"There are two kinds of adventurers: those who go truly hoping to find adventure and those who go secretly hoping they won't."

Rabindranath Tagore
Nobel Prize Winner for Literature 1913

May you be the first as I am! Warning: That may mean you fall flat on your face at times.

Monday, March 30

Square Foot Garden!

So hubby and I (more hubby than me) put together a box out of wood. We just used the cheapest wood we could find. It's semi-rough cut, a little warped. but for $1.25 per piece we couldn't beat it. Then he took up the sod that was inside the box so it would sit atop the sand. It looks like dirt there but trust me it's nothing but freakin' sand that is everywhere here. Then we set the wood down and filled it with good rich potting soil. He added the stakes (I'm still not sure as to why, but this morning I found kitty prints so I might use them to try and stop kitty somehow, not my kitty by the way) And I used bamboo that I had left over from last year to make a simple grid. The red orange things are yarn (from my overflowing craft closet) that I used to tie the bamboo together in a rough 1 foot by 1 foot grid. The first box is 4 foot by 6 foot. Then we did the same thing (minus the bamboo part) over by the fence. This box is 2 foot by 6 foot.
I decided to put in (from top left to bottom right) yellow pepper, purple cabbage (they call it red cabbage here), orange pepper, carrots, bush beans, salad mix (just a mix of different small leaf lettuces), sweet onions, zucchinni, lettuce (mixed again but the larger heads lettuce or maybe not from the links it may be the same thing just different packages, lol well I guess we'll find out), eggplant, yellow squash, and spinach. I've never done the purple cabbage, or the eggplant before so that is going to be a double trial there since this is my first step into Square Foot Gardening (SFG).
So in the little bed I use 2 by 2 areas and made mounds of dirt. I didn't see a need for using the bamboo here because I'm putting the larger plants over here. So from left to right I have yellow squash, eggplant, and zucchinni. I put in three seeds per mound and then I may thin them later if they need it.



So for some dorky reason I didn't get a picture of the garden planted. I will get one tomorrow and replace this one with it. (Changed on 4/7/09) The farthest row will have all beans in it. One square being planted each Monday. The next row is empty (for the moment), yellow pepper, orange pepper, lettuce. Then the third row (counting toward the bottom of the picture) has carrots, cabbage (four plants), sweet onion and empty. The fourth row has empty, cabbage, empty, empty. I'm not real sure what I'll plant in all those empty spaces yet but I'll get it figured out. Now the last two rows are going to be salad mix (the one I think is smaller) then spinach. I've planted the far right ones so far. I decided that I was going to go ahead and try SFG this year since I couldn't ever get a decision on if I was going to be able to get a garden plot. One week to the day after putting it in I found out that the garden plots are being redone and that I will now be able to get one! Not willing to look a gifted horse in the mouth, I'll be happy to take both! Now the only question is where will I fit it in, lol!
Remember there is always a silver lining, it just may be very thin so look hard!!

2 comments:

Tori said...

I love your bamboo!! That's so cool and such a good idea. :) We'll have green weather-proof wire. Not so cool, but Jess was quite practical when he chose it. Didn't ask me what I thought, but still a good choice.

I'm so glad you have pictures. I need to make sure to remember to take pictures of each step. (Oops... didn't do pictures of the raspberry plants. Ahwell, just have to show the finished product. :))

The larger plants (like vines) often, but not always, need 2 feet, but don't need a mound. Mel Bartholomew recommends (and even has directions in The New Square Foot Gardening book for making) trellis things for the plants to grow up. Also he recommends making sort of wells and then planting the seeds/plants in them because he wants SFGers to water only in the wells for each plant, once or twice a day. It's part of his conservation effort with the invention of this gardening method.

We grew our sprawling plants in VA by putting our SFGs near our porch with old wood trellis stuff leaning up against it for the plants to climb and/or be woven into. This year we're building the trellis found in the book... should be interesting. It's not up yet, but will be by the time our plants need something to crawl. :)

Also (sorry so long), I suggest you look in to some marigolds and nasturtiums in some of those empty squares. You see, both of those flowers have insect repellent properties. Unfortunately marigolds are not edible, but nasturtiums are (flower AND leaves)!!! AND they taste peppery, so quite nice in salads. :) Additionally, and finally, the flowers make the gardens SO pretty they add tremendous enjoyment and helped the whole thing feel really fulfilling (for me)! ^_^

Mama Mezzo said...

I didn't do wells because after talking with hubby he said that a mote would be better allowing the water absorb in a wider patter and the mound would hold the water longer. Hubby use to watch SFG on PBS (there was a show all about SFG I'm looking for a link) that he use to watch as a kid all the time. Probably why the snot can grow anything. All of our squares are planned for food eventually just not sure what will really go where just yet. Checkout next blog on gardening too!