This document outlines essential steps for planning a kitchen vegetable garden, emphasizing the importance of layout and plant selection for optimal growth. It discusses various garden designs, such as raised beds and the four square garden layout, highlighting the significance of sunlight, soil quality, and crop rotation. Furthermore, it provides recommendations for planting arrangements and care for different vegetable varieties to ensure a productive garden.

2. Kitchen Gardening
Planning
A Training Presentation
By
Mr. Allah Dad Khan
Agriculture Consultant
KPK Province Pakistan

3. Planning a Vegetable Garden
Planning is the first and most basic step in home
vegetable gardening. Planning not only saves
time when you’re ready to plant but also gives
you an idea of the types and quantities of seeds
or plants you’ll need. Most importantly,
planning helps assure that the home garden will
satisfy your needs and desires.

4. Raise your beds

Once you've imagined the exterior shape possibilities of
your space, consider the dual concepts of "raised" and
"multiple" bedding plans as the interior design ideal. Early
gardeners, from the Aztecs at Tenochtitlan to the ancient
Egyptians to 9th-century Swiss monks, recognized that a
bed raised even a scant 6 inches above path level provided
infinitely better drainage than a bed built flush with the
soil. Gardeners today also find that raised beds heat up
faster in spring, adding days (or even weeks) to your
growing season. Raised beds allow for far easier soil
amendment, too. Build up a bed 12 or 18 inches above path
grade, and you can fill it with the ideal mix of topsoil and
other amendments. And when the soil is at shin
level, weeding and harvesting are less of a strain on your
back.

5. The four square garden is based on a very
simple layout.
The garden is usually divided into four square or rectangular garden beds with two
perpendicular paths (like a plus sign +) running between them. These paths could
be composed of paving stones, packed earth, gravel, wood shavings or even lawn.
At the intersection of the two paths, there could be a focal point such as a statue
or a pond. In 12th century England, this garden was generally in the front yard,
with the entrance to the garden being a white picket gate, although it could be an
arbor or trellis covered with a flowering vine. Typically the garden was surrounded
by a protective enclosure such as a rock wall, fence or hedge. Of course, you must
be careful to avoid shading your vegetables growing inside though

6. The four square garden is based
on a very simple layout.
 The traditional vegetable garden layout is to plant the vegetables in rows, each row
growing a different type of vegetable. Each row usually runs from north to south to take full
advantage of the morning and afternoon sun. The seeds are sown in single rows using string
and stakes to keep the rows straight. Enough space needs to be left between the rows to
allow room to walk and to comfortably gather your produce. If your ground is not level, and
you want to plant in rows, the rows should run across the slope rather than up and down, to
prevent the soil from being washed away when the garden is watered.

7. Raised Bed Layout
 Although it is not strictly a particular vegetable garden layout,
the raised garden bed (an example of which issquare foot
gardening) is included here because it is often planted in blocks
rather than rows. Vegetables are normally planted closer together
than in the row vegetable garden layout making this is an ideal
choice if you only have space for a small vegetable garden.

8. Formal Asymmetrical Garden
Layout
 A formal assymetrical garden layout is ideal if you don't want to be too
rigid but you do prefer a sense of order. You can do this by
experimenting with different geometric shapes (for the paths or the
garden beds) next to each other or overlapping, strong lines or
repetition of elements to get the desired effect. Using curving lines,
modern materails or casual furniture will make this style seem less
rigid.
Adding a formal clipped hedge as the border of the garden, pond, or
individual beds will add to the structured feel of the garden. Or you
could grow your own topiary using a potted boxwood or bay tree and
trimming it to fit a frame

10. The plants
 Maximise your kitchen garden space and plant a fast-growing ‘cash
crop’, such lettuce, in between a slower-growing main crop, such as
sweet corn or broccoli: the lettuce is ready to harvest before the main
crop matures, so does not disturb it.
 Place taller plants at the back of your vegetable garden so they won’t
steal all the sunshine, then you can squeeze a row of a low-growing crop
such as rocket, spring onion or radish between taller crops in the
kitchen garden.
 Endive, radicchio or spinach are useful additions to a kitchen garden
bed as they can cope even in partial shade.
 The higher a plant climbs, the more important it is to tie in the main
steams with expandable kitchen garden ties.
 If the soil of your vegetable garden is supporting lots of tall growth, it
will need additional water and nutrients and should be mulched well
and fed regularly.


