Garden Planning Time

[Cassie-Jane]

So am I....My Mother grew up in NS and she has loads of pic of there gardens!
Thay look just wonderful.....

[norsen]

Tried the raised beds. Still full of grass. I'm surrounded by cattle pastures. Full of tough grass and poop full of grass! What's a girl to do. Thanks norsen for the warning on sand. I think I need tons of peet moss, top soil and sure am jealous of those of you with seaweed.

Yw KarenB. I almost did that once. Luckily I read up on the sand and clay thing. I am in Wisc.,25 miles west of Lake Michigan, on the south shore of Lake Winnabago. Probably in the same climate zone as you.
I have read that some use the weeds and grass as living mulch and some just whack them down. I can see doing that for setting tomato, pepper etc plants.
Darned if I can figure out how that works for planting seeds.
Good luck.

[CM]

Last year I set up a bench for growing baby salad greens. It's about 3 feet in height and the soil container is about 1 1/2 feet deep. I filled it with a bale of Pro-Mix mixed with perlite and peat with a layer of sand and charcoal (about 2 inches) on the bottom. I've seen them using these large planters in community gardens in the city so I figured I'd give one of them a try.

I planted mesclun salad mixtures, deer tongue and salad bowl lettuce, tango lettuce, radishes, spinach, spring onions along the edges, and anything I could find that has a cropping time of 30 days or less (mostly baby greens).

It worked out very well, with several crops. No need to pull up the plants, just cut off the leaves you want to use and the plant will grow back. Midway into the Summer heat I had to replant (lettuce doesn't like mid-summer around here). Replanted for fall and had to add some more soil. No weeds all season and no stooping. Perfect for salad greens everyday. In the corner of the planter I put a cucumber plant and trained it to go up a nearby pole. This year I'm going to try just a few baby carrots in there, too, along the edges.

I still grew rows of lettuce, onions, escarole and Napa cabbage in the ground along with other large crops like pumpkins, watermelon, zucchini, tomatoes, beans, peas, onions, mustard, cabbage, broccoli, Swiss chard, beets and all sorts of herbs! I think the container is great for mini-greens, though. It would also be nice as a dedicated herb patch if that's all you wanted, but it's probably more useful for a quick turnover of greens, considering the prices of Spring Mix at the supermarket.

[norsen]

CM, there is someone who lives across from the gas station I go to. They grow tomatoes in theirs. LOL. Large bush type, 4-5 inch tomatoes.
About the same height dimensions as yours, and its about 3 x 5 growing surface.