Earlier I set three goals for myself for my garden. The first of those three goals was to plan the organization of my garden better, taking better consideration into the light sunlight available in the garden. Between a combination of Spring coming late to Wisconsin this year and work commitments, I’ve been a little behind in getting my garden planted this year. However, this week we got the garden in the ground, so we should be fine for growing season.
Our garden gets the most sun in the font right corner and the least sun in the back left corner. The garden is also arranged with the largest beds in each of the corners.
This garden plan places the tomatoes in the sunniest part of the garden. Last year, the tomatoes were in the front (bottom) left corner of the garden and just didn’t get enough sun. The cucumbers, however did well in the partial sun, and now I’ve put them into both of the partial sun boxes. I’ve paired the cucumbers with leeks/onions and with beans to complete those boxes as well. Lastly I’ve put the squash and lettuce in the box with the least light. The back (top) left box does get some direct sun late in the afternoon, but for most of the day is either in shade or partial sun, and squash seems to do well there.
Lettuce also does well in the shade since the cooler temperatures help to keep it from bolting. I’m comfortable planting the lettuce intermixed with the squash because, while the squash will come to dominate the bed, it takes a while to get started while the lettuce will have plenty of time to grow and be harvested before then. A bed of kale is also in the shade as it too likes being out of the direct sun.
The other decision that I made with my garden was to plant fewer types of vegetables. I frequently tried to pack plants tightly within my garden, relying upon the square foot gardening method, but, in part due to my inattentiveness, the beds often became overgrown which I think ultimately reduced yield. So I’ve pared back to fewer types of vegetables, giving those vegetables more space and in some cases with a few more plants than in previous years. That means no radishes, beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, melons, or pumpkins. This also means that the tomatoes have a full bed to themselves, which they had previously shared with the cucumbers. Also, by spreading out the cucumbers across two beds, I think that we can get more fruits from the same number of plants.
There is my garden, now that it is all planted. Next, I need to follow through on my second goal of using the garden to decompress after work and to use the increased attentiveness to weeding and watering to keep the plants healthy all summer.