11. Step-By-Step Planning
 With these general principles in mind here are my recommendations for placing plants in a
new vegetable garden:
 Tender Plants: Plants such as tomatoes, peppers, aubergine (eggplant), basil etc are the
most fussy. Unless your climate is extremely warm you’ll want to reserve the best sunny
spots in your garden for these high-value crops so add them to your plan first. South facing
walls can be particularly good for providing the heat that these plants like in order to
produce an abundant harvest.
 Roaming Plants: Next place plants that like to send out vines that roam around the garden –
melon, squash etc. These need to be situated at the edge of your vegetable beds so the
broad leaves attached to the vines don’t cover your other plants. Placing them at the edge
lets them spread out across paths or grass.
 Vertically Climbing Plants: Anything that grows up supports – peas, beans and some squash
such as cucumbers, will need to be located where they won’t shade other vegetables. The
one exception is areas with very hot summers where some cool-season crops such as lettuce
and spinach can benefit from shade in the heat of the day.
 Irrigation: Some plants perform badly in dry conditions – celery, onions, strawberries Areas
of your garden that are slightly lower will retain more moisture or you may need to plan to
provide irrigation to get consistent growth.

12. The vegetables
 Vegetables include asparagus which, once established in the
kitchen garden, looks after itself, yielding tasty spears in late
spring, followed by fern-like fronds that add foliage among flowers.
 Red orach is another beautiful favourite, its young leaves delicious
in salads, while the mature leaves taste like spinach when cooked.
 A cold frame is invaluable for bringing on crinkly red lettuces, leeks
or sweetcorn to fill any gaps.
 Grow in your vegetable garden seedlings in ‘pots’ crafted from
newspaper, filled with soil and tied with jute string. Plant into beds
and the paper rots down.
 Easy access is essential so lay reclaimed terracotta tiles through
the beds to avoid damaging plants.


14. The vegetables
 Pollination: Certain plants need to be near others in order to pollinate
well and ‘set fruit’ (ie produce the edible portion). The main one you
need to consider is sweet corn which should be grown in blocks to
ensure that it produces full cobs – see our article on sweetcorn for
details.
 Accessibility: What plants do you want to be able to regularly harvest?
Herbs, salad, tomatoes etc..? These should all be placed as near to your
kitchen as possible. Not only will you then be more likely to use them
but it will help you to keep on top of the weeds and remove slugs
regularly.
 Succession Planting: If you are short of space or want a crop throughout
the season, consider using succession planting and intercropping – see
my article ongetting more crops from an area and our video on using
the Garden Planner to organise Succession Planting.
 Don't Overcrowd: Finally, tempting though it is, be very careful not to
overcrowd plants as you add in the remaining ones to your plan. This is
the number 1 mistake made by new gardeners and it’s easy to see why –
plants look so small as seedlings and we all hate pulling up the result of
our hard

15. An Art or a Science?
 Gardening is both an art and a science and it’s that tension
that is at the root of the confusion for many new
gardeners. There are scientific principles that need to be
followed – overcrowding plants or growing in poor-quality
soil will set you up for failure. In subsequent years
the principles of crop rotation will add more constraints.
However, that still allows for a lot of different possibilities
and the art is in placing plants in a way that makes best use
of your space without breaking any of the rules.
 I hope the step-by-step method above will help with
avoiding many potential problems but it’s worth
remembering that these aren’t a hard and fast set of rules.
The art is in using these guiding principles to design
something that’s uniquely your garden and, with
experience, that becomes a very satisfying and enjoyable
process.

16. Make a Plan
 Sketch out your proposed garden area(s) and decide
how many plants will fit in each space. Keep these
plans, even after you've planted your crops. It's best if
you rotate crops each year, so you'll want to keep track
of what you're doing now to help you in years to come.
The layout for a small vegetable garden can be as
simple or as complex as you'd like to make it. The
important thing is spending some time planning at the
beginning and then keeping track of what you decide.

