Square foot gardening

heebiejeebie · Post by **heebiejeebie** » 14 Aug 2007, 09:30

Anyone tried it? Comments?

I'm reading the book at the moment and since I want to make some raised beds this winter anyway for use in the spring, I thought I might give SFG a go.

(The book has lots of good ideas but geez is it irritating to read! I'm sure it could've been written in 10 pages).

b_cos_1_can · Post by **b_cos_1_can** » 14 Aug 2007, 09:44

hello

im waiting for my mum to hand me her copy!

ged has read it but i havent seen him in a while on here.

we can compare notes once mine turns up! lol

im hoping its gonne be simple to understand as im not too green fingered....but from what you said....er :shock:

fingers crossed hey!

heebiejeebie · Post by **heebiejeebie** » 14 Aug 2007, 09:48

The book is really simple to understand and very repetitive. Anything important is in 18pt bold type!

b_cos_1_can · Post by **b_cos_1_can** » 14 Aug 2007, 09:49

perfect for me then!! ill still be on here asking questions no doubt! :wink:

AnnaB · Post by **AnnaB** » 14 Aug 2007, 14:18

Hi heebiejeebie
We originally made our raised bed with wood - these do not last very long even with treatments. This year they were replaced with concrete gravel boards and we are hoping there will be no more maintenance.

heebiejeebie · Post by **heebiejeebie** » 14 Aug 2007, 16:04

I was going to use wood simply because I have wood. Would it be worth treating it then lining with plastic so that the soil and the wood are not as closely in contact?

Post by **manda** » 15 Aug 2007, 10:57

www.squarefootgardening.com/

If you're waiting for the book then you can always go to his website and look at that ...it's all there and you can download it so you have a copy you can can get grubby :-D

Haven't tried it myself ..do the lasagne gardening..only thing I would say is that the peat moss bit isn't very environmentally friendly (although you can by alternatives I would think they are expensive).

I have to say the Lasagne gardening (they just call it Layer gardening here) works for me, you can use all sorts of compostables to make the layers so maybe a mix of the two would work - maybe do the square foot planting idea...might give that a go....only thing is if you have free range chooks...they love the layers too!!!

Jodi · Post by **Jodi** » 17 Aug 2007, 02:59

We've used non treated hardwoods to raise our beds. They are still in good condition after five years. I'd be concerned about treated timbers for a vegie garden. You could line it with plastic, however you would need to put holes in it for drainage - obliterating the purpose of the plasic in the first place.....maybe?

cheers
Jodi

heebiejeebie · Post by **heebiejeebie** » 17 Aug 2007, 07:25

No, I just meant to wrap plastic around the inside of the wood but leave the base open. I'm putting a layer of weed-control fabric down, then the box, then fill.

I've ordered a humungous bag of vermiculite and I've bought growbags (because I can lift them!) and I was wondering about alternatives for peat moss!

b_cos_1_can · Post by **b_cos_1_can** » 20 Aug 2007, 17:30

ive got my copy now, sat next to me!

bit of bed time reading me thinks!!

kat x

Post by **Richard** » 20 Aug 2007, 18:21

No Kat - after hearing your green fingered exploits......

ALL DAY )de:

b_cos_1_can · Post by **b_cos_1_can** » 20 Aug 2007, 20:40

aw i feel so welcomed back! thanks richard, i dinnarf miss you lot!! )t'

heebiejeebie · Post by **heebiejeebie** » 21 Aug 2007, 21:44

I got coir instead of peat moss. Just got to build the box now and I can plant some stuff.

heebiejeebie · Post by **heebiejeebie** » 25 Aug 2007, 08:19

Box built! It's a bit shoddy looking but quite strong and at least the diagonals are equal! Didn't bother with the plastic in the end - when it rots, it rots.

I got a couple of pallets from freecycle and made a 3ft x 4ft box. I didn't use the coir, just a 2:1 mix of growbag and vermiculite. There are pictures of it on my blog (plots and plans) if anyone's interested.

I planted 4 squares of lettuce seedlings, 2 of kohl rabi and the rest with spring cabbage "wintergreen", 3 seeds per square so I can chop off all but the strongest as SFG man suggests.

The "square feet" came out to be only 121 square inches but I'm sure the veg won't notice.

Now I want to build more!