Space in garden

seedcorn

Garden Master
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
9,650
Reaction score
9,974
Points
397
Location
NE IN
because I cut down on some things, I have 10' X 15' free. Need some suggestions.

Planted
Corn, green beans, peas, lettuce, radishes, okra, butternut, zucchini, honey dew, cantaloupe, watermelon, cukes, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, onions, spinache, cabbage, garlic,
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
26,608
Reaction score
32,024
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
I have mostly had beans and greens as my experimentals the last few years.

You could plan out a 3 Sisters garden. I suggest setting up poles growing climbing beans with the corn and planning access carefully if growing sweet corn.

Pole beans are fun and, as true with other beans, offer wide variety. It has been great to have dry beans back in the garden. What is on the shelf at the supermarket is very limited.

Greens. Beets at their earliest are about my favorite vegetable. Beets can be dual-purpose. It has been forever since I grew turnips. I don't even remember if I have ever eaten turnip greens but know I don't care for the roots, although lots of people do. I eat lots of bok choy from the turnip family. You might get into stir-fries ...

Steve
 

Smart Red

Garden Master
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
11,303
Reaction score
7,405
Points
417
Location
South-est, central-est Wisconsin
Do you have asparagus? Strawberry bed? Small fruits like currants, grapes, and raspberries?

Unless you feel you need this bed to extend the veggies you already grow, you might consider putting in a more permanent planting of some of the above.
 

Ridgerunner

Garden Master
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
8,229
Reaction score
10,062
Points
397
Location
Southeast Louisiana Zone 9A
Even where you are up in the cold north, you are getting kind of late for cool weather crops. You can cruise through seed catalogues or go through places that sell plants to see if anything makes your little heart go pitter patter, but I suggest succession planting. I normally plant sweet corn three or four times year, spaced out two to three weeks so I have a harvest season that lasts a large part of the summer. I plant enough each time that I get a canning out of it but we also eat fresh corn from the garden a lot of the summer. As you know corn needs to be fairly densely planted to pollinate right and I don't know how that 10' x 15' area is set up, but I could get at least tow different planting to eat on out of that. Plant two rows maybe 12" apart, skip 32" to 36" so you can walk in there, then do it again. I'd either make the rows 10' long or 7' long, depending on how it is laid out.

You will have to hand cultivate, but after removing weds a couple of times you should be able to lay it by. Just don't let the weeds get out of control.

You could try planting a squash with this for a green mulch but with corn planted this dense there won't be enough sunlight getting through for that squash to grow until the corn is harvested and the stalks removed. It won't be much of a green mulch.

Another thought is to save it and plant a fall garden of cool weather crops. I don't know when you'd have to plant those so they can mature before frost in your frigid climate, but your extension agent might be able to help you with that. I have to start my fall garden in late August. it's rough getting those cool weather crops to germinate and stay alive in the hot dry summers. Insects are often a major problem too. Grasshoppers destroyed my broccoli, kale, and chard last summer. But maybe you can pull it off.
 
Top