From Chapter Two, Elements of Design:
Plan of a Small, Urban Potager

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The Barnards' productive vegetable garden in Portland, Oregon, northwest America, feels remarkably uncluttered yet contrives to fit a lot of edibles into a small space. It was originally a narrow, gently sloping strip about 26 feet (7.8 m) long and 16 feet (4.8 m) wide, planted with grass and a few shrubs--in effect a typical urban passageway between the street frontage and the secluded area behind.

Clever terracing on three levels makes the best use of the site. At the highest level three raised beds of different widths, crisply edged with cedar board, jut out from the house. Raised brick paths bridge the gaps between them, stepped down to the level of the middle terrace. Sunken beds flank the sunniest side of the central patio area, and their wooden edges are flush with a brick terrace. It's a 6 inch (15 cm) timber-edged drop to the lowest level, a mer 24 inches (60 cm) wide strip running parallel to the boundary picket fence.

The beds beside the house are densely planted in orderly squares, smothering weeds and highlighting the complementary textures and colors of cabbabe, carrots, chives, leeks, spinach, and many types of lettuce. Bare ground is abhorred, so a lemon cucumber may be planted among Swiss chard, or an eggplant or pepper slipped into a convenient gap. On the lowest level, peas are followed by corn and tomatoes, and squashes and corn may take over from the beans in the tepee bed. Arugula and celery are left to flower and seed into the winter months, but otherwise flowers, the majority edible, are restricted to pots. These are grouped to great effect around the garden: a blueberry in one, rosemary in another, sorrel and nasturtiums in others. Creeping thymes, Corsican mint and self-sown toadflax fill the crannies between bricks, and trained plums and kiwis utilize the walls of the house.