Maybe what is needed is Modified SFG. I know I'm probably talking to myself, that's nothing new! Once the initial raised bed(s) are complete, the labor is less and more productive than weeding. Also, it appears some of your plantings are not spaced as close as typical SFG rules suggest. I do find myself pruning the tomatoes. The premise is to build a gardening box (in square or rectangle), put down a barrier, build a box, fill it with ‘dirt’, and plant. Well, the secondary thing about the radish plantings is table use is assumed. If it doesn't work for you then try something else. My three feet by 3 feet raised bed kit is from GardenerÂs supply and made in England.It is 9 inches in height. SFG (Square Foot Gardening) incorporates raised beds or boxes. I've included the link. Regarding your source of materials, I have included another link for the Gardens Alive store. Now imagine you had a grid that separated the square inches. I also did feed my plants something called, "plantea. The man claimed to have gotten his best information directly from God during a period of prayer and fasting. Dismiss. I don't have any. You mentioned using "molasses, compost, High calcium lime, soft rock phosphate, fish emulsion, calcium nitrate, sea weed and few foliar fertilizers" I like all those products. It’s also much easier to protect from animals like rabbits and squirrels, as making a cage or fence for the square-foot bed is a much easier task. If not familiar with aerated soil drenches, try google search or the following link as an example. It’s also a handy solution for gardeners with limited room to grow, since the intensive … Re-application of compost was needed more often. Lastly, I'm interested in your weed comment and do you think some sort of mulch will help your weed issues? My house is over 100 yrs old and has been used for just about everything. When we considered an addition for our last house (before we decided to just move and get what we wanted) one of the 4 design build firms we spoke with gave us a detailed report like this one for our metro area:. The growth looks healthy and vigorous. I have never seen so many different gardening gadgets in one yard before. Even with heavy mulching in the dirt beds the weeds were a problem but not in the mix. Follow Anderson, Reams, and Beddoe fertilization guides(Book "nourishment home grown "by AF beddoe). I use a 5 gallon buckets and a bamboo stick for stirring.Worms way sells good aerators for 17 dollars.The essence of what you are doing is bringing the soil to balance. By the way, I have read the SFG book and was not impressed. The news letters give good explanation of the principles.It is not expensive.I do not use any designerÂs fertilizers.I use common things like molasses, compost, High calcium lime, soft rock phosphate, fish emulsion,calcium nitrate, sea weed and few foliar fertilizers.Since these are geared towards farmers, I do not post about them.For my 60th birthday some one gave me a Digital camera as a gift. Unfortunately, that's not always true. Compared the the traditional rows I have always used, the square foot method allowed me to grow more plants in less space. This year I will use little liquid calcium.I do like MelÂs tower. But we did make a few mistakes along the way. Gardening Expert Tonya Ashworth talks about the basics of square foot gardening. 21.5' x 22.5' will give you a small but functional "open concept" space that you can have a kitchen, dining area and living space on the first floor . I add Osmocote and sea weed (kelp) for minerals or any Epsoma fertilizer available such as Garden tone. Small intensely planted vegetables like onions were difficult to weed after being gone on vacation and coming back, with rapidly growing grassy weeds effectively outgrowing and overtaking the onions. All you are doing is increasing the bio availability and lessening the work load for soil bacteria.I add either dry or liquid molasses. Would using mushroom soil instead of the soil typically used in mixes work well? It turned out to be a load bearing wall so I was limited to about 6". I'll pass on results when I know... Hi! The 2nd reason is because I work odd hours and don't have a large amount of time to invest in gardening. I am merely looking for a compelling reason to adopt SFG for my back yard. The photos were taken yesterday before I started any maintenance (like pruning and weeding). Different plants needs different fertilization needs. (4) Tomato PlantsDivide the 4x4 into quarters and plant one caged indeterminate tomato plant in each of the 4 quarters. I find growing tomatoes this way to be much easier, I can plant more varieties in my space and I get good yield. I frequently see plants that are stunted,have yellow-leaves, or exhibit signs of viruses, blight, and insect damage.These appear most common in shallow crowded SFG raised beds. Cheers,D. (Think: SFG's wise old grandmother whose hands are never empty). Sounds like we have some similar issues to overcome - mine are sunlight at 5700 feet, low humidity and much, much dessicating wind. Did you wind up doing any sq ft beds this year? Originally formulated by Mel Bartholomew in 1981 in both a book and PBS TV series, square foot gardening has been popular ever since, for those with small and large gardens alike. Keep experimenting and happy growing. Slow release fertilizers are