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

[Chickies11]

Hi, I was wondering what are people's opinions on my gardening plan/layout. I'm fairly new to gardening and have done research and planning for my garden that will probably be planted in April/May. I'm thinking of planting them when they have already grown a little and are young (not sure what the term is for it), not from seeds. I only can have one 4ft 8in by 4ft raised bed that is still in the process of being made. I'm thinking of having three rows along the 4ft 8 in side of the bed.

The row furthest in the back will have three tomato plants. Because it's a smaller space, I want two of the tomato's to be a determinate variety and one to be indeterminate. The first determinate variety will be 6 inches in from the side of the raised bed. The second tomato plant which is indeterminate will be will be 2.5 feet away from the first plant and the last tomato plant will be determinate and a foot away from the indeterminate. It will be 8in from the wall of the bed.

The second row will have 3 pepper plants. The first one and last one will be 6 inches in from the sides of the raised bed. They will all be 1 1/2 ft from each other. I'm thinking of having a Golden California Wonder variety and two different colored bell peppers.

The last row will be lettuce. I will have 7 lettuce plants and the first one will be 6 inches in from the wall and the last inches will be 4 inches in from the wall. 4 of the lettuce plants will be romaine and 3 will be butterhead.

That's my garden plan so far. I drew a lay out for my garden below. Sorry that it's kind of hard to read. In the plan I also included some possible varieties, but I don't if those will be the ones I use since I'm not sure what the store I will buy the plants form will sell.

Anyways, some last questions I have are:
What are some types of tomato/pepper/lettuce plants you would recommend?
What's the difference between fertilizer and compost?
Is April/May a good time to plant my plants?
How often should I water my plants?
Are my plants going to have enough space? I basically looked up the spacing for each type of plant and used that to space out the plants in my raised bed.
The walls of my bed will be 18 inches high, because I had a big issue with animals eating my plants last year. Do you think in addition to that I should add chicken wire around the top of my bed?

Thanks in advance for any advise. Sorry for the long post.

 

[Acre4Me]

@Wee Farmer Sarah gardens in MA. @Sueby is in the general NE region too. They may be able to provide some insight.

 

[Chickies11]

@Wee Farmer Sarah gardens in MA. @Sueby is in the general NE region too. They may be able to provide some insight.

Thank you!

 

[Acre4Me]

Fertilizer is used sparingly...depends on the type. But, you should go with a balanced one like 10-10-10. Compost is aged mixed “goods”. Such as kitchen scraps, cut grass, fallen leaves, egg shells. NO protein like meat added to compost.

you’ll want to plant AFTER danger of frost, so that is likely in May for you.

your lettuce will like cooler weather and does not like it too hot. Your tomatoes snd peppers will like sun, and lots of it.

add crushed egg shells, and/or bone meal to the tomato and pepper planting holes - they need calcium to properly create fruit.

 

[Sally PB]

What's the difference between fertilizer and compost?

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.

Is April/May a good time to plant my plants?

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.

Are my plants going to have enough space?

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.

 

[Sally PB]

What are some types of tomato/pepper/lettuce plants you would recommend?

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/

Do you think in addition to that I should add chicken wire around the top of my bed?

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.

How often should I water my 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.

 

[rosemarythyme]

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.

What are some types of tomato/pepper/lettuce plants you would recommend?

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.

What's the difference between fertilizer and compost?

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.

Is April/May a good time to plant my plants?

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.

How often should I water my plants?

"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.

Are my plants going to have enough space? I basically looked up the spacing for each type of plant and used that to space out the plants in my raised bed.

See above.

The walls of my bed will be 18 inches high, because I had a big issue with animals eating my plants last year. Do you think in addition to that I should add chicken wire around the top of my bed?

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.

 

[Sueby]

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!

 

[Chickies11]

Thank you everybody for all your replies!

 

[Chickies11]

Fertilizer is used sparingly...depends on the type. But, you should go with a balanced one like 10-10-10. Compost is aged mixed “goods”. Such as kitchen scraps, cut grass, fallen leaves, egg shells. NO protein like meat added to compost.

you’ll want to plant AFTER danger of frost, so that is likely in May for you.

your lettuce will like cooler weather and does not like it too hot. Your tomatoes snd peppers will like sun, and lots of it.

add crushed egg shells, and/or bone meal to the tomato and pepper planting holes - they need calcium to properly create fruit.

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.