Garden Plan E

Yep. Plan E. Always the winner.

This much erased and redrawn convoluted sketch is my master garden plan. I've decided to keep my new bed in an L shape but make the growing side 4ft wide instead of 2ft like I had originally planned way back when. By making that little change I'll double my growing space without having to buy extra wood or for any extra building work. I will however have to think through my planting design to make harvest simple. I'm small, so reaching more than 2.5ft into the garden is a bit challenging. But if I plant taller things in the back 12sqft (like trellised squash or corn), I will easily be able to reach over/between my picket fence to harvest. I could also plant root crops like carrots that are planted then left alone until harvest time. I'll keep my cut and come again veggies like lettuce towards the front for easy repeat harvest.

I'm excited to have the mulberries on the north side of the garden box where I'll be able to give them a couple more feet in the box and room to sprawl over the sides without crowding my veggies. The bananas will also be easy to care for there and will probably not shade out the veggies much. They actually may provide a bit of late afternoon shade to the a/c unit which would help it run more efficiently. Win win.

I am also going to use large pots for planting herbs and blueberry bushes which, surprisingly, do grow and produce really well here. Florida provides the first/earliest blueberry crop to the nation, in fact. There is even a small native blueberry growing wild locally which proves to me that the right variety will absolutely thrive. I'm going to be looking for the top three recommended varieties from the UF extension offices master list. They are: Emerald, Jewel and Flicker. According to my research, the plants produce best when cross pollinated.

I have a couple more ideas to maximize my growing space that will hopefully work out too. I'm really excited for this plan and all the potential that comes with it. I also like the idea of having some permanent trees and bushes in my garden to add year round beauty and aesthetic definition to the space.