One of the biggest advantages of Square Foot gardening is that you can grow more plants in less space. However, if you don’t provide certain plants with adequate support they will take over the entire garden box, and you lose what you gained!
I’m going to show you several methods of supporting your plants so you [...]
Filed under: Build, Grow, How To | 12 Comments »
Emilee, one of my readers, gave me the instructions to build some pretty cool tomato cages.
You can see from this picture that her tomatoes were over 5′ tall, and still growing, thanks to these supports.
Supplies:
Steel remesh–I found a roll of 5′x100′ for $100 at Home Depot
Bolt cutters–$16-$20
Zip ties–$7 for pack of 100
It’s pretty expensive to [...]
Filed under: Build, How To | 14 Comments »
This is a picture I took in front of my happy place–the seed aisle. I love shopping for seeds. The packages are so colorful, offering hope of beautiful and delicious home grown vegetables. I could spend hours (and sometimes do!) debating between varieties of cucumbers, green beans, and tomatoes.
Before you head to the store to [...]
Filed under: How To, Plant | 9 Comments »
Whether you are doing a traditional or square foot garden, having a plan helps everything run more smoothly. Here is a simple outline for creating your garden plan. I love using Excel, but you can use graph paper or just plain old paper!
Step 1: Draw an outline of your garden. I’m going to use the [...]
Filed under: How To, Plant | 9 Comments »
Starting seeds indoors can be a fun way to garden while the weather is still cold and dreary. If you are a beginner, skip this step and just buy your plants!
Supplies:
Your garden plan
Pots
Potting soil
Scissors
Bucket
Seeds
Pencil
Labels and permanent marker
Storage containers with lids
Grow lights
Heat lamp
Timer that turns lights on and off
Be sure your pots and potting soil are [...]
Filed under: How To, Plant | 19 Comments »
Choosing what to plant together for the happiest, healthiest garden is called “companion planting.” Companion planting is the practice of growing plants next to each other for mutual benefit.
This can happen because a companion attracts beneficial or repels harmful insects, or because the natural chemicals found in or produced by a plant improve flavor or [...]
Filed under: How To, Plant | 40 Comments »
Although square foot gardening reduces 99% of weeding, it doesn’t control all those pesky pests and diseases. While I am personally not averse to occasional use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, I always try an organic method first.
Fertilizer
In his book, Mel talks about the necessity of using multiple kinds of compost or better yet, making [...]
Filed under: Grow, How To | 14 Comments »
First, I am going to cover several other options for watering your garden.
Bucket Method
The simplest of all watering methods is this:
A bucket of sun-warmed water, with a cup or pitcher to pour. This is the method I use until I turn on my irrigation system. In his book, Mel Bartholemew suggests using a cup, and [...]
Filed under: Build, How To | 22 Comments »
I’ve found a couple of great resources for building square foot gardens. Here are the price breakdowns, done as “apples to apples” as I could!
Vinyl Square Foot Gardens
6″ high (single rail) NO SOIL
Dimensions
Home Gardens To Go Website
Square Foot Gardening Website
Homemade w/ Home Depot
2×4
$69.00
$60.00
$49.00*
4×4
$99.00
$85.00
$50.00
4×8
$159.00
$165.00
$82.00
6″ high (single rail) WITH SOIL
Dimensions
Home Gardens To Go Website
Square Foot Gardening Website
Homemade [...]
Filed under: Build, How To | 10 Comments »
This spring my friend Tara and I tackled this project together. Here’s a list of materials and costs:
wood (two 16′ 2×10 boards, one 8′ 2×10 board-$31 total)
16 corner brackets ($.56 each, $9)
wood stain (1 can from the “oops” pile-$5)
screws ($5)
miscellaneous parts ($3)
weed mat (free)
kite string (free)
1 bale peat moss ($8)
1 bag perlite ($13)
3 bags chicken [...]
Filed under: Build, How To | 17 Comments »
