I don't use raised beds so can't comment on those plans but have a couple of comments on your plan. I'm a pepper/tomato grower and I plant peppers and tomatoes on 2 foot centers, so only comment here is habs can get pretty big and produce alot so you should have enough to truck farm them. Your sweet potato vines will run outside the beds. You need at least 2 tomatillos which you have, but they get pretty big and produce a lot of fruit - may want to put them and the habes on the ends. Lastly, I don't think you have enough room for you squash/zukes. I'd put one hill of 4 plants right in the middle of the space you allotted. Finally, you'll have lots of jalapenos - 2 plants give me all I can eat, pickle and give away. Hope this helps.

I got rid of one habanero and one jalepeno plant. I want enough to make salsa, not start a supply chain with. The habs and tomatillos are moved to the ends.

After the changes, the space for the squash and zucchinis went from about 5 ft to 8 ft. Do you think a two ft mound for yellow squash and a two ft mound for zucchini will do well in that space?

I'm ok with the sweet potato vines spilling out. The tomatoes and tomatillos will be caged.

Revised plan:
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lagataverde, congratulations on your new garden! (and having an enthusiastic hubby to boot ;)) You will be amazed at the amount of food you can grow in these beds. I started with a 4 x 16 and a couple of 4 x 8 beds. I would have been over the moon with yours.

A good book to check out in the libray is John Jeavon's "How to grow more vegetables.." He has some good charts for planning/planting intensively in there that might be helpful for you to maximize your production.

My only other suggestion is unless you have a very LARGE family or want to eat zucchini for 2 meals every day for a couple of months, plant only one or possibly two of them. One has been more than enough for the two of us!

I see a lot of trees, including one near the beds. How is your sun?

I would suggest you give serious reconsideration to using the landscape fabric and hardware cloth on the bottom of the beds. Others have posted in the past about problems with this approach - specifically soil drainage problems and water ponding in the beds. You'd hate to have to dig up the beds to remove it all.

May I ask why you feel you need these items? Are moles and voles a serious problem in your yard? Weeds can be effectively eliminated by using cardboard in the bottom and it will not interfere with drainage over time it will decompose.

Dave

swjonthebay- I'll have to make a trip to the library and see if I can find that book. We'll cut the squash and zucchini back to two each and plant some romaine and red leaf in the extra space.

reign- During the summer, that side of the house gets 7-8 hours of sunlight. The back third of the yard gets shaded in the morning, but we are not putting the garden all the way back. The tree near the garden is not in front of the sun (it shades the rest of the yard). We are also taking out two trees this summer.

digdirt- Our reasoning behind the landscape fabric and hardware cloth is to prevent any problems down the road. I would hate for the preventative measures to cause problems though. We are going to remove the sod layer and level things out before placing the garden. Do you think a weed barrier is even necessary?

I don't think we have moles, but I see quite a few 2-3" critter holes around the nearby flowerbed, so I think we have voles.

I too would skip the landscape fabric. I think it will restrict worms from coming into your garden. I wouldn't even dig out the sod. You can put a layer of cardboard or a thick layer of newspaper down instead of the fabric.

If any of your neighbors garden (veggie or flowers) ask them what kind of critters are a problem. My neighbor has been very helpful in teaching me about the burrowing animals in our area (of course, she's a biologist, so she knows a lot more about pocket gophers than most...).

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

We are going to return the landscape fabric tonight. The ground is lumpy and not level, so removing the sod is going to be the result of leveling/

We talked to our neighbor last night. He said they have moles and voles. They had problems with aphids, grubs and japanese beetles. Do you think getting some praying mantis will control the beetles and aphids?

Hmmm...I would get rid of the landscape fabric and I would also look into getting bulk soil and compost. How many bags are you going to need to fill those beds? That has to be a huge cost.
Rick

Congrats on the garden...mine keeps expanding!

Question...what zone are you? The broccoli is a cool weather crop, and you will have a bare spot in the garden come late June or July. Have you considered what you are going to plant in its place?

As far as the zucchini goes, be sure to pick it early and often! If the squash gets too big, you will not get as many NOR will they be as tasty. The skin is supposed to be tender, and at a small size, you can barely tell it is there. But, at a larger size the skin is tough and nasty. Secondly, to help keep the zucchini from getting to big, I would PULL one in July. Replant a new plant in its place. Then, pull the second in August, and replant again with a new plant. The zucchini will keep on coming, but you won't be overrun with too many, AND you won't have the plants sprawled out all over the rest of your garden!

The soil is expensive, but I would rather avoid the weeds associated with bulk soil. We did the front yard when we moved in last summer. Half was done with bagged soil, the other with bulk. The bulk sections are a nightmare with the weeds.

