Why are you planting broccoli and cauliflower now. They are Fall crops that are planted at the end of the summer growing season. Now is the time for squash and pumpkins.

They are only fall crops in some areas of the country. In the PNW/SW BC where I am they are both Spring and Fall crops.

As far as the OP is concerned, I don't think that's too ambitious. People may or may not tell you that is ambitious, but you'll only know by trying and learning from experience.

You just have to see what works for you . It's taken years for me to get to where I'm confident and I'm still learning :-)

In my zone we do broccoli, califlower, and cabbage both spring and fall, so I would think that should be ok for you . Good Luck !

thisisme,

Maybe in Arizona it is squash and pumpkin time, but in Iowa where SpringAngel is (and across the river in Nebraska where I am) it is still early spring, we will still be getting frost (and possibly snow) for another month yet. We can grow cole crops in the spring and fall here, with fast maturing varieties.

I stand corrected. It was 90 degrees here today. I guess I sometimes forget I live in a different world than most and its called Arizona.lol

To OP,
You are not too ambitious. Except for the vining plants,(squash..) do this siple math:(sq-ft/plant), Tomatoe =4,
pepper =2 , brocc/calif = 1/2...then multipy, add.
This is just a rough estimate to figure out how much garden space you will need.

I find pumpkins and squash do better when direct sown outdoors, right in the garden after the soil has warmed up. They resent transplanting and grow quickly when direct seeded in warm weather.

Tomato plants seem to do best when set out at six weeks or so from germination, when they're still young and stocky and the roots are not matted. In zone 5, that means you'd want to start them around the third week of April. Now is a little early.

Your seedlings will get lanky and unhealthy if you don't give them plenty of light. As mrdoitall suggested in your other post, if you can post some pictures of your plants and where they are growing, we can help you more.

I don't think it's too ambitious. I pretty much plant wherever I have space. I have 10 tomato plants, about 28 pepper plants, 6 brocolli, 6 cauliflower, about 18 cabbages and 18 lettuces, some herbs, 6 celery, 6 peas, many beets and radishes and lots of onions. That's mostly in containers and I spend maybe 10-15 min in the garden each day...some days 5 min just to turn the water on and off. I'm just planting out my squash with carrots around where they will be shaded and will grow about 6-7 plants and will get okra going soon as well.

Some of my radishes failed and some brussell spounts are bolting but that's all part of the learning process. You learn what works and doesn't work for you. No more planting winter radishes in the spring for me and brussells I still have a lot to learn with. I figure the more I plant, the more chance of having sucess and if some things fail, I don't worry too much about it.

Ania

Thanks everyone!

I hope my broccoli and cauli will do okay. They are still inside as last frost date isnt until the end of this month. If not I have another chance in the fall I guess. :)

Thisisme-I wish i lived in AZ. It was 79 Sunday and today it was 25 this morning and my car was frosted over. BRRR

I was planning on doing the pumpkins and squash directly outdoors so I have some time to decide.

I decided on the things I wanted to plant based on what I (and my hubby) eat. The tomatoes, broccoli and cauli are favorite eating at our house so that I would be buying anyway, so I am hoping the garden save me some money. The peppers are for my hubby. He wanted hot peppers but I know they don't grow well here (supposedly) so I thought I'd try the green peppers this year and see how they do. The squash I don't normally eat but I like it okay and the pumpkins is just because I always wanted to grow my own jackolatern. LOL I thought about doing some romaine or other lettuces too but I want to see how my rabbit fence does against the bunnies first before embarking on that. Maybe next year.

Using Seysonn's calculations I am looking at a 6x6 square for tomatoes/peppers/broc/cauli, then maybe another 2' long for if i do pumpkins/squash(that part is a guesstimate I remember reading something about 24" hills)?

Is that right or is my math way off? lol

Thanks again! I am learning so much reading other posts and the replies to mine. I will try to post pictures of my seedling set up and garden area at some point too.

not too ambitious. The greens are not too much work if you get in the habit of spraying them with BT. More important, you alone can probably eat everything the garden will produce. If tomatoes flush, blanch them and freeze them for winter. Even more important, if you plant a lot you will achieve expert status earlier. Not everything grows well where you are, everything needs to be tried once.

SpringAngel, I have my broccoli planted out now-- here in Iowa City. I just put it out the other day. I grew GREAT broccoli last year, better than I have ever seen at the store.

I know people who will not plant turnips,tender greens & collards in the Spring, only the Fall.
I have good luck in Spring & Fall. I plant the leaf collard, not the bush type.
I keep them watered & pick fresh greens in July & August.
I have collards plants that are four years old.

i know how you feel, i started out last year with a couple of those topsy turvys and about 10 pots. This year i decided to make raised beds and start everything from seed. Now I have seedlings everywhere in my house because its still just too cold out. I have so many tomato and pepper seedlings, i think i am going to have to give about half of them away to friends and family. I KNOW I am being too ambitious. lol

I have been gardening for a while, but last year was my first attempt at vegetables. I slapped together 4 raised beds out of scrap lumber that I already had around, and tried a little bit of lots of things. 3 tomatoes, 4 broccoli, 2 eggplant, 4 brussle sprouts, 1 jalepeno, 4 peas, 2 bush beans (all of which I bought as plants). I seeded and grew maybe 30 cucumber vines (all over the fence of the garden), and maybe 10 anaheim peppers, and a few bell peppers, 5 zucchini and a variety of herbs. Some of it was a big success and some a dismal failure, but thats how you learn. This year I have started everything from seed, and the veg garden will triple in size. I have found that growing 4 pea vines is a joke, even with just two of us eating from this garden I need at least 20 to actually use them in a meal, and 30 cucumber plants is ridiculous, we gave away 2/3rds of them. 3 tomato plants was just about right, but I am putting in 10 this year so we can make a freeze sauce.

I was very reluctant to start vegetables (so much work, farmers market veg are good and cheap etc. etc.) I absolutely loved it, and now am a bit obsessed and dont want to think about anything else this spring.

Good luck and dont be afraid

I don't think that sounds at all ambitious. I have multiple gardens and I can hardly keep track because they are all over the four sides of the house. Right now I'm in the process of filling four 16X 8 above ground gardens. One is filled and planted with tomatoes, dont ask me to count! Plus three huckleberries, a basil and an oregano. The rest is all tomatoes! I'm working on a huge bean garden, probably 16x40 in a shadier location in the ground behind the pool.
Greens, peppers and herbs, eggplants on the side of the house. Tomatoes and rosemary in front. Okra, carrots, nasties and cucumbers in big tubs. The only hard part is that I don't have a great watering system. I'm in AZ.
My garden is year-round. I still need to get melons, more beans

I think you just have to learn what works for you over the years. This is my first year veggie gardening, and I'm growing 8' of beans, a squash bed, four tomatoes, four peppers, and lots of okra. We also have lots of kitchen herbs in pots on the patio.

We did raised beds, and honestly, I feel like perhaps I could have done more if the cost of raised beds hadn't been a limiting factor - but I don't have to compensate for poor soil, or worry too much about weeds (at least this year) or invasive grass or those kinds of things, so I feel like it all just depends on what you have.

SpringAngel, not sure what area of Iowa you are in, but I grow a multitude of hot peppers every year in the southwestern part of the state. Jalepenos, several different varieties of habeneros, cayennes and the larger green chiles at a minimum and always have way more than I can preserve or eat fresh, and wind up giving many away. Dont know who told ya that ya cant grow 'em here, but send them over to see my garden this fall!