Square Foot Gardening (Merged Thread)

kyssyn

I just checked my copy of the SFG book and it recommends 8 peas per square foot.

elliep_2

Thank you all for that help. I think my 4 in an old flower bucket x2 should do fine. Sounds like I wouldn't want 8 in one bucket (it's not as big as a sq ft) nd didn't need 3 buckets so I'm glad my guess worked out well.

I'll build bamboo wigwams for them to climb up when they get a bit bigger, they're not ready to think about climbing things yet.

Thanks again everyone.

sb44

kyssyn wrote: »

I just checked my copy of the SFG book and it recommends 8 peas per square foot.

Is the book worth buying?

I have seen it on ebay and you can order it from WH Smith and have it delivered free to your nearest store.

kyssyn

sb44 wrote: »

Is the book worth buying?

Yes and no. I'll try to explain

It's very American - there are lots of pictures, lots of information is repeated, the virtues extolled time and again, everything is simplified, feel-good stories are thrown in etc. (I'm not insinuating Americans are stupid, it just comes across like one of their tv infomercials!)

There isn't really anything in the book that you can't find on their website. It's also a bit strange - he's absolutely adamant that it isn't a real SFG if you haven't clearly marked out each square on the bed I personally think that eyeballing each square is good enough - I'm sure most people know what a square foot looks like!

The one thing I bought the book for was clarification on 'Mel's Mix' to fill the beds. It's 1/3rd compost, 1/3rd vermiculite (the bigger the particles the better) and 1/3rd peat moss. It's done by volume, not weight (which I suppose is handy to know if you're using the mix).

The only other thing I find useful in the book is the chart for planting densities for each crop. It's not very detailed though and I think an educated guess would be just as good.

There's a section about building your own bed but I thought it was a bit laughable. It's just four planks nailed together with a plywood base and a couple of drainage holes. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a bed like that but I was hoping for plans for something a bit more substantial. The book consistently appeals to the lowest common denominator. He even tells you how to poke holes in the soil with your fingers to plant the seeds!

It has profiles on 25 fruit/veg, 5 herbs and 5 flowers. Basic description, starting, growing, harvesting, preparing and using, problems. It's only one page per crop though so even though it says you might have problems with carrot fly it doesn't describe the symptoms or remedies. As it's an American book it also mentions pests we don't get here such as the Mexican bean beetle. Also, the book doesn't mention common crops like garlic or leeks but it includes okra and melons.

So...I think if you're a complete beginner to gardening (like I was) then it's possibly worth getting as a starting point. Otherwise I wouldn't bother unless you can get it for dirt-cheap. It's not the kind of book you keep going back to.

I really bought it to find out more about the mix but I've since read online that it isn't very good (apparently vermiculite compacts over time and make the soil clay-like) and it really would be expensive to fill a bed with it.

Hope that helps!

sb44

kyssyn wrote: »

Yes and no. I'll try to explain

It's very American - there are lots of pictures, lots of information is repeated, the virtues extolled time and again, everything is simplified, feel-good stories are thrown in etc. (I'm not insinuating Americans are stupid, it just comes across like one of their tv infomercials!)

There isn't really anything in the book that you can't find on their website. It's also a bit strange - he's absolutely adamant that it isn't a real SFG if you haven't clearly marked out each square on the bed I personally think that eyeballing each square is good enough - I'm sure most people know what a square foot looks like!

The one thing I bought the book for was clarification on 'Mel's Mix' to fill the beds. It's 1/3rd compost, 1/3rd vermiculite (the bigger the particles the better) and 1/3rd peat moss. It's done by volume, not weight (which I suppose is handy to know if you're using the mix).

The only other thing I find useful in the book is the chart for planting densities for each crop. It's not very detailed though and I think an educated guess would be just as good.

There's a section about building your own bed but I thought it was a bit laughable. It's just four planks nailed together with a plywood base and a couple of drainage holes. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a bed like that but I was hoping for plans for something a bit more substantial. The book consistently appeals to the lowest common denominator. He even tells you how to poke holes in the soil with your fingers to plant the seeds!

It has profiles on 25 fruit/veg, 5 herbs and 5 flowers. Basic description, starting, growing, harvesting, preparing and using, problems. It's only one page per crop though so even though it says you might have problems with carrot fly it doesn't describe the symptoms or remedies. As it's an American book it also mentions pests we don't get here such as the Mexican bean beetle. Also, the book doesn't mention common crops like garlic or leeks but it includes okra and melons.

So...I think if you're a complete beginner to gardening (like I was) then it's possibly worth getting as a starting point. Otherwise I wouldn't bother unless you can get it for dirt-cheap. It's not the kind of book you keep going back to.

I really bought it to find out more about the mix but I've since read online that it isn't very good (apparently vermiculite compacts over time and make the soil clay-like) and it really would be expensive to fill a bed with it.

Hope that helps!

That's brilliant. Thanks very much for the info.

What mixture have you used in your raised bed, pots, did you just use peat and compost?

sb44

For anyone who is interested in Square Foot Gardening or isn't sure what it is, I have just found a preview of the original book on Google books.

If you click on the white arrows in the blue boxes at the right of the page you can read the first 68 pages of the book.

It also shows you some charts with the amount of different types of veg that you can plant in the squares.

Hope this is use others who were thinking of buying the new book.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9_spjPVMnCUC&printsec=frontcover

Rummer

I have finally got 2 raised beds and am planning another one for this year, with a view to a few more over the coming years. Getting excited about filling them! I will keep you posted as to how I get on, but thank you for all your ideas and advice so far!

arkonite_babe

I'll add this to the existing square foot thread to keep all the info together

kate83

40 bags of course grade vermiculite for £120 delivered - each bag is 25l so 1000l for £120
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Micafil-Loft-Pack-Insulation-1-pallet-40-bags-10-Sq-M_W0QQitemZ170308533324QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item170308533324&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

or

£12.50 for a 100litre bag from here for the medium grade
http://www.kaysdiscountgarden.co.uk/cgi-bin/site-editor.pl/14/-search?eid=572918&pid=71744&q=vermiculite

miggy

sb44 wrote: »

I am going to have a go at square foot gardening and I am going to put 4 peas in a 12" pot.

I have ordered the 3" square raised bed from the Telegraph but I have also bought 6 square 12" tubs from Wilkinsons which are on special offer, 3 for 2 ie 3 for £5.98.

I've had a few goes at growing peas but they always get eaten by something! Mice? Slugs? I don't know what it was...
What do other people do to protect them, and how long before the plants are tough enough to cope without an armed bodyguard?