Need Suggestions for Garden

[ninnymary]

I'm a new gardener and was initially going to start my garden with just starts. But after lurking on this site and learning alot from you, I decided that I also want to plant with seeds. I don't know if I'm taking on more than I can handle so fill free to tell me what you think.

My garden will basically be the front of a long 28' flower bed. I've removed some plants so that I can have room for veggies. This is what I want to plant:

tomatoes - 6 plants - 2 early girl, 2 hillbilly, sungold, sweet 100's
herbs - cilantro, basil, fennel, thyme, parsley,
peppers - 2 jalapeno, 2 orange and 2 red bell peppers
eggplant - 2 plants
lettuce
spinach
carrots
radishes
pole green beans - 2 tipis
squash - 2 yellow
sugar snap peas
english peas

It will be an organic garden. I have a daycare/preschool in my home and want to use the garden as a teaching tool for the children. Hopefully it will produce enough where I can give some produce to my parents.

Please let me know what I can start from seeds. It needs to be something that is easy and fail proof. I'm new to this.

Due to the design, I cannot have raised beds. I am having my soil tested and will amend it. I already have some compost but will probably have to buy some more. The soil is soft enough that I can till it with a shovel. I have a $75 gift cert. to home depot that I plan to use for starts, seeds, and a drip system. Hopefully my garden will not cost too much!

Mary

 

[obsessed]

My only recommendations are maybe doing the herbs separately or in potts because most herbs have different soil requirements and water than vegggies. like rosemary likes it dry for example

I just went to a master gardener meeting and they recommended to plant herbs separately

 

[ninnymary]

Thanks obsessed. I will try to plant the herbs in a separate corner. I don't do well with container gardening. It seems that my roots get "cooked". I've tried using terracota and plastic pots on my deck. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

mary

 

[jamespm_98]

I would say these are good candidates for seeds.

lettuce (grows fast, you may want to try some indoors potted and direct seeded)
spinach
carrots (doesn't transplant well direct seed)
radishes (easy, grows in about 30 days so you can mess these up a few times and still get plenty of radishes.
pole green beans (easy and generally prolific)
squash (easy and generally polific unless you have insect issues)
sugar snap peas
english peas


You mentioned teaching pre-school. Trying a few tomatoes and peppers from seed would be fun and cheap. You could let your students pot them and set them in a sunny window to grow. If you have bad luck then purchase a few plants.

Hope this helps, I am sure others will have comments as well.

 

[ducks4you]

Don't know if I could answer your question, BUT, I do know that terra cotta pots dry out the soil more quickly, and plastic pots retain more moisture. (Such a shame, 'cause I really LOVE terra cotta pots AND glazed terra cotta pots! )

 

[mener6896]

one word of advice though about starting from seed inside. Don't forget to harden off the transplants before putting them in the dirt. I didn't do this last year and lost my whole crop!! They were looking great too! Although, I then went to a local garden center, and for a tomato 4 pack was only $1.50. These did great

 

[journey11]

From my experience, the basil, thyme, parsley will do fine directly seeded in the garden. I've never grown fennel or cilantro, so I can't say on those. Pay close attention to the height and spread of each plant/herb so you know what needs to be in the back or front and not too crowded to the others. There are many varieties of basil. I grow genovese. It gets very tall and bushy. Basil is also great for attracting pollinators.

What you've got listed sounds like a very managable start to me. Sounds like you're just going down the front row of an existing bed? This might pose a problem in meeting each plants' needs for light and space. Hopefully this location gets full sun (at very least 6 hrs direct sun per day?) You also want to pay attention to the sun's direction during the day so you don't plant tall tomatoes where they will cast shade on short peppers, for example. Your seed packs and the markers in your flats of purchased seedlings will give each plant's details. Pay close attention to that and plan your spacing accordingly.

Just getting started, I would recommend you buy started transplants for your tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. The rest should be easily grown directly in the ground.

Maybe if you want to sketch out your plan on some paper and give the directions of North and indicate any trees or buildings bordering your bed and what plants go where we can take a look at it and see if there is any potential problems.

Also, it would be wise to get your soil tested. You can buy home kits, but better yet take it to your ag extension office if you have one.

If your budget starts to get pinched, drip irrigation is nice, but not absolutely necessary. Of course, mulch to conserve water.

Fertile soil and plenty of sunshine will definitely get you started in the right direction.

 

[mener6896]

I have grown cilantro and it can get huge!!! keep that in mind

my lettuces were great last year, but I couldn't get spinach to sprout for the life of me!! I planted several times!!

 

[2ndtimearound]

I would add oregano and try bush beans instead of pole beans - I find them a LOT easier.:weight

 

[digitS']

More Greens, Mary !

Partly you can do that with succession planting: sow lettuce and spinach seed every 2 weeks from before your last spring frost right up until the weather really starts getting warm. Buy lots of seed! And, think about adding baby bok choy - it is an easy and quick to grow green and makes a nice alternative to spinach. Plant the radish in succession also.

As you take up your greens for the kitchen, replant with more greens or plant bush beans. They can be planted well into the hot weather of summer and should do well. Green beans can also follow the peas since peas will be finished with production early.

If'n you want -- you can fit onion sets in most anywhere for salads and stir-fries .

I think you have made some great choices .

Steve