garden planning

Garden planning is an activity that I can get lost in because of all the choices. Because I live in a suburban area and am currently converting my front yard into beds, until I can take down trees on the back of the property, I have found that using the square foot method is really helpful to make the most of my space and to help me plan accurately for the coming year. I grew up with traditional spring and summer row gardens that took up lots of space and so learning to garden in beds has been a transition. This year I have 2 main goals. 1.) work to keep my garden productive year round. I'll post later on a brassica experiment I have been running this winter. I've also overwintered shallots and garlic. 2.) add trellises to do more vertical gardening. This year I have beans, squash, zuchinni, pumpkins, cucumbers planned for vertical gardening. I don't count tomatoes, because I've always grown those with supports, in beds and containers. Each year I try to add something to my permaculture efforts. I have asparagus, peach tree, grapes, blackberry and raspberries. This year I'll add artichoke and I'm looking at grafted fruit trees with multiple varieties (some people call these fruit cocktail or fruit salad trees). I'd like to get one each of apples, stone fruit like peach, apricot, plum and finally one with varieties of pears. I've been doing some research on grafting and may make one of my own. We'll see.