Planning my spring vegetable garden?

Question

Im starting to plan my garden for spring (which for Aus. is next month). It is rectangular block 25m long. I know about rotational cropping and stuff but im not sure exactly what to position where. How much space would melons take do you think? I have 6 varieties. Here is what im planting:

-Tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant, zuchinni, squash, beans, corn, lettuce, cabbages, potatoes, honeydew, rockmelon, watermelon, casaba melon, crenshaw melon, carrots, parsnip, onions, beetroot, silverbeet, pumpkin.

What should i position next to each other for maximum space and companion planting?

Any vegies I'm forgetting?

Answer 1

Wow!  Good for you!  You might be interested in Mel Bartholomew's square foot gardening concept.  You can plant a lot in a small space.  Happy gardening!

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

Answer 2

Melons do take a lot of space. Cross pollonation may be a problem in these numbers for this size garden.

Answer 3

Six varieties of melon?  WOW...that takes LOTS of space. Melons should be grown 4-6 feet apart for maximum yields. You can plant pumpkins among your corn plants, but corn also takes up a lot of space. This isn't that large a garden--do you think you'll have enough room? You have three gardens' worth of melons alone! I'd keep it to two varieties of melon, no pumpkins, and no corn, myself. But you should do what you want!

Beans and eggplant together.

Peppers (capsicum), tomatoes together. Plant oregano or parsley and basil among the plants if you like them. Onions can be nearby.

Corn and tomatoes should not be planted near each other, nor should beans and onions or beans and carrots. Beans don't do well near ANY root crops such as turnips, potatoes or beets.

Put all your root crops together--except the potatoes. Potatoes are another crop that takes up a lot of space UNDER the ground--so plant those where you won't walk, or compress, the earth too much--like the edge of the garden. Keep them away from tomatoes, zucchini, or any squash/melons. Put your onions, carrots, parsnips, beets in one place, all your "leafy" veg in another place: your lettuce, cabbages and silverbeet.

Leaf crops like lettuce should be at the other edges of the garden so you can replant after initial harvest or at the end of the season for cool-weather growing.

Honestly I don't know how you're going to pull off this many different vegetables in such a small space--even if you only plant one of each. You've just got so many things that spread out a good ways--all the melons and pumpkins have vines which can reach 25 feet long!  and corn requires at least 2 feet apart and 3 feet between rows. At least that's how they grow here in the US.

Good luck anyway!