What do you think of my garden layout and some gardening questions I have

[Chickies11]

Just curious, why can you only have one 4'8" × 4' raised bed?
Sorry if you already shared this and I missed it.

If plants can sprawl over the adjacent lawn or patio, you could plant some squash at the edges and train them to grow out off the bed. Another idea is a few strawberry plants. Strawberries should be perennials in your area, so they'll come back each year. You might need to remove old plants and trim runners annually, but that's all. Bush varieties of summer squash and zucchini are compact enough. You could grow lettuce under their large leaves that will provide shade for the lettuce in the heat of summer. I really like green leaf and Boston bib lettuce.
You could even grow corn it sunflowers along one edge and then allow beans to grow up the stalks.

I like the idea of having the lettuce under the squash\zucchini! I always thought that they needed a lot of space, but I might be wrong. I would love to try that!

 

[Chickies11]

Lettuce will start bolting when it gets hot, but you could follow them with a different type of leafy green like chard, bok choi, or kale that’s more heat tolerant. (Bok choi will eventually bolt too, but I generally harvest the whole plant before it gets to that point.)

If you have a county extension service through your state’s land grant university, they often have great resources and suggestions on what varieties grow well in your area. They’ll also have suggestions for when to plant as well.

My favorite indeterminate tomato is Balck from Tula. Great flavor, and more productive than Brandywine in my experience.

Thank you for all the advice! Kale could be nice to grow!

 

[Chickies11]

Your layout is a great start! For tomatoes I'm sure you already know this but just in case you don't make sure they have stands around them to help support them depending on what kind you get cause they can get heavy and fall over. They love water!

Okay, thank you! I have some tall sticks made out of bamboo that I could tie the tomato to. Would those work? Or should I get something else?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Okay, thank you! I have some tall sticks made out of bamboo that I could tie the tomato to. Would those work? Or should I get something else?

A cage would be better. You might be able to get away with one of the typical budget ones you see at any garden center, and see how that does.

I have Texas tomato cages (tomatocage.com) right now that are permanently "borrowed" from my MIL, they're much sturdier but pretty expensive. But I get tomato plants growing well over my head so I need the support.

 

[riss]

Okay, thank you! I have some tall sticks made out of bamboo that I could tie the tomato to. Would those work? Or should I get something else?

Something like this. If you can make them look like that then yeah

 

[West Bend]

Thank you! I did not mention this before, but I can only have one bed because of space constraints. I think I will change my plan and put the tomatoes on the edges or corners, like you said. Cucumbers could be fun to grow on trellis ed!

You are welcome. I have also planted small watermelon & pie pumpkins at the base of my lilac trees, so the tree acted like the trellis & no additional support was needed. Good luck with your garden.

 

[West Bend]

Okay, thank you! I have some tall sticks made out of bamboo that I could tie the tomato to. Would those work? Or should I get something else?

I have used the same 7-8ft bamboo stakes for years. I use 3 tied at the top to make a tepee, tie string at the bottom and as the tomato plant grows I tie the string around each side going up to the top. With the bamboo Stakes having the extra texture/shape at the "joints?"the string doesn't slide down. Bamboo stakes are tough. I've drilled holes in the ends (&used zip ties) for additional support in the coop(long story- for another time maybe-lol). You could always do that and weave the string through the drilled holes.

 

[Chickies11]

I have used the same 7-8ft bamboo stakes for years. I use 3 tied at the top to make a tepee, tie string at the bottom and as the tomato plant grows I tie the string around each side going up to the top. With the bamboo Stakes having the extra texture/shape at the "joints?"the string doesn't slide down. Bamboo stakes are tough. I've drilled holes in the ends (&used zip ties) for additional support in the coop(long story- for another time maybe-lol). You could always do that and weave the string through the drilled holes.

I like the tepee, although I don't think I have enough stakes to make one for all the tomato plants. I do know what you mean about the extra texture/shape at the joints, though! Thank you for your advice!

 

[Chickies11]

You are welcome. I have also planted small watermelon & pie pumpkins at the base of my lilac trees, so the tree acted like the trellis & no additional support was needed. Good luck with your garden.

Thank you!

 

[Chickies11]

Okay, so I'm thinking that based on the advice that everyone gave (which was very helpful!) I might have the peppers in the front were the sun will be facing them, then lettuce, then the tomatoes. The tomatoes will be on the edge like some people said. I will grow the lettuce early, before I plant the tomatoes and lettuce, so they might be on their own in the bed. And then later I will plant the tomatoes and peppers. When the lettuce dies I will replace it with a bush variety of green beans so that the majority of the summer I will be having tomatoes, peppers, and green beans in my garden. The tomatoes will have a cage around them. If I do use determinate tomatoes and if they don't die too late in the summer (I'm not sure when they will but I know that they produce all at once an then die) then I might replace them with something else.

Tomorrow I am going to get the wood for my garden and probably build it! Maybe next weekend I will get the dirt for my garden and hopefully sometime soon plant the lettuce!

One more question I have is whether I should be using just fertilizer, just compost, or both? I understand the different between them more now, but I'm still confused which one I should be using or both. Is it possible to buy compost? Or can you only get it from making your own? Because if if I can't buy it then I probably can't use any compost this year as I don't compost.

Thank you everybody for all your help!