As I enjoy my long awaited garden harvest (tomatoes are really coming in only now), I am starting to plan next year's garden.  I will capitalize on this year's successes (Tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers) and learn from this year's failures (Pumpkins and watermelons).  I also learned that I planted too little of somethings (lettuces and onions).  I really want to maximize my space and yields.  I am planning more vertical gardening to get more into the same space.

I don't want to expand my in-ground garden space (even though there is plenty of room-- we live in the country on more than two acres), so I plan on going up and down.  I am going to force beans, tomatoes and cucumbers up pole setups.  I plan on doing a series of hanging baskets (10-12) for my cherry tomatoes and peppers.  Finally, I plan on creating stepped raised bed gardening and stepped shelves for smaller crops like herbs. 

Additionally, I will more than double my containered vegetables to better use space and reflected light from the house.

In a future post, I will share my plans to deal with two pests that visited my garden this year . . .