I have followed your website and subscribed to you weekly email for 3 years now and I find it very helpful in planning my garden. Our garden are has grown from four 4′x4′ boxes in 2011 to several boxes covering a 33′x33′ area this year.
We would like to grow Okra this year, but I can’t find anything about it on your site or in previous emails. Is this one you would be willing to add?
MJ–I suggest you find your local extension office http://www.extension.org to see if they have any information specific to growing tomatoes in your area. Sometimes there are certain varieties that will fare better than others. Read about My Modified Mix, and possibly testing your soil. In general, I don’t suggest using native soil, but creating your own mix.
Just a FYI for everyone on the potato project – the seed potatoes I purchased did last clear until October – about 7 1/2 months, in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. They were pretty shriveled, but I had a lot of sprouts on them. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you if they’d grow or not as I cut then set them on a tray to dry before planting and one of the dogs ate them. They looked perfectly fine and I’m pretty sure I would have had success. Oh well, there’s always this September!
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy this site and how much I appreciate the time and energy you have put into it. Thank you so much! I planted my first SFG last year — 2 3 x 3s. I enjoyed it so much that I am doubling this year, and hope to double again next year. I am still learning, but really really loved it last year ….very relaxing after a long day at the office! Here’s my question: I would like to put in corn this year, but am really hesitant about whether corn can grow in a 6″ depth. Am I crazy? Have y’all had success with a 6″ inch bed? We don’t have alot of wind here, so that would help…. what do you think; would I be wasting my time (and precious space!)?
I live in the Florida Panhandle. I would like to know how I can grow tomatoes here and actually produce tomatoes. I have sandy soil that I have mixed with horse manure compost and recycled potting soil. Nothing I have tried seems to be working. Last season I had beautiful plants and lots of squash bugs with golf ball size tomatoes that the bugs ate. Open to all and any suggestions. Would love to grow Cherokee Purple tomatoes this year.
Will you add baby bok choy and bok choy. I want to grow them – in fact my starts are looking good. I hear they will bolt if they get too cold. Do you know what temps they prefer? I have added hoops over my small square foot garden and 1.5 oz row cover (partly for shade and partly for keeping the insects off) that will have cabbage, lettuce, carrots, spinach, and onions.
Some ideas of what I would plant: cherry tomatoes, peas (at least 4 squares of them), snap beans, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, and spinach. These are veggies that my kids eat and love. Good luck! Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to know when to plant, or buy the e-book, so you can see the season all at once.
Hi, I have a licensed home family sized daycare. We are receiving grant money that will allow us to purchase some supplies to start a veggie and fruit garden. I have to admit I feel overwhelmed because I have been looking on so many sites to get information on what to purchase for the Norristown, PA area and for spring. I also do not know what is okay to plant next to eachother as we plan on purchasing at least 2 raised garden beds to start. Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated as I only have 2 days at the most or I lose the funding.These children are very picky but I currently cook them breakfast, am snack, lunch, and pm snack Mon. – Fri.
Caroline–I would be surprised if the seed potatoes lasted that long–they are just regular potatoes that are not treated so they won’t sprout, and are certified to be disease free. You should keep them in a cool, dark place for best results.
I have never grown sweet potatoes, so I would have to research it to find out more.
I’m in South Florida and just figured out I should have planted potatoes in September. Everything is backward down here, plant in the winter, hibernate in the summer. Anyway, I ordered a batch of seed potatoes before figuring this out. Do you think they’ll keep until September?
Luckily, I also ordered sweet potatoes and their ideal time to plant down here is in February/March, so I’ll get to try something new. I’m going to grow one batch up a trellis in my SFG. I’m going to try another batch in hay and will probably try another batch traditionally just to see what does best.
Do you know the best way to store some for starts for the following year? These were very, very expensive and I don’t want to spend that kind of money each year if I’m successful growing them this year.
Thank you Emily!! That’s exactly what I needed to know. I still need to get the hang of the various cycles of the plants so I can stagger my plantings to make the most of my season. Clearly I should have planted another set of bean plants a few weeks ago! Being in North FL, I would think I should have a pretty extended season so I’m still trying to time it all right.
