Welcome to Home Grown Living - Gardening Tips and Information
Article
Gardening In A Square Foot
Shaan Randow
If you haven’t heard of square foot gardening, you’re about to learn one of the most useful and versatile gardening techniques ever created. Conceived by Mel Bartholomew, author of Square Foot Gardening, the techniques have been enthusiastically adopted by gardeners all over the world. Square foot gardening is eminently suited for container gardening, patio and roof gardening, backyard gardening, organic gardening, herb gardens, vegetable gardens, flower gardens and more.
The basic concept is to start small – the unit of measure is the square foot. Although Bartholomew’s original square foot garden was four feet square, many schools, community gardens and home gardeners start even smaller – a couple of one square foot containers is plenty to get you started. According to Bartholomew though, a four square foot garden provides just enough harvest for one person.
How to Create A Square Foot Garden
Creating your own square foot garden is as easy as building (or buying) a box in which to garden. My own first square foot garden was a two square foot garden on the cement apron outside my back door in a city apartment. I used four square wicker plastic lined wicker wastebaskets bought for a dollar apiece at the All-for-a-Buck store. Any container that can hold 6-8” of dirt, and has drainage holes in the bottom will work. The biggest requirement for location is sun – choose a nice, sunny spot to place your garden.
Did I say dirt? Amend that. Bartholomew recommends what he calls ‘Mel’s mix’ instead of soil. Mix 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 compost to fill the squares of your box or container. A 10 pound bag of each was plenty to fill my little 2 square foot garden.
Choosing and Laying Out the Plants for Your Square Foot Garden
The most important factor in laying out your garden is the one-square-foot grid. You’ll be planting one type of plant in each square – how many of them depends on the recommended spacing between plants – which you’ll find on the back of the seed packets. Depending on the needs of the specific seedlings, you can plant 1, 4, 9 or 16 plants in each square. To break it down – if the recommendation on the seed packet is 1 foot apart, you can plant 1 in a square. If they need six inches between plants, you can plant 4. Two inches gives you room for 9 plants, and one inch spacing means you can fit 16 plants into one square foot.
My own first square foot garden was a spaghetti garden with this layout:
1 Basil Plant 4 Tomato plants
1 Oregano Plant 16 Onion plants
After You Harvest Your Square Foot Garden
Harvest the crop in each square foot when it’s ready, and continue harvesting until it’s no longer producing fruit/vegetables. At that point, uproot the plants in that square (use them for compost!), and plant another, different crop. By refilling and rotating the crops, you avoid depleting the natural nutrients of the soil, and keep every bit of space productive throughout an entire growing season.
About the Author
This article courtesy of http://www.floral-world.org
Direct Gardening Best products
Direct Gardening News
direct gardening
IMPORTANT: Bing News RSS feed has moved!
CobraHead is pleased to announce that its BioMarkerTM plant markers won a 2012 Green Thumb award from the Direct Gardening Association. CobraHead is pleased to announce that its BioMarkerTM plant markers won a 2012 Green Thumb award from the Direct Gardening Association.
Read moreBioMarker Plant Markers by CobraHead win 2012 Green Thumb Award
The panels do not rely on the sun’s warmth or direct sunlight to work; they are fed by light’s intensity, so they produce energy even on cloudy days. But the more sun the better, and the South West sees about 20 per cent more radiance than the North.
Read moreGenerate your own energy with solar power
"The lazy man's guide to gardening is to plant your flowers so tight there ... But be careful about where you direct those flames. Leaves and wood mulch are combustible combinations. Spraying with synthetic herbicides. Weed-killing chemicals ...
Read moreGardening: Being smart about weeds can save time, back strain
"Typical garden" refers to vegetable gardening. Jun. 14, 2011 ... Yes, that is an Amazon link... not my fav but it'll direct you to the book. Gaia's Garden. Toby Hemenway. Chelsea Green, 2009 (2nd edition). Let the Water Do the Work.
Read moreIntroduction to Ecological Gardening Pt. IV: Basic Garden Ecology 3- Layers
More details on gardening for stress revealed When you direct attention to your gardening activities, you will be able to relieve your stress. Through the motions of gardening just like digging, chopping and hitting, you can release a lot of the ...
Read moreNever Stress Again By Taking Advantage Of Your Garden
"We all have busy lives. Be sure to keep it manageable." Other topics Porter covered included equipment needed to work a garden, direct seed ing versus transplanting, container gardening, watering strategies, heirloom varieties versus hybrid ...
Read moreVegetable Gardening 101: UK Extension classes showing consumers how it's done
Also, be familiar with the company’s guarantee policy before you order. — Direct Gardening Association: www.directgardeningassociation.com for more catalog sources Because so many gardeners are environmentally conscious and want to avoid an ...
Read moreNew year brings a fresh crop of gardening catalogs
Consumer Healthcare Direct Selling, Consumer Healthcare Homeshopping, Consumer Healthcare Internet Retailing, DIY and Gardening Direct Selling, DIY and Gardening Homeshopping, DIY and Gardening Internet Retailing, Food and Drink Direct Selling, Food and ...
Read moreDirect Selling in China - Market Report - new market research report
Consumer Healthcare Direct Selling, Consumer Healthcare Homeshopping, Consumer Healthcare Internet Retailing, DIY and Gardening Direct Selling, DIY and Gardening Homeshopping, DIY and Gardening Internet Retailing, Food and Drink Direct Selling, Food and ...
Read more