Sunday, March 22, 2009

Square Foot Gardening

Our grass has been removed and we are ready to put in our raised bed. I've been trying to determine what size is best. The bed we have now is only 3 ft across which works well with my reach as I don't have long arms and I want to be able to reach the middle of the bed.















Last night we were over at our friends, The Webers (who are very cool people by the way) , for dinner. They are using the square foot garden approach which I've considered. These pictures are from their lovely garden.



The Ten Basics of Square Foot Gardening:

1 - LAYOUT
Arrange you garden in squares, not rows. Lay it out in 4' by 4' areas.

2 - BOXES
Build boxes to hold a new soil mix above ground.

3 - AISLES
Space boxes 3’ apart to form walking aisles.

4 - SOIL
Fill boxes with Mel’s special soil mix: 1/3 compost. 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite.

5 - GRID
Make a square foot grid for the top of each box. A MUST!

6 - CARE
NEVER WALK ON YOUR GROWING SOIL. Tend your garden from the aisles.

7 - SELECT
Plant a different flower, vegetable, or herb crop in each square foot, using 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants per square foot.

8 - PLANT
Conserve seeds. Plant only a pinch (2 or 3 seeds) per hole. Place transplants in a slight saucer-shaped depression.

9 - WATER
Water by hand from a bucket of sun-warmed water.

10 - HARVEST
When you finish harvesting a square foot, add compost and replant it with a new and different crop.

Location:
Pick an area that gets 6-8 hours of sunshine daily.
Stay clear of trees and shrubs where roots and shade may interfere.
Have it close to the house for convenience and protection.
Existing soil is not really important. You won’t be using it.
Area must not puddle after a heavy rain.

For more on square foot gardening visitwww.squarefootgardening.com

5 comments:

Cicero Sings said...

Hi,

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment ... I'm always curious as to how people come my way.

We have the square foot gardening book and have done 3 beds up that way.

We have a very short growing season here ... basically, there will be no more growth after the end of August.

Blind Fly Theater said...

Thanks for the beautiful post! It really has me excited about the planting season, which should be in a few short weeks here along the frigid shores of Lake Ontario. The photos are very inviting. Thanks. Also, every year I seem to expand my garden further and further into my lawn. Started out with 100% lawn 7 years ago, and now my garden has taken over 60%. More joy, less chore.

Barb said...

this is a very good ideal,I like the way its laid out....Barb

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