I have not seen a row garden like this since my dad planted one in 1980's using a world war 2 victory garden guide.

the plan wastes to much space and plants to much okra.

in other words go back drawing board.

ps you have not said anything about soil or the growing condition that might help any one help you improve your plan.

psps the website you linked to help with the plan is clunky and crude.

Honestly without taking an hour or so to try to figure out your plan I can't make enough sense of it to comment. It is a VERY complex garden plan IMO with multiple images and constant need to refer to the key code.

Unlike the previous poster I find row gardens to be very common, especially in community garden plots where it is almost expected and certainly the 'norm'. So i find no fault with that approach and IF those are double rows of plants with only 1 foot walkways in between then wasted space isn't much. But I would be curious as to why you seem to be planting rows across the width of the bed bed rather than down the length of the bed as that would waste less in paths.

You'll get much more constructive feedback if you can somehow post a plan that others besides you can relate too. ;-)

Dave

Your plan needs to be based on your goals of crops, production levels, succession planting? We don't know all of this info so how can we objectively review your plan?

digdirt the reason for the clover is obvious; it is a community garden plot. the original poster most likely did not plant it; the owner of community gardens did .

The details indicate the clover will be planted 4/16 and harvested 6/24. Then planted again 7/2 and harvested 9/9.

"digdirt the reason for the clover is obvious; it is a community garden plot. the original poster most likely did not plant it; the owner of community gardens did ."

No, just as Nitsua said, it is NOT obvious that is the case. Rather it is obvious that the poster will be planting it. Thus my question as to its purpose?

Dave

Thanks for the comments guys!

I was planning on planting the clover - I read something about using it as a green manure, and to prevent other weeds from starting out. Dealing with weeds is a big problem with the garden plots - towards the middle of July, they are really a force to reckon with. My intent was to use the clover to control the weeds at the edge of the plot.

Am I creating more problems than I am solving? This will be my first year trying out clover.

Some other responses -

• My okra production in the past has not been great. Last year I had about 9lbs out of 30 plants (https://www.edenpatch.com/gardenplants?uid=1&inactive=1&pdid=102) - with 6 okra lovers in the house, that was pretty inadequate
• Similar story with egg plants - have never done well enough to have a glut of them :( Last year it all flooded and basically was a complete fail.

Ok then we need to find why they failed. Planting more of them won't necessarily get you more production, just more failed plants. 9 lbs from 30 plants is a pitiful return for okra. So can you ID the possible problems they had - lack of nutrients, insufficient water, pests, diseases, etc.? What sort of pre-planting soil amending are you doing? What type of nutrient supplements do you use through out the season?

I don't see the clover causing any problems except that Crimson Clover can get quite tall for a border and it uses a little room you could use for food crops. It is a good green manure but has to be tilled in to be effective as that. It can be mowed and used as plant mulch but like all the other mulches it has to be layered on thickly to be any good at weed control so that would take quite a bit of it. Straw, thickly applied, is a better weed control.

Dave

PS: and do you really love Amish Paste tomatoes that much? It isn't usually regarded as one of the best tomatoes.

Have a couple of thoughts on why last year sucked:

• Planted okra at the end of July - had major flooding and had to do a restart. I think it got cold before the okra got into full swing
• Planted them too close together - had them about a foot apart, should have probably doubled that

We do like Amish Paste - we usually freeze the tomatoes, and these do well with that. According to rareseeds.com, it looks like they are also the best seller.

I googled growing okra since I haven't grown it in years. The article I pulled up started seeds and transplanted for early crop. I plant almost everything more than once. your okra planted over a 3-4 week should have a greater chance of success. the article said 18" apart, but I would plant closer and add soil nutrients.

"thoughts on why last year sucked:"

So assuming the flooding isn't an annual thing and that your garden isn't in some sort of low-lying or flood plain, that issue was a one time thing. But if the garden is prone to flooding then that is the problem that needs to be fixed, not the number of plants.

Spacing issues is something we are in control of and easily fixed. The spacing guidelines are just that - guidelines only. They aren't rules cast in stone. And we can often get away with closer spacing than recommended simply by supplying extra nutrients like Jay said.

Dave