18. Plan your Vegetable Garden
Layout
 Planning a vegetable garden layout before you start
working the soil, buying seeds or plants is an important
step. This will save you time, energy and money later
on. In this step you will draw your vegetable garden
plan to scale on a piece of paper. This is something I do
during the long winter months.
 If you do not have the time to plan your own garden
check out myvegetable garden plans ebooks . Here you
will find easy to follow diagrams on where and when to
plant a vegetable garden for raised beds, row gardening
and square foot gardens.

19. How are you going to grow?

Are you going to grow in raised beds, in containers, in level
rows, in a greenhouse? Your choice will depend on where
yourgarden site is located. If you can, make your vegetable
rows face north to south for best distribution of light.
 Mark your pathways.
Make sure you leave room to walk between rows to make it
easier to water, weed and observe the plant without
crushing it. 12-16 inches is needed for a pathway, a little
more if you plan to bring a wheelbarrow or cart through. I
suggest making wider pathways at the end of the rows so
you can maximize your growing area.
 What vegetables do you want to grow?
If you need help with this there are questions you can
answer at planting a vegetable garden.

20. Vegetable crops should be
rotated

Vegetable crops should be rotated each year because
plants require different amounts of nutrients and attract
particular pests and disease. By using crop rotation you are
promoting healthier plants and soil in your vegetable
garden layout. A simple way to start learning about
vegetable gardening crop rotation is to divide your
vegetables into three basic groups:
 Root crops - beets, carrots, potatoes
 Brassicas - broccoli, cabbage, Brussel
sprouts, cauliflower,radish, turnip, rutabaga, kale
 Everything else - lettuce, onion, peas, spinach, swiss
chard,beans, corn, peppers, squash, tomatoes
 You will then plant each group in a different area each
year.

21. Vegetable crops should be
rotated
 What does each vegetable require for best growth?
 What kind of spacing does it need?
 Is it a cool or heat loving plant?
 Does it mature quickly or need a long growing season?
 Does it need lots of heat to grow well? Is indoor growing
possible?
 Do you have a shady area? Which plants will grow best?
 Do you have dry or wet areas? Which ones like more
moisture?
 Will the plant need some kind of support or trellising?

22. Placement of your vegetables.
 Divide the site into three sections (4 if you are planting
perennial vegetables). Label them A,B,C,D. Each year plant
a different vegetable group (listed above) in each section.
Perennials remain in the same section each year.
 Within each section organize the vegetables by how much
space they need.
 Place the ones that mature earlier in one area so you can
plant something else later in the season in that same spot.
 Place any perennial type vegetables (i.e. asparagus, herbs)
on the outside area of the garden so they will not be
disturbed when you till the other three sections of the
garden.

23. Choosing the Site
Vegetables grow best in an open, level area where the
soil is loose, rich, and well drained. If the quality of the
soil is poor, mix in 2-3 inches of topsoil, peat moss,
strawy manure, compost, or leaves plus fertilizer. The
more organic matter or topsoil you add, the more you’ll
improve your soil. Avoid heavy clays, sandy soils, and
shady spots

24. Clearance with Trees and Shrubs
Vegetables grow best in an open, level area where the soil is
loose, rich, and well drained. If the quality of the soil is poor,
mix in 2-3 inches of topsoil, peat moss, straw manure,
compost, or leaves plus fertilizer.
Sunlight: Most vegetable garden plants need full sun to thrive
and produce their best. (Full sun means at least 6 hours of
direct sun during the day.) Realistically, you may not have this
ideal spot. So if you’ll be tilling a new garden, what’s most
important? Number one is sunlight. You can improve soil and
build windbreaks, but you can’t move the sun! So choose the
sunniest spot you garden.

25. Start with Design

Do you want to create a kitchen garden that's as beautiful to look
at as it is productive? Start by banishing the idea of a single, vast
patch of upturned earth with regiment after regiment of linearly
disposed vegetables marching across it. Instead embrace the idea
of growing vegetables in a decorative, multiple-parterre planting
within a fenced or walled space. You have now opened the door to
a far more pleasurable experience on every level. More soothing to
be in. Far easier to work.
 The first step on this journey is to eliminate the prototypical
rectangle from your vocabulary and let your mind wander freely
over all the other geometric possibilities. Picture an octagonal
garden. Or a square one with semicircular island beds, or one
further divided into pie-wedged beds, or even a quartet of rooms.
How about an enfilade of smaller plots linked by fruit trees trained
into arbor form, chaining across a lawn or encircling a central
water feature?

