The Beginning of the Master Plan 2010

I'm surrounded by piles and piles of books and magazines.   Books on square foot gardening, composting, heirloom seeds and vegetable growing, urban farming, and so on.  I'm waiting anxiously for the rest of my seed catalogs to arrive, so far Burpee is the lone soldier.  I like their catalog but I wish it had more heirloom varieties to choose from.  I'm also going to head down to The Five Points Farmers Market  to talk to Bev about what seeds and seedlings they plan on selling. We'll buy as much locally as we can, either from the market or a few of my other favorite garden stores,  but I think I'm going to allow myself one online order to try out a few wild and crazy varieties.

Pete helped me measure out our largest vegetable bed, and eyed the spaces along the fence line where we can stick some plants in with the existing perennials.  The list so far is this:

Succession Plantings:

4 varieties of Lettuce

2-3 varieties of Carrots

1-2 varieties of Radishes

Big Plants:

4-5 varieties of Peppers

2-4 varieties Potatoes

1 variety Broccoli

1 variety Cauliflower

4-5 varieties Tomatoes

2 varieties Eggplant

1 variety Leeks

Onions

Garlic

Vines:

2 varieties of Cucumbers

3-4 varieties of Green Beans/Beans

1 variety of Peas (Early crop in bean plots)

4 varieties of Summer Squash

2 varieties Winter Squash

Herbs:

Parsley

Chives x 2

2-3 varieties Basil

Thyme

Lavender

I will also be planting tall and short varieties of sunflowers all along the east side of our house as well as marigolds throughout the garden to act as a pest deterrent. My largest plot measures 6ft x 23ft so I will be using my own modified version of Square Foot Gardening to make the most of the space we have out back.  Because we live in a rental, and because our backyard it so tiny, it just isn't feasible to build a bunch of 4x4 raised beds.  Instead I will be leaving small pathways between groupings of plantings and using the SFG guidelines for planting things closer together to make the most of our space.  In addition to in ground plantings I'll be planting some of the tomatoes and herbs in containers to line our front walkway while taking advantage of the awesome sun the front of the house gets.

What are some of your favorite varieties?  How do work with the space you have?  Have I forgotten any important additions to our garden?  I'd love to hear tips and tricks from people who have been there done this.