Garden Layout :)

My DH is adding about 10 feet more to my veggie garden. :) What I am trying to figure out is where to plant to get the best harvest. My tomatoes did not do as well last year and I think it is due to the fact that I had planted them in the same spot for three year.. UGH

I need to move the tomatoes but I am unsure what will grow in that spot. I have really nice soil, and I do not understand how, but it is very black and rich.. Kind of odd for Maryland. We have a composter and we use ashes from the fire place out there. My list of things that I want to plant is growing. :)

Any thoughts?


I have itchy fingers right now. I want to play in the dirt!

Get a soil test, contact your local extension office for a kit. That will help you determine if you need to add anything to your soil. You might want to plant beans, peas or legumes in that area. They'll help fix nitrogen and rotate your tomatoes elsewhere. You can also inter plant with salad veggies, or carrots, radishes that sort of thing around the beans. Even bush beans will give shade to lettuce, spinach etc. and keep them from bolting in the heat. :)

The local extension office does not do it anymore.. :( I guess I can go and buy a kit....
The spot where I had them is FULL sun.. I did not buy any bean seeds. I am going to buy some lima bean seeds for my mom.. I am not sure what type of green beans to plant. My kids only like the mega expensive ones that you buy at the store (french beans) lol

You can get an inexpensive test kit, but I must say that surprises me greatly, that they are not doing soil testing. French cut beans? is that what you mean? If it is don't tell the kids, but those are regular green beans cut fancy.....LOL You can pick up bush or pole beans at any garden center, usually not hard to grow. The trick is to start picking when their small about 2-3" and keep on picking, the more you pick the more they'll grow. If you want to preserve the harvest, you can either blanch and freeze them or you need a pressure cooker to can them. Water bath does not get hot enough to destroy the botulism normally found on the beans. Not a big deal. Limas are the type you leave on the vine until they dry. So those need to go to the side so to speak. They'll be one of the last things you harvest before cold weather. :)
What other types of veggies are you interested in growing?

No not french cut. It is what whole food calls french beans.. They are very small and slim.. As for the lima's my grammy used to pick them young and eat them. They did not dry them. I hate lima's but since there is no one else with a space for a garden i will plant them for my mom..

Those French beans are called "filet beans" in the seed catalogs. They come in both pole and bush varieties. Be sure to pick them when they are very young and tender.

Thanks LT..that would work :)

Jenn,

Good luck w/ expanding your garden. I need to get a soil test myself. I've never gotten one before I just grow what survives.

At least get a ph soil tester if you are having trouble growing nice tomatoes. Perhaps the wood ashes have gotten the soil too alkalai.

Limas only picked mature?....I love them young and green for the most part. The butter beans are ok if well fixed.

I am going to try new things this year. I have a good list of what I cannot grow. I am hopefully going to expand on my list of stuff that will grow!