26. Soil
Choose the spot in your yard that has the best
soil. You may be able to distinguish the quality
of your soil by looking at your lawn. If it looks
lush and healthy, then the soil supporting it is
probably good for a garden. Don't pick the spot
where the lawn is the worst, and figure you can get
out of reseeding by locating your garden there. And
avoid low spots that stay wet in the spring.

27. Protection from wind:
Strong winds dry out plants and soil, and can topple tall
plants like corn and sunflowers. Wind is a little harder
to plan for, but if you have the choice, choose a spot
that is protected from your area’s prevailing winds. If
your worst winds come from the north, then a garden
on the south edge of a row of trees will receive some
protection. Just be sure your windbreak doesn’t shade
your garden! You can set up a snow fence or plant some
low shrubs to help break the wind without sacrificing
sunlight.

28. Water:
Locate your garden near a water source, or have hoses
that will reach it. (Underground soaker hoses save
water and time, so consider installing them before you
plant.)

29. Choosing Varieties
How do you choose among all those luscious-sounding
tomato varieties! (Especially if you are looking at photos
on a cold January day!) Though there’s nothing wrong
with choosing a variety because you like how it looks,
you may
want to consider some other characteristics that can
make your job as gardener a little easier.

30. Disease Resistance
 There are cultivars (cultivated varieties) of many
garden plants that have shown resistance to certain
pests. If you
 know a pest is common in your region, by all means
choose a resistant variety! If you don’t know what pests
you
 might encounter, you might want to plant a few disease-
resistant plants

31. Short or Long Season
If you like to have the first ripe tomatoes on the block,
or you live in a region with relatively short summers,
choose varieties that mature the fastest. Some tomato
varieties, for example, ripen 60 days after
transplanting, while others need 85 days or more to
maturity.

32. Growing Habit
Bush beans, as the name implies, grow as small,
freestanding plants, while pole beans need
something to climb.
Some types of squash grow in compact form,
while others need lots of space for their vines to
run

33. Hybrid or Open-Pollinated
Hybrid plants often are more productive and disease-
resistant than open-pollinated (non-hybrid) varieties.
However, there’s a drawback. If you like to save seed at
the end of the season for planting the following year,
avoid hybrids. Their seed doesn’t come true -- that is,
the resulting offspring plants may not have all the
positive characteristics of the parent plant.

34. Seeds or Transplants?
 Which seeds should you sow directly in the garden, and which do
better if you plant them as seedlings (either purchasing transplants
or starting the seeds indoors yourself)?
 Many garden plants do just fine when you sow the seed directly in
the garden. These plants usually mature relatively fast; so direct
sowing works well. Plants with taproots, such as carrots, generally
don’t transplant well, so it’s best to start them from seed right in
the garden too.
 Other plants have long growing seasons, or must be planted
outdoors in early spring so they mature before the hot weather
arrives. These do best when set in the garden as transplants.
 Direct sow: Beans, beets, carrots, corn, lettuce, spinach, Swiss
chard, peas, radish, potato
 Plant transplants:
 Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, okra,
asparagus, rhubarb You can go either way with these: Cucumbers,
squash, muskmelon, watermelon, pumpkins, gourds

35. Size of Kitchen Garden
If you are new to gardening, you may wish to start with a relatively small
garden, say 10 foot x 20 foot.
Enthusiastic novices often till up a huge garden area, and then abandon it to
the weeds by July. A small, well-tended garden will produce more than more
than a large, neglected one
Single rows or wide-row beds?
If space is at a premium, creating 3- to 4-foot-wide beds will allow you to
grow more plants than if you plant in long single rows because less space
is wasted on paths. Plants in wide rows are spaced closer together, making
it easier to weed, feed, and water them.
Wide-row plantings do not have to be raised-bed plantings, but like raised
beds, the width of the row should be such that you can easily reach the
center of the bed from each side (3 to 4 feet)

36. Square Foot Gardening
Square-foot gardening is a form of intensive
gardening where you block off squares of space for
crops rather than planting them in rows. The name
comes from partitioning blocks of gardens space
that are 1 ft by 1 ft. Each square holds a different
vegetable, flower, or herb. These small 1-foot
squares are grouped together into blocks
Measuring 4 ft by 4 ft square.