How to Begin a Square Foot Garden

Vegetable gardening takes many forms. On a large scale, it can be an entire farm. There are other, smaller hobby farms that focus on specialty vegetables. Many people grow vegetables in pots and still others have large backyard gardens. But there is another way to vegetable garden. This is known as square foot gardening. It was originated by Mel Bartholomew.

A square foot garden can be as large or as small as you want it to be. Some can be as small as two feet by two feet or very large. The square foot garden can stand alone or it can be part of a continuous line, such as if you have a sloped area. You can build a square foot garden area, with a few different raised beds with paths in between. The wonderful thing about square foot gardening is that it is a very efficient use of space. Rather than just have row after row of crops and a lot of wasted soil in between, each part of the square foot garden is used. This also helps to cut down on the chore of weeding because there is not as much space for a weed to pop up.

The ability to rotate crops is another great feature of square foot gardening. Rather than having to till the soil up over a large area each time you successively plant a new vegetable, you just add fresh compost to a small square and plant your seeds or seedlings. A square foot garden doesn't have to be entirely vegetables either. It can be interspersed with flowers or even be all flowers. The square foot garden that I have grown things in has been almost all vegetables with a few marigolds thrown in for pest control.

First, determine the area in your yard that you'd like to place your garden. If you want to grow many types of vegetables, a sunny location would be best. Some herbs and vegetables will tolerate part sun. Building a square foot garden is very easy. All you need is four pieces of wood, about 6 inches deep, cut to the length that you want your bed to be and nail these boards together at the corners. Place this on the ground where you want your garden to be. We put some plastic down first to further prevent weeds, but this isn't always necessary. Next, fill with potting soil (or vermiculite) and compost. Then divide your raised bed into four inch squares. You can mark these squares by using scrap pieces of wood or even twine going across. You'll want to mark them so you don't confuse your plants.

If you wish to grow a vining plant, go ahead and put a stake in the area that you are planting your beans or whatever. Otherwise, plant your seeds or seedlings by however much the tag recommends. So if you're growing a green bell pepper plant, you probably only want to put one in the square. Try not to overcrowd each square. After that, water and you're done!

Sources:

squarefootgardening.com/