What do you think of my garden layout and some gardening questions I have

[Chickies11]

Compost is rotted vegetable matter, sometimes mixed with animal manure. Think of what is going on under trees in the forest. The leaves fall, break down, become soil, feed the trees and other plants. Compost is a HUGE subject all by itself.

Fertilizer is stuff to supply nutrients to feed plants. It can be strictly chemical or made from organic ingredients. You'll usually see three numbers, like 10-10-10. The numbers represent amounts of the "big three" nutrients plants need: Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium, always in that order. (Sometimes abbreviated NPK, those elements' chemical symbols.)

Plants need more than just NPK, just like people need more than fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Compost can help supply NPK, and other nutrients. It can function as a fertilizer; indeed, it does in the forest example above.


Look online to find the average last frost date for your location. Tomatoes and peppers will be killed by a light frost. They are not at all "frost tolerant." Wait about a week after your last frost day to plant them. Lettuce is totally different. It can be planted before your last frost date. It might grow very slowly, but a light frost won't hurt it.


Tomatoes: Determinate tomatoes ripen their tomatoes pretty much all at once. This is handy if you're canning them. After that, the plant usually dies. Indeterminate tomatoes keep growing, flowering, and producing fruit until they are killed by a frost. The plants can get HUGE. Mine have gotten so big that the tomato cage falls over from the weight. I would give your indeterminate variety a little more room than the other two.

Peppers are fairly compact plants. I think you could fit four plants in your pepper bed.

Lettuce is only big and bushy when it's full grown, and usually then it's getting too old to eat. I scatter lettuce seed over the whole area (row or bed) and thin out the seedlings as they get crowded. They are delicious at that size too; very tender.

Thank you for all your help! Especially explaining the "big three" in the fertilizer, I was confused about that before. I will probably add a pepper plant in my bed, like you said.

 

[Chickies11]

Go online to various seed companies and read descriptions of different types. There are hundreds of varieties. I really like Baker Creek seeds, and here's their website:
https://www.rareseeds.com/


If I didn't fence in my garden, I would have nothing. Deer, rabbits, woodchucks all eat my vegetables. Chickens will make very short work of your garden too. They love sprouting plants.


They need water especially as they start growing, so keep the soil moist. When they're big plants, you can water less often. When you stick your finger in the soil and it feels dry about 1/2-1" down, water. If they're wilting, they need water right away.

Okay, I will defiantly add fencing to my garden. Thank you for the recommendation for the seeds, I will check them out for my lettuce seeds.Good to know that they need more water when they start growing!

 

[Chickies11]

So I have one 4x4 bed (for comparison) and realistically you can fit 1 tomato in there, unless you're getting super compact "mini" plants. I've tried more than one and basically one will take over and starve out the rest.

So I'd do 1 tomato in 1/4 of the bed. Peppers in another 1/3rd, and lettuce in the rest. Try to arrange it so the taller plants (tomato) don't block out the sunlight for shorter ones.

Also I'd really recommend trying to start lettuce from seed - it's cheap and a very forgiving seed and you can just sprinkle it around where other plants aren't, and it'll sprout anywhere there's enough space and sun.


Hard to make recommendations if you don't specify what you're looking for. But for me personally, for tomato I always grow Sungolds because I like to snack on them (but because they're so sweet they're not optimal for cooking). For peppers, Shishito (fantastic pan fried with salt and pepper) but that's not a bell pepper, as I've had no luck growing those. For lettuce, I tend to go for buttercrunch types but don't have a specific cultivar I fancy yet.

Compost & fertilizer: https://www.gardeningchannel.com/compost-vs-fertilizer-explained/ I avoid outright fertilizing as much as I can (though some plants really benefit from it, so I do have a bag around), and instead have been working on amending the soil via compost and commercial amendment mixes.

I don't know your planting zone, best to look up your USDA planting zone as well as garden guides for your location to find out when frost is no longer an issue, and when temperatures are optimal for planting certain things.

For example, I seeded some lettuce today. I seeded arugula Feb 21st and it's coming in nicely.


"When needed" - there's not a magic answer. When it's hotter or drier you'll need to water more (like in the summer I sometimes have to water daily), when it's cooler you may not need to water at all. Also different plants may have differing water requirements.


See above.


I have my beds set 16" high and that keeps out the rabbits, so that's good enough for me. If you have a lot of pests or bigger ones (or the chickens free range) you'll need some type of fence around it.

