The Square Foot Gardening Answer Book

New Information from the Creator of Square Foot Gardening - the Revolutionary Method Used by 2 Milli

Mel Bartholomew

• Publisher: Cool Springs Press
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781610588201
• Topic: Scienze biologiche
• Subtopic: Orticoltura

Calling all Square Foot Gardeners, the solutions you've been looking for are here in the form of the Square Foot Gardening Answer Book! You know the SFG method that has taken the US by storm, now see how toget more from your gardening efforts. Using proven techniques, appliances, and approaches, this book will put more harvest on your table, with no additional garden beds. For more than 30 years Mel Bartholomew has been answering questions from Square Foot Gardeners, and this book presents the very best of that information. Real solutions to real problems, directly from the inventor of the Square Foot Gardening method. It's your link to all the best secrets of growing produce.

CHAPTER ONE
PLANNING & LOCATING YOUR SQUARE FOOT GARDEN

Real estate agents like to say that the three most important things affecting a home’s value are “location, location, and location.” Same is true of an SFG. If you were growing an old-fashioned row garden, chances are you’d just stick it out at the far edge of your backyard and not worry if part of it was too shaded to grow. Long rows usually only fit in one part of your yard, which means the type of gardening you do is dictated by the location.

Not so with an SFG. Because your SFG boxes take up so much less square footage than a row garden (and produce just as much in that area, I might add!), the issue of location is pretty wide open. You do, however, need to make sure the entire box will get at least six to eight hours of sunlight each day, and that it’s properly shaded from strong winds and harsh weather.

Locating SFG boxes was actually one of the big changes I made to the method when I was working on the ALL NEW Square Foot Gardening book. It had become crystal clear to me that the closer SFG boxes were to the gardener’s back door, or right below the kitchen window, the more likely the gardener was to work on them and enjoy them.

As soon as that book came out, though, you can bet that a bunch of questions followed. Most started with, “Yeah, but what if. . . .” Every yard is unique and everybody’s situation is going to be different. Some people might have a deck or patio out their back door, and they just don’t want to put an SFG box on the surface (although I sure wish they would—an SFG is a wonderful addition to any deck or patio).

“When I sold my house, the buyer said, ’I bought your house for your garden.’ SFG of course.”

—Michelle from El Cesjon

Finding just the right location makes for a lot of questions, and I’ve included them all in this chapter. When you’re planning what you’ll plant and where, however, you’ll need to consider the location of the boxes, as well as the individual squares inside the boxes. Position taller plants in squares where they won’t shade out lower-growing types. Also, separating the plants of the same type will help alleviate pests and diseases.

Creating the perfect mix of plants and positioning them in just the right squares of your box takes a bit of thinking. A lot of questions are bound to come up and I’ll answer the most common ones here. Once you’ve arrived at the answers, you’re sure to find the perfect place for your boxes, and the perfect place within your boxes for your plants.

I live in Arizona. How can I keep my SFG healthy in the desert?

One of the great things about SFGs is that they work just about anywhere! You’d be surprised at all the places where I’ve seen them. You can grow a healthy SFG even in a desert climate with just a few simple steps. Once your plants are growing and established, the first order of business is to lay down a thick layer of water-conserving mulch. This can be wet newspapers or cardboard, chopped-up straw, or even dried grass clippings. Some people use black plastic, but you might want to cover it with another mulch material—there’s no reason your SFG should be anything but beautiful. Conventional mulch, such as wood chips or bark, will work as well. However, whenever I use wood chips in an SFG, I always put down a barrier first because wood chips can pull nitrogen from the soil as they decompose and your plants aren’t going to be real happy about that.

In a desert environment, wind can be as much a concern as the sun. We’ve had a lot of success making wind screens from the floating cover type of cloth material sold at nurseries and large garden centers. Stick a steel fence post outside each corner of the 4 × 4 square and then wrap the cloth around the stakes and the box sides, just like you see them do around a tennis court.

You should always keep in mind to treat your plants like people and make them as comfortable as possible wherever your SFG happens to be. In that case you might even put up some sort of shade for the extreme noontime sun. I’m sure the plants would appreciate that, as well as a little extra water as necessary. You can also look into a drip irrigation system.

