Thinking of trying the square foot gardening

[AngelaVA]

I really really want a vegetable garden. Last year everything died, I did not get one single vegetable from the 3x 6 area that I hoed up and covered with organic miracle grow. Our soil is very hard packed rocky clay soil. So, it probably wasn't deep enough for the roots and drainage, plus, the squirrels and cats got into it AND we had a drought and watering restrictions. I tried composting, mostly leaves since we live in a woodsy area, there is some vegetable and fruit stuff though. It has sat all winter, I never used it because everything died. Could I use it this year? Is it okay that it is mostly leaves? How do I keep the cats and squirrels out? Chicken wire maybe? How deep do I need to make the boxes seeing that the ground below is very hard packed and unsuitable? Should I try this or quit before I waste more money? :shrug

[Psyche]

I think mine is about 6 or 8 inches. You can make it as deep as you want. You put landscape screening at the bottom. Potting soil and compost (I just got the hummus/manure mix). I might use some of the leaves, but I would probably use some manute too. Half and half. There are instructions in the book on how to build a cage over the top to keep animals out.

I posted pictures from mine in another thread today about gardening. I love my SFG and will be doing a second box this summer. You can also make one foot square if you'd rather instead of a 4X4 foot square. It's really up to you.

[doubleblessings]

we have done it before. I really like it. This year DH is trying to get the lawn in shape to put the house on the market, so I may have one small square in the backyard (usually put it on the side) but there is more shade back there so I don't know if it will grow as well. The first year we bought the stuff - vermiculite, hummus, sand etc (the stuff it talks about). First we broke up the soil (red clay, but not really rocky) about a shovel deep and then added the stuff we bought to come up about 6-8".

How broken down is the compost? Dig under a little and the bottom maybe more ready. I might put some on top for a mulch layer if it isn't all broken down.

[canadiyank]

Leaves take awhile to compost b/c, like tree bark, they have something in them that prevents rot...helpful when you're a living tree/leaf, but not helpful to the gardener later. I've found mine break down faster in the compost pile, but I have nothing against digging them into the ground, either. But I'm pretty lazy. :shifty

The square foot gardening looks fantastic, and I'm thinking I may do it at our new place (we have established tiered and raised beds here at our rental) b/c it looks good. :tu

It's possible to get clay soil in good shape (it's taken me several years here) but it's not terribly easy. Lots of compost (delivered and from my piles), rototilling, etc. My soil gives good crops and it pretty decent now, though.

[kklibrarian]

We use the square foot gardening method here. We currently have four 4X4 beds, and are planning on two more. It works with minimal effort, and the beds are very neat looking. We use our own compost and boost it a bit with a little bought chicken manure. Our compost is primarily leaves, vegetable matter, coffee and tea grounds, and egg shells. It's working well for us so far. I recommend the square foot gardening books by Mel Bartholomew. They are easy to understand and a wonderful guide to the process.

Blessings,
Kelly

[AngelaVA]

I think mine is about 6 or 8 inches. You can make it as deep as you want. You put landscape screening at the bottom. Potting soil and compost (I just got the hummus/manure mix). I might use some of the leaves, but I would probably use some manute too. Half and half. There are instructions in the book on how to build a cage over the top to keep animals out.

I posted pictures from mine in another thread today about gardening. I love my SFG and will be doing a second box this summer. You can also make one foot square if you'd rather instead of a 4X4 foot square. It's really up to you.


Your pictures are actually what gave me the idea, thanks for posting them. My husband is on board with helping me. I think the biggest obstacle will be building the raised bed to start with. We both have small cars so hauling the materials will be challenging. We have virtually no tools and no knowledge about building things, so this could end up being expensive and time consuming as well. I think we're just going to try anyway and hopefully it will be a learning process.

[Marielle]

hmmm I might give this a try. I was checking out the Sq Ft. forum on garden web as well as the Mel B. site for instruction. I'm going to try it with the mel's mix and try just one box this year since I was able to find the vermiculite in our area. I was inspired by your pics Psyche as well as mollobe's on the other thread. Not a gardener myself by any stretch of the imagination but I'm not going to get better at this not doing anything. LOL

[Psyche]

I think mine is about 6 or 8 inches. You can make it as deep as you want. You put landscape screening at the bottom. Potting soil and compost (I just got the hummus/manure mix). I might use some of the leaves, but I would probably use some manute too. Half and half. There are instructions in the book on how to build a cage over the top to keep animals out.

I posted pictures from mine in another thread today about gardening. I love my SFG and will be doing a second box this summer. You can also make one foot square if you'd rather instead of a 4X4 foot square. It's really up to you.


Your pictures are actually what gave me the idea, thanks for posting them. My husband is on board with helping me. I think the biggest obstacle will be building the raised bed to start with. We both have small cars so hauling the materials will be challenging. We have virtually no tools and no knowledge about building things, so this could end up being expensive and time consuming as well. I think we're just going to try anyway and hopefully it will be a learning process.




We cut everything at home depot. They have a power saw you can make so many cuts for free and a hand one as well. There are very detailed instructions on what to do in the book and probably on line as well. You'll need the wood, a hammer and some nails (a wood stapler thing might be useful but not necessary), land scape sheeting (you don't have to have the high quality kind, but it will cut down on your weeds if its a better kind), your potting soil and manure and your seeds. You can use string and nails to divide your squares or you can use thin pieces of wood. :)

[Punkie]

I just started my square foot garden a few weeks ago, and it is doing fantastically well! I grew one in elementary school (our school had a special time for gardening), and my cabbage did so well that it was in the newspaper :grin :giggle I'm a big believer in square foot gardening. Our soil is terrible, but I just built it as a raised bed and didn't use the ground soil at all.

[doubleblessings]

I think the biggest obstacle will be building the raised bed to start with. We both have small cars so hauling the materials will be challenging. We have virtually no tools and no knowledge about building things, so this could end up being expensive and time consuming as well. I think we're just going to try anyway and hopefully it will be a learning process.


We bought several of our first boards from the cull lumber section (things that got cut to the wrong size or for some reason they aren't selling at full price). If you need to buy full boards get them to cut them. We divided the squares with string the first year, but you really don't have to.

[Firebird Rising]

We cheated a little. We have a 25X4 garden, a 10X4, and a 12X4 garden. We followed most of the rules except for where he says not to make them longer than 4X4. It works for us because of the way our back yard is set up. The square-foot principle is great and it looks great. I'll put pics up today, if possible, in a different post.

Jen D.

[jewelmcjem]

Ooooh, this looks interesting. Any specific sites you like for sf gardening? I want a garden, but don't necessarily want to till up the yard. Psyche, is it too late to start in MI?

[Psyche]

Nope, its not. I just planted my spring veggies within the last couple weeks (broccoli had a head start). I'll plant my summer veggies by June 1st (corn, beans, carrots, potatoes, etc).

If you google square foot garden it'll take you to the site. I recommend getting the book though. It's really a good resource. Once you get it up, its really so easy, I feel kind of guilty.