Square Foot Gardening Thread

[krcote]

Thought I would post a photo update!

 

[yakibert]

Love the post - I'm a big fan of sq ft gardening and been doing it for about 5 years now. It's like gardening without all the work you hate to do. I'm always surprised by the amount of food you can get to grow in such a small space ..and it seems to utilize space much more efficiently. I currently have 2 8' x 4' gardens going and will be expanding! You got a very beautiful garden - nice! I like the use of the pallets ...quite resourceful!

 

[krcote]

Thanks yakibert! You are right, SFG is super easy to maintain. We had our first baby 5 months ago and I am very glad we started this gardening style. I was told by many that there was no way I would be able to garden this year with the babe... I am happily proving them wrong when I leave produce on their doorstep

 

[yakibert]

That's the way to show them!

 

[fowlsessed]

Great thread. 36 pages, WOW there's no way I'll be able to read through them all. To bad I didn't find it sooner. I have read the SFG book before and planned to go that route, somehow got side tracked and did some kind of combo between it and conventional. I want to know if you can grow enough to preserve for the year with it, because it seems like to go large scale with most of the alternative gardening methods takes more work, but what has been others experiences? And great idea with the pallets, can get those free. How do the squash grow in the buckets? Any noticeable difference from them being in the ground? I adore Ruth Stouts method of gardening but yet have never tried it. She's pretty much conventional with the year round mulch no till thing, right?, anyone do this? Sorry for all the questions, still a newbie at this

 

[wyoDreamer]

I am only dabbling in gardening, so to speak. I am still trying to figure out the growing season and climate here in WYoming at 7500 feet. Went from northern Wis. with 36" of rain to the high mountain desert with 12" of rain per year.

My biggest problems here are soil and animals. The soil here has no organics in it. It is rocky and drains away water like a sieve. If it weren't for the raised beds and homemade soil mix, I wouldn't have anything growing. We have tried to start a lawn twice now, and just can't get the grass to grow. Barely even have weeds growing, the wind blows all the fines away and all we end up with is a layer of rotten granite chuncks. So the raised beds excel for that aspect.

As for animals - if it is green, they will eat it. Gophers, ground squirrels, rabbits and antelope. If you don't protect the plant from the wildlife, it will get eaten! My poor irises have been eaten to the ground more than once this summer. They get about 6" tall, and then they are eaten down. The raised beds make it easy for me to wire under underneath the beds to keep out the diggers, and wire over top to keep out the grazers. Having the plants concentrated to a smaller area makes this fencing economical.

Last year with 6 tomato plants in my little 3' x 7' growhouse, I grew enough tomatoes to eat, to share with two neighbors, and to dehydrate some for crunchy salad toppers. Probably about 1 bushel total. Granted, I put them out about a month late (June), but they were still covered in green tomatos and producing more in November when they finally froze and died.
This year I have lettuce coming out of my ears. I have been giving away about a 1 gallon bag of lettuce each week and eating about the same amount. My peas are producing a second crop, I think I will have gotten about an ice cream bucket full by the end of the season, and that is for only 4 square feet of space.

Advantages of square foot gardening for me: smaller foot print (for animal control and drip irrigation) and ability to create a growing medium.

If you create enough bed space, I believe that you could grow as much garden crop as you want. It is more intensive in some ways - continually monitoring for insect and disease infeatations. With the way the plants are packed closely together, I can see where these issues would really be a problem if they set in. I use drip irrigation, so I never have moisture on the leaves. It puts the water where it is needed right at the plant so I can conserve water. And I believe this also helps with weed control.

 

[dalepres]

krcote, I just finished scanning/reading the entire 36 pages of this thread. By the way, everyone - I read more of the ones with pictures and scanned over more of those without; garden pictures are always awesome to see!

Thanks for sharing your work; I really have enjoyed the entire 36 pages of this. Seeing the second year is really great; that's what is so often missing in gardening threads.

How is the raised-bed asparagus working out for you?

 

[krcote]

I have 2 4x4 beds of green and purple asparagus and they look amazing! I should mention that I have never grown it before putting the seeds in the ground last year so anything looks good to me

If I get a moment tomorrow I'll snap an updated photo for ya. Thanks for reading the thread!

 

[mrsdanamiller]

Thought I would post a photo update!



What kind of squash is that^ ? Was it a vining type or did you try to direct a bush type onto the small support?







I just thought of this idea yesterday! Glad it's been tried by someone else! Did you end up liking the pallet trellises?





Pretty garden! I'd love to know your post-season thoughts! This is going to be my first year of SFG!!

 

[kian]

I do the square foot gardening too. It's awesome. LOVE the photos!!! Keep us updated, are you winter gardening?