Square Foot Gardening

Square Foot Gardening

What is square foot gardening? A simple, unique and versatile system that adapts to all levels of experience, physical ability, and geographical location. Grow all you want and need in only 20% of the space of a conventional row garden. Save time, water, work and money! I am following the square foot gardening method, and I'll be using it as a reference through out the blog. Square foot gardening invented by the genius Mel Bartholomew! Learn more about it in his website , Or order his very very valuable book. It may come in downloadable PDF files too, if you search.

Here are the 10 things that make SFG different from traditional row gardening:

  1. Layout. Arrange your garden in squares, not rows. Lay it out in 4′x4′ planting areas. Companion plants can help each other grow bigger and tastier!
  2. Boxes. Build boxes to hold a new soil mix above ground. Your existing soil doesn't matter! forget about it, and just worry about the new soil called Mel's Mix.
  3. Aisles. Space boxes 3′ apart to form walking aisles. It makes it easier to walk and sit around the boxes, especially when your plants get really big and spill out of the boxes a little.
  4. Soil. Fill boxes with Mel’s special soil mix: 1/3 blended compost (please please make your own! The compost sold in Kuwait is a little shady) , 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite (All available in True Value).
  5. Grid. Make a permanent square foot grid for the top of each box. A MUST!
  6. Care. NEVER WALK ON YOUR GROWING SOIL. This is how the soil stays so fluffy and airy for the roots stay happy. 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. You might, for example, plant a single tomato in a square, but you’d plant 16 carrots in another. Using this system, you can cram a lot of garden into a small space and still get excellent yields.
  8. Plant. Conserve seeds. Plant only a pinch (2 or 3 seeds) per hole. Place transplants in a slight saucer-shaped depression. This means you wont waste seeds! The traditional way is to plant lots of seeds then cut off the majority and leave the strongest.
  9. Water. Water by hand from a bucket of sun-warmed water.
  10. Harvest. When you finish harvesting a square foot, add only compost and replant it with a new and different crop.
Here's how Im starting my square foot garden : I decided how big of an area I want to use, I am placing my SFG on the roof of my house, which I made sure received at least 8 hours of full sun. I am going big and starting with lots of boxes. So after thorough planning I decided I want two 4x4 square foot boxes (which is the standard) two smaller boxes for root vegetables like carrots and potatoes, and one long box for herbs. You can download the guide I created for the carpenters here . Its not the most accurate illustration of what the boxes look like in the end, but the numbers are right. You can change the measurements how ever you like, most importantly, you have to make sure each square is 1ft squared in size= 30 cm. Also Most vegetables require 6 inches of soil, I've decided to use around 20cm. If the boxes are placed over a garden/soil, they don't need bottoms. In my case, I have to apply bottoms since they're going to be in the roof. The bottoms are waterproof 2cm thick plywood. The plywood has to have around 0.6 cm holes drilled in each square, plus in the corners. My boxes have weird squares in the plywood because the carpenter mistook 0.6cm for huge 6cm holes, I had them fix them without problems. Potato/Carrot beds: One of the 4x4' beds with the herb bed: You can of course build your own boxes, and a very detailed guide is in the book. Im sure its much more fun.I don't have the skill or time, so I had the boxes done for 50KD total, 30 for the wood and 20 for the building. The work was done by Ibrahim in Classic Design Carpentry : Don't forget, you can collect sawdust for free and use it as a carbon source in your compost! Maybe I'll paint the outsides of the boxes with the kids before the season starts, what do you think?
Back to blog

188241 comments

UnagiSwap is a cutting-edge decentralized exchange (DEX) that provides fast, secure, and transparent crypto trading. Designed for traders looking to swap digital assets efficiently without intermediaries, UnagiSwap offers low fees, deep liquidity, and seamless smart contract execution. Whether you’re a casual trader or a professional investor, UnagiSwap’s non-custodial platform ensures full control over your assets in a decentralized environment. https://unagiswap.org

KennySwege
users use traditional banking methods, like credit and debit cards, [url=http://bigphotographygroup.com/hello-world-2-2/]http://bigphotographygroup.com/hello-world-2-2/[/url] technical support is available around the clock and without breaks through all kinds of channels.
JustinFah

продвижение сайта анапа https://moskva-top.ru/prodvizhenie-sajta-anapa

Josephriz

Trailer trucks queue to cross into the United States at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, in Tijuana, Mexico, November 27, 2024. Jorge Duenes/Reuters
New York
CNN

[url=https://blacksprut2rprrt3aoigwh7zftiprzqyqynzz2eiimmwmykw7wkpyad-onion.shop]blacksprut com[/url]
Since President Donald Trump won the election in November, businesses across the globe have been bracing for higher tariffs — a key Day One promise the president made.

But over a week into his presidency, Trump has yet to enact any new tariffs.
[url=https://blsp2web.net]btrhbfeojofxcpxuwnsp5h7h22htohw4btqegnxatocbkgdlfiawhyid.onion[/url]
That could change, come 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday — the deadline Trump set for when he says he will slap 25% tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian goods and a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods.

The tariffs, he said, will be imposed as a way of punishing the three nations, which Trump claims are responsible for helping people enter the country illegally and supplying fentanyl consumed in the US.

Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said he meant business, especially with his tariff threats on Mexico and Canada. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also confirmed on Friday that Trump will levy the 10% tariff on China on Saturday.
[url=https://bsr2.org]блэк спрут onion[/url]
Should these threats be believed? Yes and no, said Trump’s former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
блекспрут
https://bsme-at.com
The threat of blanket tariffs is likely being overstated, Ross said in an interview with CNN. “There probably will be exclusions, because there are some goods that just are not made here, will not be made here, and therefore, there’s no particular point putting tariffs on.”

Ross, who was one of a handful of initial cabinet members in Trump’s first administration who kept their position for the entire four-year term, said he advocated for such exclusions when he advised Trump on tariff policies.

[url=https://blspat.ru]блэкспрут сайт[/url]

Davidcoige

Howdy would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using? I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a hard time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!

canadian pharmacies

Leave a comment

Your comment was posted successfully! Thank you!