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Post by Jim on Dec 9, 2007 11:19:11 GMT -5
I'm reading the book. ANy thoughts?
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Post by johno on Dec 9, 2007 13:43:16 GMT -5
I think it's 99% awesome. Take your time and read it all carefully. There's lots of good info in that book.
However, I think SFG spacing for some of the bigger plants is a little tight...
Been a few years since I read it, though.
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Post by Jim on Dec 9, 2007 14:25:44 GMT -5
looks like a good read. I'm thinking it makes sense for compact plants. I can see a ton of ornamental type peppers, herbs, and small cabbages already...lol. I think his logig makes sense. I dont think a reasonably inteligent person needs the grids attached.
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Post by Alan on Dec 9, 2007 20:27:02 GMT -5
Square foot gardening is terrific for some things like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, sometimes carrots, radishes and other thing, just make sure and use lots and lots of compost and it will do well for you and as Johno said it works better for some things than it does for others. You should definitely look into buying some worms for vermicomposting though if your going to do SFG projects, the compost helps a lot!
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jason
gardener
Posts: 246
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Post by jason on Dec 9, 2007 21:05:08 GMT -5
I like the book a lot too. Definitely nice for smaller gardens, and trying to get the most out of what you have. I don't see much use in the actual squared feet aspect though, but the general idea is great. Another book I thought was interesting was The Postage Stamp Garden. I found it at a public library. It is similar in a lot of ways, focusing more and producing the most out of a small space without the exactness it seems to me.
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Post by Jim on Dec 17, 2007 19:08:55 GMT -5
I'm about halfway through the book now and I think I will make 1 4foot square garden as prescribed for cabbage, carrots, leeks, ect. No tomatoes or cukes. Maybe some herbs. I'll try it out. Alan you are right. I need to get into the worm compost business.
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Post by Alan on Dec 17, 2007 23:19:48 GMT -5
You should definetly get into raising a few worms, even one bin would give you a good idea of what to expect and would not be hard to take care of and you could always make a five gallon bucket harvester to harvest the castings with. After you initial worm and bin purchase and your first harvest of castings there is no money going back into the system and is completly self-sustainable and a great source of one of natures miracles!
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Post by Jim on Dec 23, 2007 7:38:35 GMT -5
Good idea Alan. After christmas I'll look into it. I need redworms for fishing anyways...lol.
The more I read this square foot book the more I've come to the conclusion that its perfect for a really small hobby garden but his methods and materials are too expensive for the scale I'm working with this year.
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Post by danlaf on Jan 24, 2008 13:22:47 GMT -5
I have designed a 4x10 SFG box 2 years ago. I like his logic, but have not had too much luck with many veggies, which took forever to grow. My celery didn't come to maturity. Lots of issues with beets, peppers, onions staying very small. But good results with carrots and beans. I followed his suggestion for the soil: 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss. One of the board members believes that the soil was not rich enough. Any suggestions? is there a way to 'enrich" this soil without removing it and replacing it with something better?  |
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Post by Jim on Feb 6, 2008 15:45:15 GMT -5
Probabl add more organic matter. Fold in some work casings and compost..
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Post by flowerpower on Feb 7, 2008 6:44:23 GMT -5
Some rotted manure won't hurt either.
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Post by Alan on Feb 7, 2008 20:02:02 GMT -5
Vermicompost (worm castings), greensand, composted manure, cover crops, composted O.M., grass clippings, blood meal and bone meal are all good ideas and should give you a boost in soil fertility, particularly when balanced to the crops that you want to grow, I hope this helps.
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Post by sandbar on Feb 8, 2008 20:28:02 GMT -5
I agree that there wasn't enough nutrition in the soil mix. Vermiculite and peat are the main components of "soilless" mixes for seed starting. No nutrition there at all. I probably would have used equal parts of soil, compost and peat. Why wouldn't I have used vermiculite? I'm cheap ...  ... and so is peat, which is used for the same reason as vermiculite ... water retention. However, peat degrades and vermiculite doesn't, so it lasts much longer than the peat. Maybe vermiculite would be the better buy for the long run by providing years of water retention in the bed. With the intense plant population, there will be quite a competition for moisture. |
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Post by flatlander on Mar 25, 2008 22:13:35 GMT -5
i converted 1 of my 12 raised beds over to a sq foot garden according to the formula proposed by mel bartholomew in his book. my first reaction is...it ain't cheap. the amount of vermiculite and peat it takes cost me over $60 for the one bed. i've got some things planted so it will take a while to see how it performs. i wonder about the weed barrier underneath it all, and worry that my soil isn't going to get improved with that there....no worms, etc. wait and see i guess.
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Post by grunt on Mar 26, 2008 4:08:55 GMT -5
Flatlander: Round up some worms from elsewhere in your garden and introduce them to your SFG. Stick mulch where ever you can around the veggies, and keep adding manure or compost under the mulch. The worms will do the distributing for you.
Cheers
Dan
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... and so is peat, which is used for the same reason as vermiculite ... water retention. However, peat degrades and vermiculite doesn't, so it lasts much longer than the peat. Maybe vermiculite would be the better buy for the long run by providing years of water retention in the bed. With the intense plant population, there will be quite a competition for moisture.