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Vegetable Gardening Square Foot Gardening

Need help garden planning - Columbus, OH!

7 years ago

Hi! I'm overwhelmed. We have a relatively small garden capacity, two 4x8 raised beds we use for square foot gardening and half a dozen large grow bags. It's more than enough for our family. But I'm wondering, how do you work around rotating cold and warm weather crops in your garden when you have limited space? Is it realistic to expect the cool season crops to be harvested by mother's day so that I can pull them and get ready for summer? In past years I've been more focused on summer crops and only planted a few early squares, but I want to up my garden game this year.

I'm open to trying new things, so if anyone has recommendations for early maturing crops or varieties lay them on me! What do you usually plant in each season?

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Comment (1)

Stacy (Zone 7a Piedmont) Hall
7 years ago
Hey there! I'm in Columbus as well, and I sympathize with the dilemma of attempting to plan around our increasingly irregular spring weather!

I also plant in 4x8 raised beds, and have settled on starting lettuce and arugula in the beds in April, by succession planting from one end to the other. That way, the first planting of spring greens has petered out by late May at one end, so I can put in my tomato and peppers, and still have some late lettuces at the other end. By June those last ones will be bolting, and I can pull them up and put in squash.

Also, I put in my cold-sensitive plants (tomatoes, etc) the 3rd week of May, not Mothers Day. I lost 40 plants from a Mother's Day hard frost a few years ago in Columbus, so I'm extra cautious now! :-)
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