By picking them consistently you can increase the harvest from your bush beans. But they will harvest for 2-3 weeks, and then be done. So if they’ve stopped, you should pull them up and possibly plant something else.
I have several bush bean plants and have already picked large quantities of beans (I’m in the white group). My question is, will these plants re-flower and continue to produce or should I just pull them up and plant something else? They still look pretty healthy and I see a few flowers starting, but so far not close to the amount that they originally produced. Thanks!!
I have grown raspberries for years, and love them. You have to make sure you plant several plants together, as they need to pollinate each other in order to produce fruit. Most nurseries sell raspberry plants in bundles, for this reason. I would recommend planting several plants, so that you get a harvest you can use, since the birds LOVE them too. If you don’t have the room for that, you can place fine nets over them to protect the fruit from the birds. I dug out a simple bed for them in the corner of our yard, planted about 8 plants, and they did awesome for years, until a neighbor’s shed caught fire against that corner of our yard, and burned every bush to the ground. *sigh* We started over last year with new plants. and added blueberry plants in there as well. They take a couple years at the least to begin to produce fruit, so they take patience, but SO worth it!
Yes, zucchini takes 9 squares. However, a reader and I have both tried pruning them, with great success. I think you can get away with 4 squares if you stake and prune them.
On the page about how many plants in a square… does zucchini 9 squares mean you need 9 squares for one zucchini plant? if so, can that be trellised upwards and use less squares?
Unless you’ve over-watered or been rained on a lot, the answer is probably WAIT A LITTLE LONGER. Especially if you’ve had a late spring (like me!) and temperatures are lower than usual. Look at the seed packet and see how long germination should take. Wait a few days more, then replant.
I’m trying to grow pole beans, and I soaked the beans the night before sowing them as per the package, it’s been about 10 days now and only one plant is growing. Do you think i should abandon the seeds I planted and plant something new in those squares, or should I wait a little longer?
Awesome comment–I’ve wanted to learn about growing raspberries and strawberries. Good to know that SFG bed is not ideal. I’m determined to find a spot and plant them sometime.
I have grown raspberries for years. I haven’t been able to contain them in square foot gardening boxes because their suckers go a little wild undground and take over EVERYTHING. I live in the NW and have clay soil that I dump mulched leaves and coffee grounds from Starbucks on each fall. The raspberries grow fabulously with that treatment and each year I have to dig out and give away canes. The best are Mammoth red because they are thornless and big, but Heritage are very reliable too!
I’ve never grown asparagus, but you should be able to grow them just fine. Dedicate an entire bed to them, and plant up to 4 per square. I’d approach it like potatoes–take half the dirt out, plant the asparagus, and then cover it with the soil.
Do you know anything about planting asparagus in a SFG? I am setting up a “perennial bed” with asparagus and strawberries, but the only thing I’ve read about asparagus is that you have to dig deep trenches… ?
Strawberries go 4 per square foot, and the recommended care is to trim off any suckers to keep the mother plant strong and get the largest berries. After 3 years you have to either let them sucker or replace all the plants because the mother plants will start to die. A lot of people just let them go crazy and take over the bed, you get smaller berries that way but it is a lot less work. We are trying them in a SFG this year; not really sure which way we are going to go…
Jeff- I will add okra to my list! Thanks for the suggestion.
I have followed your website and subscribed to you weekly email for 3 years now and I find it very helpful in planning my garden. Our garden are has grown from four 4′x4′ boxes in 2011 to several boxes covering a 33′x33′ area this year.
We would like to grow Okra this year, but I can’t find anything about it on your site or in previous emails. Is this one you would be willing to add?
Thanks,
Jeff in Kentucky
MJ–I suggest you find your local extension office http://www.extension.org to see if they have any information specific to growing tomatoes in your area. Sometimes there are certain varieties that will fare better than others. Read about My Modified Mix, and possibly testing your soil. In general, I don’t suggest using native soil, but creating your own mix.
