Am I overcrowding the space?

[Inchworm]

Each section is 5 foot by 5 foot.

The neighbor kids will be here in 2-3 hours and I am just wondering how I'm doing. We planted the tomatos and peppers from the greenhouse yesterday. Today's plan is to plant the seed stuff.

I plan to hill up the squash, lettuce, spinach, radishes and cantalope then spread them around in their areas if they grow.

Whaddyathink?

:shrug:

:scared:

[NMDemDist2]

1. I think you're crowding some of the tomatoes a bit, figue 2 foot round

for them, you can put in double that amount of radish no problem

plant the lettuce and spinach around the tomatoes in a half circle 24-30 inches out on the north and east side, the maters will help shade the tender lettuce in the hot summer


made those mater plantings more of a triangle, so the middle one is almost in the middle of the square, and the two outer ones are more into the corners

did that help?

I got my first salad greens and radishes soaking for tonight's supper

:bounce:

[Inchworm]

2. Indeed it helped a lot

I will do all you suggested. Thanks!

We decided to wait until tomorrow. My "helpers" have some No Child Left Behind test or something they have to study for.

:yourock:

[NMDemDist2]

3. squash and cantelope are the only "spreaders" radish, lettuce and spinach

are compact and small

[Inchworm]

5. I am going to have to replant the 'maters

No biggie. I shoulda asked before I went and played in the dirt :)

The top of the garden is south. I am basically going to flip the bottom sections over, and the center tomatos need moved to center like you stated above.

That's good info about the lettuce, spinach, and radishes. I had it in my mind the lettuce and spinach spread out. I'll keep that in mind when I thin the babies.

Thanks AZ!

:)

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Hey, who's gonna eat all those tomatoes????

I grow about 8 varieties myself.

AZDem's right about the tomato placement -- give them as much room as possible. Also, she's right about planting lettuce where they will eventually be shaded by the tomatoes. The Bloomsdale would benefit from a little shade too (the Tyee will be okay for longer than the Bloomsdale as I recall.) The cukes can also run around the base of staked tomato plants and benefit from a little shade.

The melon, eggplant, tomato, and pepper will love the spot with the hottest sun. I don't know a Cheyenne pepper but if it is the standard upright bushy pepper plant, the cuke plants would be happy meander around the base of your peppers and eggplant too.:hi:

Radishes, I'd tuck small patches of them in all through the beds. They grow so fast that you'll have no trouble remembering where they are.

[Inchworm]

6. Meeee!

LoL.

I'm also going to learn to can sauces this season. I just keep on digging a hole for myself to keep me busy :P

Thanks for all the info.

:hi:

[bhikkhu]

7. The last time I grew a Lemon Tomato it took a 10ft diameter

...but I kind of let it go without a support. If you keep them to a constrained space plan on spending a lot of time pinching off new growth, and training them to grow up rather than out.

The last big crop I grew was about 200 lbs of Roma's and Dona's from 13 plants, which we canned as ketchup. It kept the stove going for days, which was ok as we have tough winters here, but kept us in excellent ketchup for three years.

This year I am growing Early Girls and a variety of heirlooms for the first time. I have an 8 year old daughter who is a true tomato aficionado, and my own favorite food is salad. Looking forward to eating like kings!

[Inchworm]

8. Oh dear

TEN FEET WIDE?!?

Hehe, I will be busy pinching.

Share a few recipes? I haven't started collecting them yet. I might as well get 'em while I can. (I made a pun!!) :P

:hi:

[ThomWV]

9. Generally speaking we have to use a lawn mower to control our squash

The squash may prove to be a problem unless you adopt the daily-hackings-with-machete method of manual control in preference to the more energy intensive lawn-mower pruning method of dealing with its tendency to spread.

[Inchworm]

10. Are melons the same as squash?

Woohoo! I get to buy another toy! Mmmmm, a machete :D

:hi:

[ThomWV]

11. No kidding, get yourself one

Gardening secrete tip number 10,469: Bamboo grows in every state of the nation and not only does it make a good way to block out roadways and noise but it also provides all the garden stakes you could ever want. The thing is that the grow these little side shoots that you have to trim off or they will tear your hands apart. You can pick up a machete for less than ten bucks and they are invaluable for cleaning up the bamboo.

I have horrible luck with melons and particularly with cantaloupes. I gave up on water melons and honey due melons long ago but I keep on trying with the 'lopes. When you get a good one it is a delight and their spreading wasn't as bad as squash or pumpkins.

For years I didn't mind that ours sort of took over because they crept down hill from the garden and in truth it just gave me less yard to mow. So from my point of view they could have grown on forever. However, over the last two years I've put in two grape trellises and four blueberry bushes in the area they used to move into. So last year was the last time I'll be growing any of that sort of thing in the main garden. I suppose we might still plant some in some out of the way place where it can spread to its little heart's content.

[wildeyed]

12. We grew something called 'Zucchetta Rampicante Trombonicino'

one year. Oh. My. God. By the end of the season, I had stopped watering it and was using hedge clippers to stop it from devouring the entire garden. But it made lovely, mild flavored summer squash and lots of them.

I planted it again this year, but in it's own bed at the rear of our property where it can ramble to its heart's content.