Andrew Penny

im in zone 9b in lakeland florida and i have about 500sqft or so to grow a small garden to feed myself fresh veggies. its changing seasons finally so i can start planting cooler crops to grow these next months. what plants can i start now and in the next few months to get the absolute most use out of the space i have. i have very sandy soil and im working on getting a few yards of compost delivered soon. i also have a irrigation system developed ,is it better to use drip or a spray system? i have a small huglekultur bed that im going to grow bush beans in to break everything up and use the space for something to fix the bed with nitrogen. any crops that will grow tall and stuff that grows short? and what to plant after each crop? there are 3 regular beds and the huglekultur to space everything out. Any help would be very helpful!!

Timothy Markus wrote:Hi Andrew, and welcome to Permies!  I agree with Mike that nitrogen fixers are a good choice.  You can mix pretty much whatever you want but the nitrogen fixers help everything else that comes after.  

What is your climate like?  People may be able to give you more specific advice if they know what you're dealing with.

Congrats on the hugelkultur, by the way.

I’m in zone 9b Right in central Florida. It’s just starting to cool off. So would a bunch of bush bean plants be a good idea?

I just started a bed about 12x10ft with plenty of organic matter but I didn’t dig the ditch to put it in. I have some time before I can plant it full of plants for this fall here so would sprinkling some wheat grass or something similar to start breaking down the organic matter help? And chop it down before I plant then a layer of compost before I plant seeds.