2013 Master Plan: The Swingset Quadrant

This is another fairly easy quadrant to plan, because (like the patio quadrant) it has a big section of perennial plantings that don't change from year to year. In this section, the left side is our asparagus bed, and across the top we have a line of grapes and our perennial herbs (more detail about that can be found on last year's master plan): 

Many of our sun-loving, warm weather veggies went into this section (for good reason — it's never in the shade!). Along the right hand side are tomatillos (just three this year instead of four) and cantaloupe (just one hill instead of three), with a path border of nasturtiums at the entryway. This is a section that is smaller than last year, as we found that we couldn't keep up with all the tomatillos, and that we just don't love cantaloupe enough to plant more than one hill of them. Sure, they're delicious right off the vine, but we are hoping that our berries come in this summer as well, so we cut back on the melons.

In the center C are our two sisters of butternut squash/pumpkins and pole beans. Instead of interplanting these with tripods the way we did last year, we are arranging the beans along the inside of the C. The plan here is to train them into a very kid-friendly "bean house," where they climb up a framework that will include crosspieces to form a roof. We hope it forms a three-sided wall of greenery around that center C that creates a shady hideaway for the kids to enjoy. This quadrant is closest to their swing set, so it should be a good location for them, and Jonas promised to grow some of his big Italian pole beans here as well. We wanted to encourage him in the only plant he is interested in growing, so hopefully the Bean House will be a success!