I'm going crazy...

Somewhere between the first flat of seeds and the one i planted yesterday...there was another bunch of seeds that i planted.  But since they are outside and bundled up, i can't see the date i planted them. But the list goes thusly:

Winter Squash-  Red Eye, 2008,  ( these were sooo yummy when i planted them in 2008, i will always plant these if i can)
Winter Squash- acorn,  Carnival 2008, pretty- if you don't eat them, decorate with them!
Melon-  Rocky Ford , 2010
Melon- Hale’s Best, 2010
Brussels Sprouts- Bubbles, 2008
Summer Squash-  Sundance ("very prolific"- is an understatement even as far as SS & Zucchini go ) 2008
Cucumber- Summer Dance, 2008
Winter Squash-  Long Island Cheese, 2008
Artichoke-  Imperial Star, 2008 - this is the one that i messed up last time, i hope to get beyond seedling this try
Cucumber- Alibi, 2008
Melon- Banana, 2008

So, that brings me to around 30 planted items.  And i still have more to go. I have gotten some graph paper to plot out what sort of trouble i have gotten myself into. This is based on the garden being 20x30'.  I made sure hubby knows that i expect this to be a minimum dimension, at least for this year. If i find that i cannot handle that size garden, i will agree to make it smaller. I would really like to have it 40x20' but for now and planning purposes 15x30' is good to start... i think i will have lots of stuff crammed a bit.


I did plant 5 of each packet of seeds, but i don't plan to keep all of them and i don't expect 100% germination anyway. If 5 sprout i will keep 2 and send 3 to my parents for their garden.  If 2 sprout, i will either split with them or depending on what it is, i may keep both if it is something they won't use.


I am also trying to plot which direction i need to place my rows to maximize the space, i planned for 3 feet between planted rows and it looks like i am losing a lot of planting area, but i know when stuff fills in, i will be glad i put that much room between things.  Especially the tomatoes which are almost all indeterminate types!

Scale is 1/4"=1'. The shaded areas are the walking paths and the white sections to the right are where the corn and beans and asparagus is destined. the back row in the top picture is where i plan to put the cukes, melons, radishes and winter squashes.

I hope to install some trellis netting in the back so the vines don't ramble too much, the orientation of the garden is pretty good. North is to the Left, so the sun will rise to the back and the space to the "front" of the garden is wide open for full summer sun all day long.

I did some more research on companion plantings and jotted down some  notes:

Plant the bush beans to the left of the corn to shade them
Start some basil seedlings to plant within the tomatoes
Start some parsley to grow between the asparagus
Remember  to divide the chives and plant them under the apple trees
Don’t plant the kohlrabi near the tomatoes
No sage near the cucumbers
Onions with chamomile , but not near the beans
Start borage to plant around the squashes, tomatoes…and oregano also deters stuff
No dill  or kohlrabi near the tomatoes
Broccoli likes dill and mint
Rosemary or sage  repels cabbage  butterflies
Thyme for flea beetles
No fennel near caraway, or coriander
Carrots next to sage and onions and chervil
Eggplant is protected by amaranth
Marjoram  and oregano everywhere
Nasturtiums are traps for aphid

So, now i have to get started on my herbs!


I did also get to check on some over wintered stuff i got from  Oikos Tree Crops. I bought 4 Beach Plum plants from them last year (they sent me 5) and though it looks like only three made it through winter i consider it pretty successful considering that my husband and dad kept forgetting that the fluorescent pink tape all over the flower box meant that something was living there....and dropped landscape timbers and construction debris all over them.... Great prices, discount on multiple items and they are no smaller than the sad little twigs i have gotten from other less reputable companies. But the Oikos stuff is really very nice.  I plan to get some blueberries from either them or from Pinetree.  Oikos also has stuff like hazelnuts and persimmons, medlar, pawpaw etc.  Got the JA's there too.


Ok, have to go plot the plant spacing on the garden graphs now...