Help with my veg plot plan

[hypnophil]

Hi, i have 8 beds on my plot which are 7ft long by 4 ft wide, and one 7x7 next to the compost bins,i was hoping some of you experienced allotmenteers could give me advice on how many of each plant i could put in each bed and also which plants may go with which. I have other beds but have earmarked them for peas, strawbs, onions, salad leaves, carrots and parsnips.
I would like to plant:
2 types of sprouts
cabbage
cauli- not keen but have some growing
courgette- 2 types
baby sweetcorn
sprouting broc
normal broc
toms
peppers and chillies
cucumber
squash
turnip
swede
runner and french beans- 2 dwarf and 2 climbing
beetroot- doesnt matter if i cant fit it in.
Probably something else i have forgotten but any help gratefully received.
I can squeeze some things in other spaces or possibly make two more beds in the space i have allocated for a shed and sit down area.
Hope you can help
Many thanks!
Phil

[DaveInBraknell]

Hi Phil,

the 7x7 will be difficult to do anything with due to the size of getting into it, ie how will you get into the middle of it? Perhaps ons solution would be to split it into into 2, 1 7x4 1 7x2. In the 7x2 perhaps you could put in the runner beans ? They are vertical climbers so erect a frame with poles a bit like a raspberry trellis.

Let me re-arrange your original post into placements I would use and family, it will help with crop rotation:

Brassicas:

>2 types of sprouts
Slow growing, plant now, harvest nov-jan. I would allow 75cm between each plant to maximise potential thats one or two rows per bed again.

>cabbage
>cauli- not keen but have some growing
>normal broc
Allow about 45cm between each plant on a 4ft bed thats two rows with space my experience shows any closer they will get over crowded, or grow smaller, run a crop of beetroot/carrots/radishes/salad greens or something up the middle

<sprouting broc
Rememebr this is along running plant, and grows quite large and tall give it 75cm, you should be sowing it now for harvest Jan-March next year. Thats perhaps two rows per 4ft bed but nothing in between in the later development cycles (Ie as it grows bigger)

Depending upon what you want you could turn one of the 7x4's into a Brassica bed, interplant with Beetroot around the sprouting broccoli as a catch crop.

You didn't mention carrots either? These are relativeley low level and could run amongst some of the slower plants. Radishes also are excellent in this regard.


>courgette- 2 types
>baby sweetcorn

Cannot help here no experience.

<toms
>peppers and chillies

Challenge outside I would grow inside or under cloches, growing in the open will give mixed results

>cucumber
As above, but you could get out door variety.

>squash
Might need a fairly large section, not grown these.

<turnip
>swede

Relatively small requirements 30cm between rows, planting in June/July for swede, again harvest Nov give or take, so again potential for catch crop.

>runner and french beans- 2 dwarf and 2 climbing

See above, place these in long rows in your 7x2ft bed perhaps you could succession sow, from april-may along the line and have them cropping continuously for a while. Make sure supports in the trellis are well grounded.

Best advice I could give, get some square/graph paper and plan it out, but remember look at growing speeds and stick a catch crop in (Spring onions is something else you could consider? Where are your onion crops? You could interspace carrots and onions).

Granted you have a relatively small space but if you maximise the potential you could get a lot. My second advice grab a small vegetable growing book which has interspace difference in and your set.

Hope it helps.

Dave

[gojiberry]

I use growveg.com to plan my veg which only costs me £15 per year. It takes a little bit of initial setting up but tells me roughly how many plants per row and how many rows I can get into a given space. I also get a monthly e mail reminder to tell me what according to my plan I should be sowing and planting. It is easier to change than using graph paper, the way I change things around I would spend £15 on graph paper.

Ian

[hypnophil]

Thats a great help Dave and Goji
Thanks very much.
Off to plan now!