Just a FYI for everyone on the potato project – the seed potatoes I purchased did last clear until October – about 7 1/2 months, in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. They were pretty shriveled, but I had a lot of sprouts on them. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you if they’d grow or not as I cut then set them on a tray to dry before planting and one of the dogs ate them. They looked perfectly fine and I’m pretty sure I would have had success. Oh well, there’s always this September!
Hi, Emily!
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy this site and how much I appreciate the time and energy you have put into it. Thank you so much! I planted my first SFG last year — 2 3 x 3s. I enjoyed it so much that I am doubling this year, and hope to double again next year. I am still learning, but really really loved it last year ….very relaxing after a long day at the office! Here’s my question: I would like to put in corn this year, but am really hesitant about whether corn can grow in a 6″ depth. Am I crazy? Have y’all had success with a 6″ inch bed? We don’t have alot of wind here, so that would help…. what do you think; would I be wasting my time (and precious space!)?
Thanks again for all that you do!
Leslie
I live in the Florida Panhandle. I would like to know how I can grow tomatoes here and actually produce tomatoes. I have sandy soil that I have mixed with horse manure compost and recycled potting soil. Nothing I have tried seems to be working. Last season I had beautiful plants and lots of squash bugs with golf ball size tomatoes that the bugs ate. Open to all and any suggestions. Would love to grow Cherokee Purple tomatoes this year.
Would you consider adding a post on garlic to your Veggie list? I’ve heard they’re great to start in the fall. Thanks! Love the site.
I’ll add it to my list! I’ve got a lot of things to juggle, so it might take me a bit to post about it. Thanks for your patience!
Will you add baby bok choy and bok choy. I want to grow them – in fact my starts are looking good. I hear they will bolt if they get too cold. Do you know what temps they prefer? I have added hoops over my small square foot garden and 1.5 oz row cover (partly for shade and partly for keeping the insects off) that will have cabbage, lettuce, carrots, spinach, and onions.
Tamica, I have several suggestions. First, decide what to plant. Here are some easy veggies to grow. Then use my companion planting tool as you create your garden plan.
Some ideas of what I would plant: cherry tomatoes, peas (at least 4 squares of them), snap beans, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, and spinach. These are veggies that my kids eat and love. Good luck! Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to know when to plant, or buy the e-book, so you can see the season all at once.
Hi, I have a licensed home family sized daycare. We are receiving grant money that will allow us to purchase some supplies to start a veggie and fruit garden. I have to admit I feel overwhelmed because I have been looking on so many sites to get information on what to purchase for the Norristown, PA area and for spring. I also do not know what is okay to plant next to eachother as we plan on purchasing at least 2 raised garden beds to start. Any advice you can give is greatly appreciated as I only have 2 days at the most or I lose the funding.These children are very picky but I currently cook them breakfast, am snack, lunch, and pm snack Mon. – Fri.
They follow the same dates/times as tomatoes.
I would like to grow tomatillos. Do you know when to plant them? I am in the Pink Group – I live Texas, just northeast of Houston.
Thanks, Emily – guess I’m going to have to try a summer crop of potatoes to and hopefully get lucky. Can’t hurt to try since I already bought them…
Caroline–I would be surprised if the seed potatoes lasted that long–they are just regular potatoes that are not treated so they won’t sprout, and are certified to be disease free. You should keep them in a cool, dark place for best results.
I have never grown sweet potatoes, so I would have to research it to find out more.
Hi Emily,
I’m in South Florida and just figured out I should have planted potatoes in September. Everything is backward down here, plant in the winter, hibernate in the summer. Anyway, I ordered a batch of seed potatoes before figuring this out. Do you think they’ll keep until September?
Luckily, I also ordered sweet potatoes and their ideal time to plant down here is in February/March, so I’ll get to try something new. I’m going to grow one batch up a trellis in my SFG. I’m going to try another batch in hay and will probably try another batch traditionally just to see what does best.
Do you know the best way to store some for starts for the following year? These were very, very expensive and I don’t want to spend that kind of money each year if I’m successful growing them this year.
I haven’t tried them, but they’re on my list for next year. I am pretty sure they will grow just fine in a square foot garden.