I am going to try to get the compact mini tomato plants, so I can have more tomatoes taking up less space. Also, I think will start lettuce from seed. Thank you for the plant recommendations, I will try to find some! I'm pretty sure my planting zone is 6, according to what I have looked up. Thank you for the watering tips, I will probably have to water daily when it gets hotter in the summer. I think I will add a fence around my garden because I also have squirrels and chipmunks and some birds. My chickens won't get in there because I'm with them while the free range for 1-2 hours each day.

 

[Acre4Me]

Okay, I will add crushed egg shells to the planting holes. Will my lettuce still be okay in warmer weather? Maybe I should plant it earlier than the tomatoes and the peppers and then when the lettuce dies, I can have another plant to take its place in the summer.

Yes, good idea. Lettuce early, then something else. I suggest green beans. Get a “bush” variety (as opposed to a pole variety). Lots of good green bean choices. Always seem to do well - nearly fool proof.

 

[Chickies11]

You've gotten great advice!

A few things that I thought of: Which way will the plants be facing? I'd have the tomatoes facing south & the lettuce on the north side. Tomatoes need tons of sun & lettuce will enjoy a bit of shade when it's hot & the tomatoes are big. I might actually place the tomatoes in the middle row & the peppers in the front, on the south side so the peppers get full sun & don't block the tomatoes. I think you could get 1 more pepper plant in there too.

I grow in raised beds with limited space so I tend to grow UP. Plants are encouraged to grow taller than fatter here - its amazing how much you can manipulate that.

I also could not get away with not having my garden fenced in - the deer would eat every last bite. But it depends on your setting.

As far as types of tomatoes, depends on what you like! I only grow Brandywines, because that's what I like. If I plan on canning I do San Marzano, because they are canning tomatoes & grow well here. If you want snacking cherry sized tomatoes, Sundgolds are good & sweet. You may be limited to what you can find at your local garden store though, unless you order online. But don't wait to order, you may find it hard to find things!

Thank you! I like the idea of the tomatoes in the middle row and peppers in the front and the lettuce in the back. I had the tomatoes in the back so they don't shade any other plants, but since the lettuce will like a little shade, I will have them in the middle! I will add fencing because I have a lot of smaller animals in my area like rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and birds. Thank you for the tomato recommendations! I am not going to pick a certain one for my garden in case my garden store doesn't have it, so I will come in with some options! I will defiantly add Brandywines, San Marzano, and Sundgolds to my list!

 

[Chickies11]

Yes, good idea. Lettuce early, then something else. I suggest green beans. Get a “bush” variety (as opposed to a pole variety). Lots of good green bean choices. Always seem to do well - nearly fool proof.

I hadn't thought of green beans! I like that idea! Although since my lettuce might be in the back, behind my tomatoes, will they be okay with a little shade?

 

[Chickies11]

I hadn't thought of green beans! I like that idea! Although since my lettuce might be in the back, behind my tomatoes, will they be okay with a little shade?

I was also thinking of during strawberries after my lettuce. Although I think strawberries are the kind that come back every year, and I don't know if I would want them in my garden next year.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I hadn't thought of green beans! I like that idea! Although since my lettuce might be in the back, behind my tomatoes, will they be okay with a little shade?

A little shade is ok (and lettuce may prefer it on hot summer days) but I experimented with that last year and having lettuce behind the tomatoes didn't work for me - not enough sunlight made it through and the few plants that grew were very stunted. So there's going to be some trial and error - if one thing doesn't work this year, try rearranging things next year.

 

[Acre4Me]

I was also thinking of during strawberries after my lettuce. Although I think strawberries are the kind that come back every year, and I don't know if I would want them in my garden next year.

no strawberries bc they need to establish the first year, so less berry production the first year.

you could plant pole beans (green beans that need support bc they get 6-8 feet tall) in the very back, and they will grow up. But pole beans take longer to produce. I'm not sure how bush green beans would do behind established tomatoes bc beans do need sun.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Will my lettuce still be okay in warmer weather? Maybe I should plant it earlier than the tomatoes and the peppers and then when the lettuce dies, I can have another plant to take its place in the summer.

Might depend on the lettuce. I haven't had issues growing lettuce through the summer but I have cooler summers so the plants don't just bolt.

no strawberries bc they need to establish the first year, so less berry production the first year.

you could plant pole beans (green beans that need support bc they get 6-8 feet tall) in the very back, and they will grow up. But pole beans take longer to produce. I'm not sure how bush green beans would do behind established tomatoes bc beans do need sun.

x2 on strawberries, some varieties don't produce at all in year 1.

And yes bush green beans need sun... trying to think of what would do well in a slightly shaded area. I did spinach in the summer a couple years ago, under squash trellises so the squash provided filtered shade. They grew extremely fast and of course wanted to bolt in the heat, but I pulled them before bolting and got a nice crop of spinach for salads out of that.