Yes, that will work. One of the challenges in intensive growing is to get everything enough light.

The zukes and pepper are the crops that will get some shade from the cukes and pole beans, but they are going to get east morning light and evening light and will do OK. Shadows tend to be very short in summer which is when these crops will grow.

Peppers will do fine and I don't think you can plant too few zukes ;-) They are incredibly prolific.

Just go ahead and do it. Worst case scenario is your peppers take longer to mature and the zukes don't inundate your friends, family and coworkers. For that there is always next year. ;-)

I think you have a strong plan for this year.

One thing is for certain, you will get far more yummy and nutritious produce from your current plan than if you let analyzing the plan paralyze you from just doing it. ;-)

Happy growing to you.

Thanks - looks like we've been on the same boards today! :)

I may be the only gardener in the world who has never successfully grown a zucchini. In containers they never made babies, even though I pollinated them with a paintbrush! In the ground I had a spot that was too shaded. And then there were the cucumber beetles. The less said the better about the cb's! Maybe this year will be the year!

If cuke beetles are a problem go get some Safer's BioNeem from the local garden center or online. Spray plants immediately and every 7-10 days thereafter. Neem oil is approved for use in organic gardens and is used in health food type store products intended for use on the skin and ingested so it isn't toxic.

It must be used *before* the pests arrive to be effective.

I do a similar layout. Mine are 4' x 8' and I have three, side by side with a 2' walk between. I made the mistake of shading my garden with a tall lima bean trellis my first year, I arrange my climbers on one end now, oriented north south to minimize shade. I get a lot of shade off some tall pear trees to my west which really stinks, but I don't have a choice to chop them down, so getting all the sun I can is important. I grew corn in the shade of the beans on one side and the trees on the other and the corn produced, but not well. This years garden is layed out with sunshine considered. I'm no pro, still a newbie to all this, but I think it will work better than before. Shoot I'm growing beans IN my corn this year, which is more in the spirit of square foot gardening anyway. I didn't do that last year.

Maybe I'm thinking about North/South and East/West wrong. In my example, is my trells facing North/South? I could put it at an end, I just really wanted to grow on both sides and I think it will fit the available space better if I put it in the middle.