Has anyone ever tried sweet potatoes in a square foot garden? I would like to try the bush variety but I do not know if it is possible.
Thank you Emily!! That’s exactly what I needed to know. I still need to get the hang of the various cycles of the plants so I can stagger my plantings to make the most of my season. Clearly I should have planted another set of bean plants a few weeks ago!
Being in North FL, I would think I should have a pretty extended season so I’m still trying to time it all right.
By picking them consistently you can increase the harvest from your bush beans. But they will harvest for 2-3 weeks, and then be done. So if they’ve stopped, you should pull them up and possibly plant something else.
I have several bush bean plants and have already picked large quantities of beans (I’m in the white group). My question is, will these plants re-flower and continue to produce or should I just pull them up and plant something else? They still look pretty healthy and I see a few flowers starting, but so far not close to the amount that they originally produced. Thanks!!
Good news–go here!
Hi Emily, I’m trying to find information on bell peppers, and am having a hard time. Do we put one pepper plant in each square?
I have grown raspberries for years, and love them. You have to make sure you plant several plants together, as they need to pollinate each other in order to produce fruit. Most nurseries sell raspberry plants in bundles, for this reason. I would recommend planting several plants, so that you get a harvest you can use, since the birds LOVE them too. If you don’t have the room for that, you can place fine nets over them to protect the fruit from the birds. I dug out a simple bed for them in the corner of our yard, planted about 8 plants, and they did awesome for years, until a neighbor’s shed caught fire against that corner of our yard, and burned every bush to the ground. *sigh* We started over last year with new plants. and added blueberry plants in there as well. They take a couple years at the least to begin to produce fruit, so they take patience, but SO worth it!
You can find an artichoke reference sheet here.
Any advice about artichokes? Are they good to start indoors, or plant outside, and when should they be planted?
Yes, zucchini takes 9 squares. However, a reader and I have both tried pruning them, with great success. I think you can get away with 4 squares if you stake and prune them.
On the page about how many plants in a square… does zucchini 9 squares mean you need 9 squares for one zucchini plant? if so, can that be trellised upwards and use less squares?
Unless you’ve over-watered or been rained on a lot, the answer is probably WAIT A LITTLE LONGER. Especially if you’ve had a late spring (like me!) and temperatures are lower than usual. Look at the seed packet and see how long germination should take. Wait a few days more, then replant.
I’m trying to grow pole beans, and I soaked the beans the night before sowing them as per the package, it’s been about 10 days now and only one plant is growing. Do you think i should abandon the seeds I planted and plant something new in those squares, or should I wait a little longer?
Awesome comment–I’ve wanted to learn about growing raspberries and strawberries. Good to know that SFG bed is not ideal. I’m determined to find a spot and plant them sometime.
I have grown raspberries for years. I haven’t been able to contain them in square foot gardening boxes because their suckers go a little wild undground and take over EVERYTHING. I live in the NW and have clay soil that I dump mulched leaves and coffee grounds from Starbucks on each fall. The raspberries grow fabulously with that treatment and each year I have to dig out and give away canes. The best are Mammoth red because they are thornless and big, but Heritage are very reliable too!
I’ve never grown asparagus, but you should be able to grow them just fine. Dedicate an entire bed to them, and plant up to 4 per square. I’d approach it like potatoes–take half the dirt out, plant the asparagus, and then cover it with the soil.
Do you know anything about planting asparagus in a SFG? I am setting up a “perennial bed” with asparagus and strawberries, but the only thing I’ve read about asparagus is that you have to dig deep trenches… ?
Yes, and it won’t take long–I’ve never planted raspberries! Sorry!
Could you tell me what you know about planting raspberries?
Strawberries go 4 per square foot, and the recommended care is to trim off any suckers to keep the mother plant strong and get the largest berries. After 3 years you have to either let them sucker or replace all the plants because the mother plants will start to die. A lot of people just let them go crazy and take over the bed, you get smaller berries that way but it is a lot less work. We are trying them in a SFG this year; not really sure which way we are going to go…
Have you ever tried to do strawberries?