My calculations put it at just over 7 cubic yards of fill. That's quite a bit if you are buying bagged material, soI would echo Rick's suggestion and start looking at bulk soil and compost. However, looking at the photos, it seems that you may have already purchased the materials.

As for your plans, I would say they look good, with two comments. One - Zucchini - There is an old joke about zucchini (that only gardeners really find funny btw). Why does everyone lock their cars at the community garden? So they don't come out an find their car full of zucchini. Seriously, one well fed and healthy plant will provide enough zucchini for one family, unless you love it enough to be eating it every day.

Two - Lettuce - there seems to be a conspicuous lack of greens in the garden. Tis a shame, because spinach, lettuce, kale, arugula, mustards, etc. are so easy to grow, take up such small space, and really make the garden an active "grocery aisle". One of my wife's favourite garden tasks (indeed, one of the few she actually tolerates) is walking into the garden to collect salad greens for supper. I would consider (if I were you) on cutting back on the tomatillos or the soy beans and trying to squeeze in some salad greens.

The soil is expensive, but I would rather avoid the weeds associated with bulk soil. We already have a lot of it. My concern with the soil is whether or not a 50/50 top soil/garden soil mix will be good.

I keep getting warned about the squash and zucchini, so I think i'll start with one of each plant. We like it, but not as an everyday diet.

I wanted romaine and red leaf, but it kind of fell out. I think with the recommended removals, I'll be able to add the lettuces back in.

I wouldn't just go with topsoil/garden soil - I maybe 50% garden soil and compost. But you definately want compost.

I wish I had put harware cloth or chicken wire under my bed, since moles decided the worms in there were just yummy last summer. I may do it with my next bed.

For your first garden, I think you've done an exceptional job of thinking it out and planning! Way to go! I think everyone has given great advice in regards to which plants and how many. I'd probably add in some sweet peppers and onions. :) The beauty of having your own garden is that you can plant what you like to eat. :)

Would a manure/hummus compost mix be good? We can start getting that instead of the top soil. It is the same price. If we keep what we already have and just start getting the compost, it will end up being 50% garden soil/25% top soil/25% compost.

I tend to fill raised beds with a mix of topsoil, peat moss, and composted manure (which is sometimes labeled manure/humus).

Some people don't like to use peat moss for various reasons (non-renewable, doesn't add much in the way of nutrients), but once it expands out of its compacted bale, it takes up quite a bit of space, and it takes a long time to break down in the garden. That gives a pretty good bang for the buck when you're first trying to fill some raised beds...and getting them filled in the first place can be quite daunting to the pocketbook.

The stuff that I've seen that's labeled "garden soil" has fertilizer mixed into it, so I've been reluctant to use that. I prefer to do my own fertilizing. You should read your packaging carefully, and make sure that what you've got is something that you want.

I think that adding composted manure into your mix is a really great idea. It will be good for the texture of the soil, and add lots of great nutrients.

In any case, it sounds like you're well on your way to a great garden! I'm a "plant right in the ground" fan, myself, but raised beds can have a lot of advantages.

I'll switch over to buying composted manure instead of more top soil. McDonald's Garden Center gives you a discount on torn bags or peat, so I'll see what they have available.

I already have a lot of garden soil. I thought the fertilizer would be beneficial and give me to get a garden established. I'll take a look at what is in it when i get home tonight..

You may still be cramped on your squash as they can easily grow 6' long. Two 4 plant hills will fill a 5'x 15' area (my garden is made up of beds this size). I'd plant one hill of 4 plants (different varieties if you like)right in the middle of your squash area. If they thrive, these will give you all you and your friends and neighbors can eat (unless you like to eat a couple of squash every day). About a month into squash season, my neighbors start hiding from me.

After reading the above posts, I have some random comments. The cloth acts a water barrier although the manufacture claims otherwise. Those holes you speak of are more than likely ground squirrels which dig from the surface. I would leave the sod there but make sure to turn it over and mix about 3-4 inch of your fill with the turned sod. This will prevent a water penetration barrier from occurring, similar to the way the cloth would. The grass and roots will add organic matter (mulch/humus) to the soil (good stuff). Keep good records of time of first product from each veg., duration of production, watering and fertilizing, general weather, etc. These are not records for the IRS but rather records to give a feel what went on in your garden. Don't get to hipped up about the soil composition, both clay and sand are important parts of a good garden soil ( I garden on 95% sand that is amended with cow manure. about 5:1).

Plants need only 6 hours of sunlight to produce to their max. Shade, especially evening shade, in actually good for the plants as they produce their sugars and starch at night and they lose less water when not in direct sunlight. That being written, I would leave the two trees unless they create a problem for the house. A mature tree adds between $300 and $500 to the value of a house which was figured into the price of your house when you purchased it.