not a great alternative either, as they seem to be heat activated. I combined my first sfg last season with "lasagna-layering." Yes, it is fun to grow more on less dirt, avoid weeding, and intercrop like a jigsaw puzzle, but how good is SFG? The smaller the raised bed, the more dwarfs (under Mini Gardening in your link) make sense to me. And it made it even easier (for me) to plan around vertical squash trellising – no guesswork on how much space the squash will decide they need this year versus last. 19.7 C.E.C. This fall I will be amending the soil with a good pile of composted manure to bring up the quality, and hopefully help with some of the deficiencies I saw. The inability to guess what my watering needs would be each morning, likely was one of the biggest culprits. I have to mention, I love my family. Plant in the center of each section. That’s Square Foot Gardening in a nutshell. Mulching, no weeding, no soil cultivation. Also what has worked for SFG gardeners reading this post? If this is a house for one person, you could do the only bathroom upstairs, one large bedroom and a smaller study there. I think Square Foot Gardening is French intensive goes modern, but at the same time there are elements of Square Foot Gardening that I think many would do well to experiment with to see what works best. I know some gardeners use food grade plastic but I haven’t found any in small quantities and it seems to cost over $50 - not every budget friendly! I thought you guys might like this video on Youtube about Urban Homestead. Now, at the end of my first square foot gardening season while we move into fall, I must admit I’m totally sold on the method and will continue to use it. It might, but it wouldn't be my first choice in a container. These were fine in my old tilled ground, but in the raised beds it felt like I was wasting WAY too much space. eswar, feel free to private message me at the following address, should your foliar feed not be a 'public' recipe.private message, If I could find a way to fit 'pi','e', or the golden ratio into my garden, I would! Nourishment home grown is available from this website. Still it is in the box.Ohio earth food is the place I buy them from. A large release followed by smaller levels of available fertilizer is seemingly what happens. Square foot gardening works so well with raised beds because of the soil quality in raised beds allows for intensive gardening. Then draw two lines in the opposite direction so that you have nine sections. Have you found any of the book that differs from the above statements that I've read? For a production planting, you would pull all 144 radishes at an optimal size before they get too big and replant the area. Once again divide the I live in Kentucky. In a 3x3 space, with one plant, tomato yield would be 19.6 lbs. Regarding eswar's 3' x 3' bed or squareftgardener's 2' x 3' or 2' x 6' beds, I wonder if they perform any differently than larger or more square beds? Square foot garden efficiently addresses the optimal utilization of the space available with ease and without lot of labor.The wooden grid some may call it as a gimmick and an ornament over planting area, but it gives an idea which can be improvised upon as the situation demands. Is this the case? Planting in rows just doesn't make sense when you look at it from an efficiency point of view, for a single gardener. I’ve never had so many carrots from a small space AND tons of seeds still in the pack. I think one of the great appeals of Sq Ft Gardening is that it is encouraging to new gardeners as well as long time gardeners who end up saying 'I love gardening, but I am starting to question if it is worth all the work I put in each year.'. Wow! deeproots, if moisture retention is a problem, did you try adding more vermiculite rather than more peat? If that much is being produced, it has to pull enough to support that growth. That really is intensive [work].'. I firmly believe that everyone has different goals in mind for gardening and there is beauty in self-expression through gardening techniques. With unpruned tomato plants, production was around 19.6 pounds per plant". Am I missing something? The straw required additional nitrogen fertilizer to replace what it used in decomposition. Secondarily, SFG seems more focused on a man made system of neat looking wooden squares and hardware where planting is thought of in one foot squares versus looking at the typical 4 foot by 4 foot bed as a ecological system. Members. penguingardener,Your photo link was very helpful. Do you have bad soil? (4) Tomato PlantsDivide the 4x4 into quarters and plant one caged inderterminate tomato plant in each of the 4 quarters, (16) Cucumber PlantsDivide the 4x4 into the typical 16 one foot squares and plant one cucumber plant in the middle of each square foot and let the vines ramble, (16) Sweet Corn PlantsDivide the 4x4 into the typical 16 one foot squares and plant one sweet corn plant in the middle of each square foot, (9) Muskmelon PlantsDivide the 4x4 into the typical 16 one foot squares and plant one muskmelon plant not in the middle of a square foot, but rather at the nine points of intersection where the grid lines intersect and let the vines ramble, (9) Summer Squash PlantsDivide the 4x4 into the typical 16 one foot squares and plant one squash plant not in the middle of a square foot, but rather at the nine points of intersection where the grid lines intersect. 