Spring Crop

I have been thinking about what to plant in the empty circle bed that is beckoning me to give it a useful life.

Originally I thought about installing a birdhouse on a pole with sunflowers planted around it. My thought was to provide a sanctuary for the native birds and a food source for them as well. The more I thought about it I realized it wouldn't accomplish what I really want to do. My goal is to provide a free food resource for the local community. To accomplish that goal I need to plant some vegetables instead of feeding and housing birds.

Now my plans are to plant heirloom beans (trifono violetto) and cherry tomatoes. I want to build a tee-pee frame to support the beans as they grow up to 9 feet in height.

That would go in the center of the circle and be surrounded with cherry tomatoes (super sweet 100).

Since the circle is fairly large I would need to leave several empty spots so as to provide a way to reach the center and harvest the beans when they ripen. I haven't yet measured the diameter of the circle bed but it appears to be about 10 feet across. That would give me an approximate circumference of 70 feet in which to plant tomatoes around the border and leave me a 4 foot diameter space in the center for 6 or 8 bean plants.

Given those numbers it should make for a very bountiful harvest all summer long.