@GoDawgs I finally received 3 seed catalogs in a day - Richters, Territorial and Johnny’s.
Highlighter at the ready tonight!

OK, I finally finished the initial cut at the garden plan. Of course, things change but this is what I hope will happen. The map is to scale, each square being 1 square foot. Beds are color coded as to family (brassicas in pink,legumes in gold, etc), which helps me when I'm trying to get everything rotated. Below each bed there are notes as to what was in that bed for the past several years; another rotation help. Giant jigsaw puzzle. There's no room for anything else! Oh yeah... where have I heard that before?

There's a set of two pallets where I'm going to try okra in four #15 buckets as the nematodes in the garden itself keep killing them. They're ultra sensitive to 'todes. Then I added a new row of four pallets for any "overflow". Looks like the garden stretcher is at work again. LOL!

It looks like you'll have to click on each half to be able to see a larger version for easier reading.

Where will the watermelon go?

PlainJane wrote: ↑Fri Jan 03, 2025 6:56 pm Where will the watermelon go?

Ah! The watermelon. There's a 12'x40' area dug out about 1' deep about 20' below the bottom end of the garden. There used to be an old mobile home there when I bought the place and that area is what was left when the owner moved the home out. Over time I've tossed extra soil and a ton of leaves in the half we use for watermelon and potatoes. The other half got filled with gravel. I was going to put up a greenhouse over the gravel part but it never happened. We now call it the Virtual Greenhouse.

This is a pic of that area. About 20' to the right is the bottom of the garden where the corn is on the map. Last spring I planted three Hansen's Bush Cherries across the near end of the bed. I staked tomato cages around the small whips to keep the deer from nibbling on them.

Ah, garden planning season! Planning is very important, isn't it? Keeping notes over time helps us get to know our space; where the deer munch, the 'todes live, and light patterns among other things. If we can't have our hands in dirt, we'll dream of dirt on paper! Your plans are so incredibly detailed too. Wow!

Well, it keeps me outta the road. LOL! I'm a hopeless spreadsheet junkie.

Here's the beginning of the grow list for spring. Anything that will be started in January is highlighted in pink. When that's done, I'll clear that and make pink everything I need to start in February. It keeps me from getting lost in the fog of battle. It also reminds me of which beds I need to get ready for those upcoming plantings for direct sowing or transplants. No pink on the pic below as there's nothing for January there. The orange color is stuff for fall. Unseen outside the right edge is one more column for notes.

You'll have to click on the image to be able to read it.


Hmmm, I just remembered... I ordered my seeds New Years Eve and there are a few items I will have to add to the above list. They also might or might not have to be shoehorned into the map. Keeping in mind that the best battle plan is only good until the first engagement...