Asparagus- dig hole wide enough to fan out crown, then cover soil & blanket 2-4" mulch. Tall, ferny foliage good background for flowers.
Beans- plant down a row, in between quick cool-weather crop that will be out of the way (lettuce, spinach). Repeat plantings for all season. Or grow pole beans- longer maturity, produce all season. 1 pole per plant. Lettuces & other cool crops like their shade.
Beets- thin to every 5"
Broccoli- cool weather, space 18" apart, plant early spring & 2 mo before fall frost date
Brussel sprout- takes all season to grow. Space 18" apart. Stake plants up to keep tidy.
Cabbage- space 12" apart. Closer together makes smaller heads.
Carrots- thin to 1-2" apart. Plant in summer for fall harvest.
Cauliflower- grow mini-cauls & space 6" apart. Plant early summer for fall crop.
Celery- Plant 2 rows in a bed, spaced 8" apart. Need constantly moist soil, fertile. No need to "hill up"
Corn- Plant in clumps spaced every 18" & staggered. 6-8 seeds per clump thinned to 3-4 best plants.
Cucumbers- plant straight down middle of a row, 18" apart. Or short-vined variety ("salad bush") or trellis the vines up (sown 6" apart) a leaned latticework, w/shade crops (lettuce, spinach) underneath.
Garlic- plant cloves in late summer (more time to set roots) 6" apart. Harvest in summer when lower leaves begin to turn yellow. Save some cloves and sow again late Aug/early Sept.
Kale- Early spring plants grow very large, plant down center of a row. If planted later as fall crop, stagger 2 rows 12" apart. Will keep coming up- very resistant to decay.
Leeks. To grow nice fat leeks start plants indoors 10-12 weeks early. Transplant seedlings 4 rows staggered 6" apart. Poke hole 3/4" diameter 3" deep, drop seedling in & wash w/water.
Onions- fill their space. Closer, more but smaller onions. Farther apart, larger ones. 4" apart small onions, 6" apart med/large ones. Time to maturity depends on daylight length.
Peas- like cool weather. Plant early. Space rows 4" apart, drop seeds in every few inches.
Peppers- sow indoors 8 weeks early, transplant seedlings to 18" apart and fill in space with early greens or beets.
Sweet potato- love heat. Grow in mounds.
Potatoes- Set rows of seed potatoes few inches deep, 8-12" apart. When 6" tall, hill soil around them and mulch heavily. Keeps sunlight from turning the tubers green and bitter.
Radishes like cool weather. Plant as fillers. Spacing determines size (like onions).
Spinach- grow early and late in season, likes cool weather. Space seedlings 4" apart.
Zucchini & squashes- plant solo down center of a row, or at edge of garden where can sprawl out. Space plants every 3 feet to avoid crowding.
Swiss chard- grows all thru season, even into winter. Space plants 8" apart, pick outer leaves.
for my garden