Can I grow a Square Foot Garden in my very shady yard?

There’s just no getting around the fact that every yard is different. If you have a two-story house, it may block the sun for a good portion of the day (part of my new SFG method is to move your boxes close to the house). Sometimes trees can be the problem—and most people just aren’t ready to cut down their trees to suit their garden. I understand that. But to grow vegetables and most flowers successfully, you’re going to need the equivalent of six to eight hours of sun on your plants every single day. I say “the equivalent” because there are tricks you can use to help your plants make the most of what sun there is.

If you don’t mind the appearance, one of the best ways to optimize your sunlight is to line the ground around your plants with white Styrofoam panels. Not only will the panels bounce a lot of sunlight back up on your plants, they will also serve as a moisture-evaporating barrier and can even work to repel insects! (The light bouncing up under the plant leaves confuses insects that expect that area to be darker and concealing.)

If you’re willing to go a bit further with the idea, and your garden is against the fence or house, you can even line a fence along the northeast or west side of the garden with Styrofoam panels. Or better yet, tie them to the fence. That way, you can take them down whenever you’re having company or just don’t feel like looking at a bright white surface. It may sound like a bit much, but it’s one way to make the most of a shady location. If Styrofoam isn’t to your taste, you can always limit your plants to those that do better in shade, such as beets, carrots, cauliflower, Swiss chard, lettuce, onions, parsley, radishes, spinach, hosta, coleus, and many herbs (just check your seed catalog or packages). Although it’s not the ideal garden, these can all make do with as little as four to six hours of sun a day.

My yard is flat and bare and no matter where I place my SFG it receives bright, strong sun throughout the day. How can I protect my plants?

Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, especially when it comes to bright, hot sunshine and your summer plants. Providing just a little bit of protection from the sun during the hottest part of the day is probably all you need to do to make sure your SFG doesn’t come down with a bad case of heat stroke. The easiest way to cast a welcome bit of shade over the plants is by building a sun screen. Get your hands on some 1/2-inch PVC pipes 10 feet long. Bend them to opposite corners to form two parallel hoops over your SFG box, then tie them together right at the top center points. Then all you need to do is attach a bit of shade cloth that you can find at home centers or garden supply outlets. That will allow you to adjust the cloth as necessary to give your plants some much-needed midday relief when the sun is at its most scorching.

The dome supports are PVC pipe bent corner to corner in the box, and secured where they cross with a locking tie. This dome can support protective netting or thick plastic, creating a modest greenhouse for late-season plants.

Can I grow my SFG indoors?

Certainly you can. A sunroom or even a sunny area in a big eat-in kitchen is an ideal place for a little winter garden. An SFG can also be a great indoor project in a school or hospital. In any case, though, you should build the boxes so that they can pass through doorways: 3-foot-wide maximum for commercial buildings like a hospital, and 2-foot-wide maximum for homes. The plants will bend toward the sun, so you should rotate the box every week or so. With the reduced light of winter, don’t expect plush, bushy plants. But the effort is still worthwhile in a cold drab winter. Pick plants and varieties that do well in shade or reduced light (check your seed catalogs).

MEL’S TIP

It makes me happy to see how many people have embraced SFG, and I love the fact that they get together online in chat rooms and forums to discuss their experiences. But there’s a reason we certify SFG instructors; it’s a simple method but you still have to know your stuff! It’s fine to check out what works for others, but if you have a particular problem or concern, I say go right to an expert. You can consult your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or a local nursery professional for local plant and pest problems, or go to the SFG forum for SFG problems. Always be aware of the difference between what someone knows, and what someone thinks.

Where is the most unusual location you’ve ever seen a Square Foot Garden grown?

I’d have to say it was in the Himalayan Mountains in India. It was amazing to be that far from home and see something so familiar. It also made me realize that SFG transcends language and cultural barriers. Every person around the world needs fresh food to eat and can benefit by growing their own food. Our foundation’s mission is to encourage EVERY household to have just one Square Metre box for each person right out their back door. Let us, for the first time in history, teach the world how to grow just the minimum of food themselves ...