Square Foot Gardening (Merged Thread)

ceridwen

Thanks for that - looks distinctly possible.

meanmarie

Ceridwen,

Our square foot boxes were made from old pallets, pressure treated. Have only used them this year so not sure how long they will last. Have seen purpose built ones on some website, can't remember where, but will let you know when I remember....delighted with square foot gardening, easiest gardening I have ever done and good results.

marie

oldMcDonald

We have managed to stuff the allotments to bursting point and there are still things I wish I had grown, but had simply run out of space. I have just dug out my old copy of 'Square Foot Gardening' book, and I am starting to draw up plans in my head for putting the tiny patch of grass in our back garden over to this method of veg growing. I am wondering if anyone here has given square foot gardening a go and, if so, how worthwhile it was in terms of the amount of work vs produce grown.

Thanks

Filey

oldMcDonald wrote: »

We have managed to stuff the allotments to bursting point and there are still things I wish I had grown, but had simply run out of space. I have just dug out my old copy of 'Square Foot Gardening' book, and I am starting to draw up plans in my head for putting the tiny patch of grass in our back garden over to this method of veg growing. I am wondering if anyone here has given square foot gardening a go and, if so, how worthwhile it was in terms of the amount of work vs produce grown.

Thanks

---

in the l

I have just got the new Square Foot Gardening book. The author has made a few changes since the early days in the light of experience, one of which is not to dig up the soil underneath the bed but simply put the whole raised bed on top and fill it with Mel's Mix. (compost/vermiculite/peat). It seems a lot less work to me than traditional digging.

You might like to take a look at the website.

Larumbelle

Funnily enough I have just put down two raised beds 4ft by 2ft and was going to try square foot gardening. I haven't used Mel's mix exactly - I try not to use peat because it is utterly unsustainable and its extraction is pretty dodgy environmentally, and I used a perlite/vermiculite mix as that was all I had (i'm a moneysaver after all) - but I am kind of following it.

In terms of time, I got the beds put down in no time. What has taken me longer is to dig up old plants to make the space and to sink my plant supports (cheapo rose arches from Argos) into my nasty clay soil either side of the beds. So far as effort goes it's a fair bit to get going, then minimal effort moving forward. So far as money goes, I try to follow the general principles while making it work with my budget (and my own preferences). If a few of us are beginning it will be fun to see how we all get on!

arkonite_babe

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oldMcDonald

Thank you arkonite_babe. I was pretty sure I had read something about square foot gardening on here a while back, but the search didn't kick it up.

oldMcDonald

Having read through this thread, I am definitely going to have a go at this. Like you, silvercharming, I also think I will avoid using peat, as I am not comfortable with the environmental issues surrounding it's use.

Off to have a look at some of the above links

Filey

oldMcDonald wrote: »

Having read through this thread, I am definitely going to have a go at this. Like you, silvercharming, I also think I will avoid using peat, as I am not comfortable with the environmental issues surrounding it's use.

Off to have a look at some of the above links

---

I too was a bit dubious about the peat. I emailed the SFG people about alternatives and they suggested coconut husk aka coir, which is used in some commercial peatless composts. Coir is the hairy stuff doormats are sometimes made of.

JenniO

Hi all

I'm new to SFG this year but so far am having great success. I write about it frequently on my blog with a lot of pics. Feel free to take a look: http://homemattersmost.blogspot.com

I highly recommend SFG to anyone but it does take a bit of money to start it off....

jen