I wish there were more enthusiastic young gardener out and about. Good gardening and let us know what happens.

If you wanted to save by purchasing bulk soils, you could use bulk for the bottom portion and use your bagged for the upper portion. If there are a number of weed seeds in the bulk soil, they will be at the bottom of the 12" deep beds. Without sunlight, the weed seeds don't germinate.

Don't get me wrong about the fertilizer-laden garden soil. If that's what you want to use, then by all means use it. If it contains the sort of fertilizer that you were going to use anyway, then you'll be ahead of the game.

I'm mostly reluctant because I prefer to garden organically, and the "garden soil" seems to always have chemical fertilizers mixed in. It doesn't fit with the way I like to do things, but if it fits with the way you like to do things, then go for it!

Ha, ha. I'm having a good laugh at myself. I love yellow squash. Zucchini is OK, too, if summer squash is not available. Thus, I bought 1 pack of zucchini seeds and 2 packs of summer squash seeds. I foolishly wanted to plant a lot of it. Now I'm scared if I plant them all, they're going to take over while I'm sleeping. Ha ha!

Can someone tell me how many summer squash I'll get from 1 individual plant? I don't want a repeat of the giant pumpkin disaster I had a few years ago when the vines covered my entire lawn and I couldn't mow most of the yard for months, which only netted 1 small pumpkin due to the cute little bunny that stopped by every evening for a pumpkin-blossom snack.

Also, can someone tell me how the heck you cook winter squash to make it taste good. I've never been enticed to eat the stuff, but I want to learn how to prepare it since it has such a long shelf life. Does it taste anything like summer squash? My main objective with this garden this year is to learn how to be self-sufficient. The way the economy is going, I have no idea what to expect next. I feel compelled to have a back-up plan. I also hope to learn how to store home-grown food at the end of this endeavor, but I don't see the point of storing something unless I can eat it.

Also, how do I store summer squash, and for how long?

Thanks!

We grow peppers and tomatoes so will add my 2 cents. We tried the 2' centers last year...not enough space, we could barely walk through the rows so this year peppers are getting 3' and tomatoes at least 2 1/2'. Stick with a lot fewer zucchini and summer squash as they produce like crazy, you probably have enough seeds to last 3-4 years. If you put in one or two of each you will have no shortage of them, keep them picked often and small. If you like salsas and poppers you will need more jalapenos and habaneros than you think..I seem to always run short so plan to grow more this year. Now I've heard that once you plant tomatillos they will come back every year...I'll find out this year, mine kind of got crowded in between tomatoes and peppers so didn't do as well.

Winter squash I cut in half, take out the seeds and strings. You can just fill with butter, salt and pepper to taste, or get fancy and use maple syrup or your favorite sweet taste such as honey, goes good with squash. You can also stuff with a meat mixture..yummy. Just put the halves in a cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for an hour or so. Delicious!!!!

I bought four varieties of summer squash seeds. IÂm not sure if IÂm going to plant all four, but if I do, it will be one of each in a mound. My neighbors and co-workers will hate me!

The cloth has been returned to the store. Our neighbor had moles and voles in his gardens., so the wire mesh is staying. We will chop the ground up with a shovel and mix it a little. This should make leveling the gardens much easier.

I already plan to keep a journal of everything so I know what works and what doesnÂt.

We planned on removing the trees before the garden was a consideration. The two we are looking at taking out are close to the house and not as healthy as the others. We will still have a bunch of healthy, mature trees on our property.

My reasoning behind the garden soil was because I assumed it would be the right consistency for the garden. I also hoped that it would be a quick way to get started. It is labeled as organic (not that I necessarily trust the label) and for vegetables. I plan to use compost and do my own fertilizer in the future. When starting a compost pile, how well do dry leaves do? We have a ton.

I wanted an organic garden, but gave up on that when I couldnÂt find untreated rot resistant boards. I just went with PTL. IÂd rather not turn this into a debate on that topic (there are plenty of posts on it), but from what I have ready, it does not have arsenic and a negligible amount of copper would seep into the soil.

There is going to be two feet of pavers between the gardens, so I should be able to walk between them. If the tomatoes and peppers are only spaced 2 ft, will it be detrimental to the plants, or just difficult to move between them?

Contact your local Cooperative Extension Service by phone or google it. They have a ton of info about preserving garden crops and food preparation. If you want more receipts, just google the item and you will have more info than you need.

Example: There are many different kinds of winter squash so to tell how to prepare them would be fruitless with out knowing what kind you have purchased. My favorite is standard Hubbard which you can not cut with a knife. I use a sledge hammer to brake them up.