Update on my 3C vegetable and fruit garden plan

[Kaleva]

3C-Covid19, Climate Change and CWII (I don't believe there's going to be another civil war but I just threw that in there)

Been working on my next year's garden layout using the Jung Garden Planner and this is what I've come up with so far.

The main garden is divided into 10 sections.

Running west to east and starting at the north side of the garden working down to the south are:

A- 21'X4' section which is the compost

B- a 21'X4' raised row

C- a 21'X3' raised row

D- a 21'X4' raised row

E- a 21'X4' raised row

F- a 21'X3' raised row

G a 19'X4' raised row

H- a 17'X4' raised row

To the east of and running perpendicular to A,B, C, D, and E is a raised bed divided into 2 sections. The northern raised bed is 15'X4' and the southern bed is 16'X4'. Identified as I and J respectively. Continuing east of G is a 7'X4' raised bed identified as K.

The raised beds and raised rows are separated by 2' wide paths

This garden block is 27' (west to east) by 43' (north to south)

Running perpendicular to this block is a 43' row of asparagus that I planted last spring.

My plan for next year is as follows:

A will remain the compost

B will be planted with sweet corn.

C will be planted with a row of sugar snap peas on a fence trellis and to the south part of that will be planted beets and carrots using SFG. Once the peas are harvested, I'll plant cucumbers that will use the fence trellis.

D will have a fence trellis that will be planted with pole beans and to the south and running parallel with the fence will be planted a row of rutabaga.

E will be planted with Amish paste tomatoes and sweet peppers.

F will be planted with potatoes

G ill be planted with green cabbage and jalapeno pepper plants

H will be planted with Wayahead tomato plants and sweet peppers.

I, a raised bed, will be planted with shell peas. I'm hoping to plant two crops of such there.

J will be planted with strawberry plants.

K , a raised bed, contains 2 rhubarb plants.

Running parallel of and to the east of the row of asparagus is a row of raspberry plants. To the east of and running parallel to the raspberries is a row of blueberry plants. Both of which I planted earlier this year. It is my intent next spring to create 5 mounds between each row for a total of 15 mounds. 5 mounds between the asparagus and raspberries. 5 mounds between the raspberries and blueberries and 5 mounds to the east of the blueberries. In these mounds I'll plant pumpkin, winter squash and cantaloupe and 1 or 2 zucchini plants. These kind of plants would take up a lot of room in the main vegetable garden and they can spread all they want where I plan to plant them.

Running perpendicular and to the south of the asparagus, raspberry and blueberry rows is a 30' row of Honeyberry plants which I planted last spring.

To the east of all the above and running north to south are 6 berms where I plan to plant apple trees, pears trees, peach trees, apricot trees, plum trees and 1 Quince tree using BOC (backyard orchard culture) techniques.

My ultimate goal which I've been working on for the past few years is to convert the entire backyard into a vegetable and fruit garden. A garden large enough to provide the veggies and fruit for my wife and I for a year. From 1 growing season to the next.

[Sherman A1]

1. Super

I’m just hoping to get a couple of tomato 🍅 plants that produce a little this year.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

2. I'm harvesting eggplant right now,

But I never got a single 🍅 from 4 or 5 different bushes. They weren’t getting enough sun because of a small backyard with a pretty large oak tree providing too much shade. Finally pruned .a lot of the oak tree limbs, but it was too late, too hot by then.

[Sherman A1]

3. Happy that you can still garden

I’m somewhat north of you in Missouri and the weather doesn’t allow for that right now. I do want to get an early start this next year. We are wintering a bunch of flowers inside using grow lights in the basement so I hope to get a few tomatoes 🍅 going next month or so.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

4. That garden sounds like a dream

But you really have your work cut out for you.

Is your existing soil really rich, or have you had to bring in a lot of more soil or other enhancements?

[Kaleva]

6. If rocks were edible, I'd be set.

So far, I've had two dump truck loads of topsoil brought in which I used to make the berms for the fruit plants, trees and and to build up the raised rows in the vegetable garden.

I hope to be able to pay more attention to the compost row this coming season. I've had success with compost piles before so I ought to be able to do it again. Just need to keep the pile moist, up to optimum temp and have a proper mix of carbon and nitrogen. In the past, I've supplemented the need for nitrogen by adding diluted urine to the pile.

[twodogsbarking]

5. Over the years I have reduced my garden

to just lots of lettuce early and then a variety of peppers and tomatoes.
It was sunny when I created it 30+ years ago but now is shady.
Some veggies take up lots of space and get little yield. Sweet corn
is fun, we had acres of it growing up but in a garden you will likely
only get a few ears. Still fun but not a lot of pay back. Have fun with it
and don't over fertilize. Mulch is good (natural mulch), especially as the years go by.
Good for you.

[Kaleva]

7. I agree with you on sweet corn

You don't get much bang for the buck but my wife likes it so I plant it. In the 21'X4" plot, I can fit 39 corn plants, spaced about 18" apart with 13 plants each in 3 rows.

For giggles, I may try plant pole beans in the south row after the corn has gotten at least 4" high. In the north row, I may try and plant sugar snap peas for a fall crop.

[Kaleva]

8. Fruit trees and shrubs

Earlier this year I planted:

10 Sweetheart blueberry plants I bought from Stark Bro's

10 Anne fall bearing raspberry plants from Jung Seeds

10 Boyne summer bearing raspberry plants from Jung Seeds

2 Aurora haskap plants from Jung Seeds

2 Boreal Blizzard haskap plants from Jung Seeds

2 Honey Bee haskap plants from Jung Seeds

This coming spring I plan on planting 25 strawberry plants in the 16X4 raised bed (J). for fresh eating, freezing and for making strawberry-rhubarb jam.

On the east side of the backyard are 5 4'X4' berms running north to south and the berms are 8' apart from center to center. This area is wet in the spring until June so that's the reason for the berms. In these berms I plan on planting 3 plum trees in one berm, 3 apple trees in another berm, 3 peach trees in another berm, 3 pear trees in another and 3 apricot trees in the remaining berm. For cross pollination purposes and to extend the harvest season, I'll be getting 2 varieties of plums, peaches, pears and apricots and 3 varieties of apples. The trees will be pruned to keep the spread and height to 8'. To the north of these is another smaller berm on which I plan on planting a Russian Quince tree which I'll allow to grow to full height and spread.

Between the rows of asparagus, raspberries, blueberries and the berms for the fruit trees, I plan on making small mounds about 18" in diameter and 8' apart. In these mounds I'll plant pumpkin, winter squash, zucchini and also cantaloupe and watermelon. Plants that can take up quite a bit of space. It's my intention that these mounds will be semi-permanent so I'm not making new ones every spring and I can easily rotate the crops from year to year. The mounds I had planted pumpkin one year can be planted with another crop the following year for example.

[Kaleva]

9. Constructing the mounds between the rows of asparagus and fruit shrubs

Using my garden planner, it looks like I can make about 15 mounds, spaced 8' apart with 5 mounds in 3 sperate rows.

The mounds will be about 18" in diameter and I plan to build them about 4" high. To get the proper height and enrich the mounds, I'll need to add a 3/4 of a cubic foot of composted manure to each mound. Fortunately, composed manure can be had in 3/4 of a cubic foot bags so getting the correct number of bags and adding the correct amount I need for each mound will be a simple task. 15 bags and 1 bag for each mound.

Hopefully this works as getting the plants that take would take up a lot of space in the main garden, even just for a few of them, and being able to plant enough to get a good sized harvest would be worth the try.