2017 Square-Foot Garden
Well, my grid is on order, so it will be coming in soon, but I've done this enough to know how to plant. Beginners need the grid to plant evenly, though. There is a method to this madness!
It wasn't easy this year though...oh, I purchased a fabulous, lifetime (poly resin) 4' x 4' x 9" raised bed from Amazon (link here) and I have healthy, more mature plants since I'm getting my garden in later--due to my recent move--AND all my plants were on sale Mother's Day weekend! What luck!
But even with a nasty cough, I got the garden done in two days. One evening to fill the bed, the next afternoon to plant it.
Tonight, I'm celebrating with a vaporizer, cold meds, essential oils, hot soup and my laptop! But first, here's a step-by-step of my process and I'm thinking I'll be taking my lawn chair out there this evening, with a glass of "celebration" and relax! After all...life is a garden! And surely the fresh air will do me good!
Step 1
First you need a box...a 4' x 4' raised bed. It can be as shallow as 6" and as deep as 18". In years past, I built my own with cedar boards. Mine were 6" deep, but I found that wasn't quite deep enough for some plants' root systems. Building a box is as simple as buying two 8' boards, cutting them in half and nailing or screwing them into a square. You don't need a bottom. It will sit directly on the ground.
Step 2
Fill your 4' x 4' raised bed with Mel's Mix: 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 blended compost, 1/3 coarse vermiculite.
This year, I found a 100% completely organic "Raised Bed Mix" from Miracle Grow. It is filled with peat moss and blended compost. That checked off TWO of my ingredients! (Plus, it was one of my Mother's Day sales items!)
Then I purchased COARSE vermiculite. If you accidentally get the powdered type that is not coarse, use it on your flowers. Your raised bed of vegetables needs coarse vermiculite to retain moisture!
My biggest challenge was finding a level spot that wasn't shaded all day! But this was it and I'm hoping I get great results.
(NOTE: With Square foot gardening and the use of Mel's mix, the grass inside your raised bed doesn't have to be taken out, but I always put down landscape fabric or weed cloth. I criss-cross it since I purchased a 3' wide roll instead of the more expensive 4' wide. I still have some leftover for my flower beds--a future project.)
Step 3
Once your bed is filled, use either a grid (see link), twine (thumbtacked to the sides), or a 5' measuring stick to give your plants a square foot to grow in.
Some plants need the entire square foot: bell peppers, tomatoes, squash, maybe cucumbers, etc. Others can have 4 to 16 plants per square foot (like carrots)!
Here's a link to an older video that reinforces Mel Bartholomew's process.
Decide ahead of time what you want to grow. Only grow what you will eat, can, freeze, or share.
This year, I'm growing peppers (green, yellow, orange), squash (spaghetti and crook-neck), cucumbers, tomatoes (Roma and cherry), and zucchini.
I'm also growing radishes, onions (green and white) in separate containers, and potatoes (red and sweet) in buckets. I grow what I eat! Be sure to check back, because I'll update on the progress of my little garden when my grid comes in. I'm just so excited to have a square-foot garden this year, since last year, I wasn't able to do more than herbs on the porch of my apartment building. But an urban gardener never gives up! Where there's a will...or a square foot...there's a way!
Very few tools are needed in square-foot gardening. A fork or a trowel or spade is enough--I even used a toy sand shovel once! A watering can or an inexpensive expandable gardening hose with a "shower" and "mist" setting for watering tender plants is essential. Remember, once the plants are established, water the soil, NOT the plants!
TA-DA!!
