Raised Bed Plan – Sugar Snap Peas, Sweet Corn, Autumn Spinach

Raised Bed Plan – Sugar Snap Peas, Sweet Corn, Autumn Spinach
Most of my Raised Beds are planned to produce 3 Batches of Vegetables during one season. This Bed however is an exception, since it was the Sunchoke/Jerusalem Artichoke Bed last year and I usually save some Sunchokes in the ground during winter and harvest them during early spring (jan-feb). That’s why this Bed only has 2 Batches. The picture above shows the layout of the first batch – Sugar Snap Peas and Sweet Corn.

First Batch: 

• Sugar Snap Peas (2 phases)
• Sweet Corn

Second Batch:

• Autumn Spinach

Why these crops?
This bed is located in the “Enrichers with a twist” section in my garden. These sections are based on Beans and Peas to enrich the soil for next 3 years, all in line with the Crop Rotation Plan. That’s why Sugar Snap Peas are the foundation of the plan for this Garden Bed. Since I also add extra plants to this Bed, I need to keep up with adding manure for nutrients.

Corn and Peas goes great together, and I use that combination both for this Raised Bed and for the Three Sisters Bed.

Autumn Spinach is Cold Resistant and makes a good late Crop to grow where I live.

Location
11 = This bed is in the “Enrichers with a twist” quarter in my Crop Rotation Plan. 

It is one out of Several Garden Beds. See the total list of beds and Layout in my Garden Plan for Raised Beds 2017.

Time Plan for this Bed
The dates will depend a lot on where you live, and what average temperatures and sunny hours you have at different months. I’m in Northern Europe and this is my Plan for this Bed:

February – end:

• Harvest the last Sunchokes left in this Bed over Winter
• Cover the Bed with organic materials like Leaves and let it rest for a while

March – beginning:

• Sow Sugar Snap Peas indoors (about 21 seeds)

March – end:

• Remove your ground cover material
• Cover the bed with fiber cloth, glass frame or plasic frame to speed up the sun warming

April – beginning:

• Move your Sugar Snap Peas to the Bed
• Also Direct Sow 21 more Sugar Snap Pea seeds in the Bed (this will give you continuous harvest with two different batches coming). I start these close to the edges, since they might overlap with the Corn started later (see picture).
• Cover with fiber cloth, plastic or a cold frame if you still have risk for frosty nights

June – beginning:

• Harvest Sugar Snap Peas continuously 
• Start Corn Seeds indoors (~6 plants)

June – end:

• Clear out the first batch of Sugar Snap Peas, leave the second batch (placed arount the edges)
• Transplant Corn Plants to the raised beds

August – mid:

• Sow autumn Spinach indoors
• The last Sugar Snap Peas should now be picked and you can clear them out of the Bed

September – mid:

• Move Autumn Spinach outdoors, plant them between and around the Corn Plants. 

September – mid:

• Harvest Corn when ready

October/November:

• Cover Bed with Cold Frame or Plastic if it’s a cold autumn
• Harvest Spinach continuously. 
• When done harvesting – Cover the Bed with Organic Material and let it rest for the Winter.

Background
My Kitchen Garden is built with a modular approach. I have a number of Raised Beds (Deep Beds) – currently 29 beds. Most of them are 120×80 centimeters. They are Deep Beds and I always cover them with Organic Material to improve soil and nutrients, and also have a No Dig Garden. More background information can be found in these posts:

• Kitchen Garden Layout Plan – Layout overview 
• Building a Raised Bed Kitchen Garden – How to Deep Dig the frames and feed them with organic material
• How to build Raised Bed Frames – Step-by-Step guide on how to do the Frames for the Raised Beds.

Methods I use to plan each Garden Bed
I plan each bed carefully and enjoy making and developing my plans. I try to consider different angles:
– Succession Planting: I want to have at least 3 batches from each bed to maximize my harvest
– Crop Rotation: I rotate my basic crops each year to eliminate diseases. I have a 4 year Crop Rotation Plan (more about my Crop Rotation Plan here).
– Companion Planting: I want each batch to consist of Plants that thrive together to get good harvest and keep the plants healthy.
– Continuous Harvest: I want to be able to harvest from early spring to late autumn without having to preserve too much food. We prefer to eat all the vegetables as fresh as possible.

Don’t hesitate to discuss the planning of this bed with me. There is always loads of input that can help improving this further.

Update, 5th of march

It is beginning of March and I started this Raised Bed today by sowing Sugar Snap Peas indoors. Since I have loads of seeds to start in March, and not that many trays for sowing, I repeated one of my findings from last season and started the Sugar Snap Peas in empty Toilet Paper Rolls (link to last years post on this: here). One difference from last year is that I cut the Toilet Paper Rolls in half. Let’s hope it works out.

Here are some pictures from how I started these Seeds today:

Update, 10th of march

Sugar Snap Peas are fast growers! First sprouts yesterday:

Update, 3rd of may

Time for the first batch of Sugar Snap Peas to move outdoors. It’s later than expected, and they are already flowering in the basement.

Plants ready to be transplanted.

I’m placing the plants in the back half of this Raised Bed..

..and sowing new seeds in the front half. 

..and sowing new seeds in the front half. 

Update, 27th of june

I’m now letting the sugar snap peas lean over a bit to clear some space for the corn plants.

Nice and healthy plants