Plant It!
Creating your plan
- Creating a Garden Plan
- Plant Spacing in a Square Foot Garden
- Suggested Plant Varieties
- Companion Planting
When to plant
What to plant
How to plant
Sample Garden Plans
-
Odds & Ends
11 Responses to “Plant It!”
Leave a Reply
Discover your color!
Click here to find out
when to plant based on
your location.
Want a button?
Visit My Friends!
I am just curious, how do i get my pumpkins and watermelons to grow vertically?? I am freakin out here, lol, because I’ve already started them from seed indoors and boy do I have plants. I thought I could just let them grow over the side of the box and out onto the yard. Is that not ok, can anyone tell me? Thank you in advance!!
~Jessica
Jessica,
As they grow you tie them to the trellis or chain link fence–use gloves, because they can be pokey! My friend said she even wound hers up and down, like a snake, on her trellis. Some say the fruit needs some support (a sling made out of an old pair of nylons works well), while others say the plant grows strong enought to support it.
I’m planning my first SFG (4×10) for next year and have found your site very helpful. One question. My rows run East to West and was wondering what you thought of planting a row of cuc’s in the north-most row and then a row of tomatoes (indeterminate). I’m wondering if the tomatoes will shade the cuc’s too much or if i’ll be ok. Thanks!!!
AJ,
In fact, tomatoes like cukes, and the cukes will like the shade in their roots. However, I do think you might have problems with your tomatoes taking over, and it will make it difficult for you to find and pick the cucumbers. I would suggest planting your tomatoes on one end, and then cukes next door:
X X X X X X T T T T
X X X X X X T T T T
X X X X X X T T T T
X X c c c c T T T T
Each letter is a square foot, (you said 4×10) C is for cukes, T is for tomatoes. I’m not suggesting you plant 16 tomato plants, just that you give it 16 square feet of space.
What do I need to do to prepare my garden box after sitting out all winter? Are there some basic steps I could follow? I used the garden box and soil last spring/summer and then harvested all the plants out and covered with grass clippings. Is that okay? I really have no idea what I am doing, I just pretend.
There was a moldy cabbage piece I found and it looks like a few stray cats thought it was a nice litter box. I have all that cleared out now, but am worried about mold as well as disease from cat feces residue (especially since I am pregnant). I still have the grass clippings on top and the soil looks nice underneath. What do I do now?!
Ashley–where do you live? If you’re in a place that stays wet and soggy, you might have to worry about mold. If you’re in a more arid climate–don’t worry, things will warm up and dry out soon. As for the cats, perhaps next year you’ll want to cover the boxes to avoid that. For now I’d toss any grass that had cat feces on it. But in the long run, remember that one of the things we PUT in the garden ON PURPOSE is various forms of poop. You can check your local Ag store (here in Utah it’s called IFA)–I find them super helpful with questions like this.
To prepare your box you’ll want to buy compost (several kinds, if possible), mix it in and get the soil full to the top. I find it always settles, so I try to start as high as I can! If you irrigate you’ll want to get that out as soon as danger of freezing pipes is past. My newsletter checklist includes different tasks as they become necessary at the beginning of the season.
I am in the green group so it does get dry. I know we put in all those different animal manures and such, but I figured cat’s was different and not good, especially since they say to stay away from it when pregnant.
Is it a good idea or bad to put the grass clippings over top before winter? Do I remove all the grass I can now and just mix in the fresh compost or mix the grass in too? I wasn’t sure if it was good to cover the box during winter since I heard it was good for the soil to be out all winter, is that true?
I just started getting the newsletters and look forward to learning more. Thanks for all your help!
I am new to square foot gardening and am a bit confused. My space is built. I have 3 beds that are actually attached to one another due to space– 2 4×4 and a 4×8. My 4×8 bed has a trellis that goes around 3 sides. I’ve read so many wonderful things on your site and in Mel’s book but I”m still a little confused. I’d like to grow 4 tomato plants- sungolds, sweet 100’s, cherokee purple, and a brandywine. I’m also hoping to grow a roma if I have space. Some of the other things I’d like to grow are lettuce, spinach, chard, broccoli, patty pan squash, eggplant, herbs, and peas. There are only 2 of us in my house so I don’t need to grow a lot of each, just enough for us and a little to share with the neighbors/family. I’m having difficulty understanding these things:
1- how many squares do the tomatoes actually need? I’ve read that I can trellis them to save space but does that work? Do I still need to cage them?
2- I don’t quite get the timing of everything that I’m trying to grow and am having a hard time committing to a plan. Any suggestions?
Thank you so much! I just love your site and am so excited (and a bit nervous) to start my garden!
So I guess I can’t find it, but if I don’t start tomatoes inside, when do I plant the seeds outside? I’m in the green group.
Melissa–you probably need to buy plants or start seeds indoors. The growing season is too short to grow from seeds outside. I live in the Green group as well–My frost date is May 8. In the fall, my frost date is around October 8. So after that date, my tomatoes probably won’t keep growing and producing. If your fall frost date is late enough, you can start from seeds. Places with year-round gardening can do this. For the rest of us, it’s tomato transplants.
I have a single dill plant in the middle of my 5×5 beds. Is that ok?