Square foot gardening.

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
jansman
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Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Square foot gardening.

Post by jansman »

That's bang on Brambles! :D great link.
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Brambles
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Location: West Midlands

Re: Square foot gardening.

Post by Brambles »

Yep, it's something I want to try next year. I'm afraid I was having trouble visualising what it was all about but the penny dropped when I read that. :)
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain~anon
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diamond lil
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Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:42 pm
Location: Scotland.

Re: Square foot gardening.

Post by diamond lil »

Excellent advice on this thread, thanks everybody :mrgreen: We've finally sorted out the veg half of the back garden and are ready to start growing again next year. Had a few years off due to illness (me) and lazyness (him). Feel so much beter now that I've gotta plan!
Mortblanc
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Location: Kentucky Mountains, USA

Re: Square foot gardening.

Post by Mortblanc »

You can also transfer much of the advice from "container gardening" websites to the SQ/FT concept.

You can also try the "three sisters" concept where you plant maze to grow vertically, Beans to climb the corn stalks as they mature, and squash as a ground cover crop all in the same sq/ft.

You can also plant an early crop, a summer crop and a late crop as each planting comes in and releases space. My Mom used to be a master at planning those alternating crops. She would keep a garden in production from last frost into the early winter.

There are lots of choices. So as the shoe commercial says, "Just do it!". Even if it is only tomatoes in a big pot.
pitchshifter
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Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:34 pm

Re: Square foot gardening.

Post by pitchshifter »

Thanks everyone! Brambles I've had a read through the PDF, it looks like it's exactly what I needed as a total beginner so thanks for that. I think I'll get the book as well so thanks Jansman, and I'll be sure not to be seduced by the sparkly new version. I'll be checking out the container gardening too because I want to grow herbs separately from the veg patch in some sort of vertical fashion, like a tiered planter or something attached to the wall. I also plan to put a few big pots on the small strip of front garden. I'll update on this thread in the Spring when I'm up and running!
jansman
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Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Square foot gardening.

Post by jansman »

Just giving this a bump… The square foot gardens are doing well this year. I have planted this year using a strict companion planting regime. I just went online and found companion guides, and then drew a plan. Everything seems to be thriving. I cannot recommend this system highly enough. For anyone with limited space, it is an ideal way to grow some of your own food. If you are like me, bad back and limited time, it’s a good system again.
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The photo doesn’t do justice to be honest. At the back are dwarf french beans, then chard, then leeks, then kale, either side of a climbing nasturtium ( edible too), and in with the kale are french marigolds, both flowers are good scent blockers to protect the kale. Then we have Welsh onions, a wonderfully tough perennial. I don’t grow any other Alliums than those and the leeks, because of white rot. At the front are some more leeks and kale, which replace the little gem lettuce, which has bolted now.

Anyhow, just thought I’d share that.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
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Quill
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Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2018 9:36 pm

Re: Square foot gardening.

Post by Quill »

That's class Jansman, is there much of a difference in yields compared to normal raised bed growing (adjusted for the smaller growing area overall) ?
jansman
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Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Square foot gardening.

Post by jansman »

Quill wrote: Sun Jun 27, 2021 5:54 pm That's class Jansman, is there much of a difference in yields compared to normal raised bed growing (adjusted for the smaller growing area overall) ?
The yields are quite acceptable.Depending on the eventual size of plants,in each square you put in1,4,9 or 16,.So kale is just one,radish 16 and so on.The chard for example; I have planted 3x1 foot squares,each containing 4 plants = 12 total. As it is a cut and come again plant,that is plenty for two of us.All in 3 square feet.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.