Square Foot Gardening (Merged Thread)

flissh

Lucycat, how big is your plot? How many squares do you have? For things like garlic, how many do you think you will be growing?

BigDonut

There is already a long thread on Sqaure foot gardening
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=409853

For planting seeds I found it very useful to take a piece of cardboard (I used a shoe box) and cut it to be 1ft x 1ft.
Then draw lines on it for 4x4, 3x3 and 2x2 layouts. Punch holes where the lines intersect.
Then you have a nice easy way of getting your seeds planted.

As far as mixture is concerned I used some vermilucite but not nearly as much as the mix suggests. However, I planted stuff quite late so didn't have any real success.

I also used standard gardening twine to seperate the beds. This was easy since mine was only 1ft wide!

For a bed I used an old wooden shelf thing I had lying about.

gingernutbizkit

that's a great idea - thanks bigdonut.

I'll check out the other thread..... i knew it was on here somewhere but couldn't find it

gingernutbizkit

hi all,I'm about to start SFG and was a little concerned about how it works for the second year and beyond. Some websites I have looked at suggest that the yield after the first year is not good. Any comments anyone?

Ging x

elliep_2

My guess (and I'm sure an expert will be along soon) is that it all depends on how well you care for it. If you dig in well rotted manure and fresh compost at the appropriate times then there is no reason why your yeild should be less in second and later years.

The only reason that yield should decline is if the soil hasn't got the 'goodness' to support what you are growing so rotate your crops (grow different types of veg in each square each year) and make sure you fertilise the soil.

arkonite_babe

We have a thread similar to this already, I'll add your query to it so all the replies are together. Posts are listed in date order so you'll need to read from the beginning to catch up

ZCC72

Bed all built, supplies purchased - went with grit and some water retaining stuff instead of vermiculite - found medium grade at £20 a bag :eek: so went for cheaper option. Hope it works!

Seeds currently sleeping in propagators - leeks, onions and rocket currently starting to wakeup. I like it that I only plant enough for each square, and I can control the output of the bed then,rather than having a massive glut of produce.

Luckily haven't direct sown anything yet - hit by huge hailstones and snow again today, which was fun!

I like the promise spring brings.:j

Kazonline

I'm sorry if I'm being a little dumb - but following my first year of allotmenteering I am struggling to imagine how on earth SFG could suit potatoes. At first I thought maybe crops like this weren't suitable, but scanning this thread it seems that some of you have been very successfull with spuds! How does it work? I'm assuming it's important that your SFG goes onto existing soil for a start as spuds certainly grow deeper than 1ft. How do you manage to dig them out without mixing the soil underneath with the carefull mix of compost/peatmoss/vermiculite? Do you not disturb the surrounding plants when you dig them up? Do you have to stick to outside squares? (I can't imagine trying to dig up spuds in the center without standing on the soil) Doesn't earthing up become difficult?
I am sorry if some of these questions seem daft - maybe I'm just having a blonde day :rotfl: and yes I am blonde:o

gingernutbizkit

right..... finished putting together my beds and planyers today....... have 60 square feet in total. Made my mix out of top soil, compost and chicken pellets. Hope that will be ok?

Need to start seed sowing soon.

ging x

kyssyn

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

hi all,I'm about to start SFG and was a little concerned about how it works for the second year and beyond. Some websites I have looked at suggest that the yield after the first year is not good. Any comments anyone?

Ging x

The book recommends that whenever you harvest something you add a scoop of compost back. This is why he advises making your own compost because it should be fresher and contain more nutrients than most shop-bought stuff.

Edited to add: oh, and you could also plant green manures between crops to stop nutrients being depleted