, since alot of your veggies will need those bees. Unfortunately you can't just tell the bees to 'clock in' at a certain time and leave before you get there.

It also sounds like you will have so many plants in that space that it will be hard to see any one plant.

Where I grow, you can't have peas and peppers at the same time. I planted Lincoln, and it wasn't as heat tolerant enough to have peas the same time as peppers. Wando is more tolerant, so I've heard.

Also Cilantro doesn't like heat either.

Yeah, I know. I'm allergic to poison ivy, unless I take a real good soapy shower and wash it off soon after being in it. But that doesn't mean I need to roll around in it!

I read a nice story today. A guy wanted to do something and called in all his top execs to discuss how to accomplish it. He had a chart and drew a huge, capital "T" on it. On the left side was Can Do, on the right was Cannot Do. He then drew a huge "X" on the right hand side. He was not interested in why something cannot be done, but wanted to know how things can be accomplished.

No doubt, this will be a challenge, a "huge" challenge since I have never grown anything, not even a weed in a raised bed. But I have been "gardening" for 50 years. I may look like a complete and utter fool, someone who should not be allowed around tilled dirt and the fair will disavow any association with my project. But I'm going with the "can" side and trying to figure out ways to make it work. The only value of "cannot" suggestions, which I appreciate, is to tell me what I need to do to ameliorate them!

For better or worse, I will post my results.

Mike

Sounds like a fun opportunity. That's a nice amount of space to work with. I've done 4 feet by 77 feet....but it was as 11 4x7 plots. It is enough room to showcase most everything you list...just not alot of any of it. With all your inground growing experience you should do fine....just be sure you have good access to water. The raised beds I've grown in need a bit more water than the flat land. The defined sides make for great gardening displays....almost no chance of someone trampling it. And yet they can stand very close to everything.

I think you will be fine with most of your crops. Maybe try shade cloth over a late planted heat tolerant pea variety. Maybe germinate your spinach in a cool place and then transplant to a shaded area. I've never had much success getting it to germinate in warm/hot soil. But my air conditioned home works fine for late July, early August sprouting. Some lettuce varieties do alot better in the heat than others...sorry but I don't recall variety names for them but they are worth searching out. They would also germinate better in cooler temps....maybe grow some transplants for them inside also.

I found it was most helpful to have some spare plants in pots that could be dropped into a bare spot if needed. Your backup plants sound like a great idea. Even if you end up not needing them, they can help keep you from stressing too much over potential problems in the main garden.

Best wishes for a successful display.