270 locations nationwide! However, I know others use foliar feeds or soil drenches once per week. Your walls will take around .15 meters from the interior space. Dan,Using a temperature probe, I found my SFG soil temps were within the 50 to 70 degree range for most of the season. He seems to believe that calcium should be used in incredibly large amounts for people and plants. I moved the fridge away from the doorway to the far side of the sink. The advantage is the basic stuff you need to do once or twice. Just afraid of getting lots of weeds again! Gardening should be fun and not a chore. Justaguy 2 called space, "small apartment living". My summer 2009 plans are to put out a new SFG in traditional 4' x 4' x 12" layout and apply some tweaks to see if I can improve on prior years results. Square Foot Gardening. You really need to get bids from local contractors because so much can go into it. Also, not all of the plants grown in-ground did as well in the raised bed. Small plants are planted approximately 3 inches apart (16 per square). People in urban yards, apartments, or those living with acreage can all use this. This efficient edible-gardening technique can help people who are short on space, See how a smart layout, smaller refrigerator and recessed storage maximize this tight space, Teaching herself how to remodel, Allison Macdonald adds function, smarter storage and snazzier materials, A staircase connects levels that share views and light. No way, not even close. Alex, Your email address will not be published. In addition it also gives you a fair estimation of the number of plants you can hope to harvest (bugs, weather and luck aside), so you get that bit of a bonus when deciding how much space you want to dedicate to lettuce versus brussel sprouts or beets. Also, do you think deeper incorporation will give you more soil volume and thus more soil water? Sounds a bit counter-intuitive if you’ve heard about how much more produce you get from square foot gardening,  Wouldn’t that normally mean more seeds or at least the same amount? This is one of the reasons that I thought SFG was not producing as well as it could for most people. That is how they get a suggestion of 144 radishes per square foot. I am curious whether plot_thickens has any Internet references or pictures of those Organic French Intensive (raised) beds, as I am also curious about those. . http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2016/ The problem with with these reports is that the dollar amounts are aggregated. The effects are long lasting. Here is a link that might be useful: Mother Earth's Mini-Garden Experiment. Note that you might consider adding a little surface scratched alfalfa that contains triacontanol plant growth stimulant. Square foot gardening is a simple method of creating small, orderly, and productive kitchen vegetable gardens. New breath into old post? But lots of information and makes sense to me.I am using Cary reams methods from 80s. Additionally, if you could provide any pictures of your setup, that would be great. It's very cool how much you can grow. I hope that you keep them coming!~Tom. What was interesting was that this article explained what happened to me. Each year they spread the amendments, fire up the roto tiller and engage in heavy labor. I don't think that method would be recommended in the book for two reasons: - trellises are recommended because they can be laid out in a line on the north side to maximize sun inside the square- harder to harvest toms on the inside point between all of the cages. My questions are: 1) how deep should my bed be (typically grow peppers, cud’s, zucchini, beans and tomatoes) - easiest build is 10.5 inches but heard I should go with 12”? This is really only of importance early in the growing season if you are sowing seeds or extremely young transplants without a good root system. Two bedrooms with closets and a larger bathroom with good closet storage can be managed but three bedrooms start to be very small and I would advise you to go to three levels. I just have to believe that there are gardeners on this forum who can do and have done better than anything that I have seen to date. Also, thank you for the heads up on the book availability in March. Here is a link that might be useful: One of many aerated soil enhancers. You can make meals more interesting with your own vegetables and herbs, An extraordinarily scaled-down home and garden for a couple and their 2 kids fosters sustainability and togetherness, Rich materials and tropical plantings enhance this relaxing vacation getaway in downtown Key West, Smart design details like niches and frameless glass help visually expand this average-size bathroom while adding character, Solar panels, ship-inspired features and minimal possessions make this tiny Washington home kind to the earth and cozy for the owners, In a place known for going big, a family of 4 opts for creative space savers and subtle luxuries instead. Different crops are planted in different blocks according to their size; for example, 16 radishes in one square foot, or just one cabbage per square foot. The goal of this is to assist the planning and creating of a small but intensively planted garden. 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