Grow Your Own Vegetables In A Square Foot Garden
It's a sad fact today that store bought produce can sicken you. There have been several big health scares over the past few years, the last big one being tainted spinach. Another consideration about store bought produce is the pesticides and insecticides used in their production. Today more and more people are opting to grow their own produce. There are many ways to garden, but one of the easiest and most economical ways to garden is to use the square foot method. The square foot method of gardening is somewhat like raised bed gardening in that you grow your vegetables in boxes built above ground. This is an ideal way to have a garden when you have minimal space. Since you are gardening in boxes above ground you don't have to waste any space for rows that you would have in a conventional garden. And, since your garden is above ground, no more muddy boots. Square foot gardening, along with creating much greater yield of vegetables than conventional gardening, can be done without fertilizers and without pesticides. It's also easier to keep pesky rabbits and other critters out of raised square foot gardens. One way to keep pests from eating your produce is to plant all the vegetables and flowers you know to be their favorites within one square foot garden and then put fencing around just that one. Another reason that square foot gardening is catching on with homeowners is that these raised bed gardens are much more attractive within the landscape of the home. You can place these gardens where ever you want and place you square foot gardens in any configuration you choose. You can have aisles as wide or narrow as you want between your square foot gardens, and use any material you want for them, stone, mulch, or grass. Putting in a conventional garden can be back-breaking work. Soil always needs to be amended and this can run into a lot of money and you'll need a tiller to help you with the job. As square foot gardens are in platforms you start out with the perfect blend of soil. Soil is the backbone of any garden. The better the soil the better the yield of vegetables. You can make your square foot garden whatever size you want. You can make it 4 ft. x 4 ft., or 3 ft. x 3 ft., or smaller, depending on the space you have. You can make your square foot garden whatever height suits you best. Just remember, the depth of good soil should be twelve inches. If you create square foot gardening boxes deeper than twelve inches you can fill the bottom with poor soil or clay. Don't spend the money to fill it with good soil, it really won't matter as most roots won't grow down quite that far. And if they do, they'll be receiving necessary nutrients from the top twelve inches. The soil mixture should be one that is 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 coarse vermiculite. Once you've filled the bed with soil you'll then want to create 1 ft. x 1 ft. squares within this garden bed. Plant a different vegetable, flower or herb within each square. Vegetables that give off runners such as peas, cucumbers and squash can be grown easily using the square foot gardening method by adding sturdy trellises. These types of vegetables should be planted in the back or the side of the box so they can reach the trellis. |
