Monday, May 11, 2009

Square Foot Gardening



I have started to plant my little garden, although here in Tennessee I am just a tad behind. We have had so much rain it has prevented me from doing this little task. I say little because it is. My friend Johnny had shared with me his book on square foot gardening and now I have 3 raised beds 3 x 3 ft (very basic...nothing fancy!) Planting these babies takes like a second, so that is the little task, but actually doing it is another. My husband Ed put these together for me last year and I planted in them but my crops did not do well, the soil settled too much and I had pesky bugs. I tried to do this "organically" so I did not spray and I finally fertilized a little too late.

I have planted some watermelon, squash, peppers, cucumbers and the must have tomatoes, but I still need more things. You see, you only plant a few of each- one plant is suppose to fill one space in the grid, so you get a big variety in a small area. I planted one planter full of silver queen corn. I planted the same last year and I did get some good ears but most of them were dwarf, so this year I am hoping for a better crop.

Here are the goofy just planted pictures and I will keep you posted on the growth (lets hope there is some!) Like I said I still need to plant a few more things.


5 comments:

  1. Our spring garden is a wash- literally! I can't even begin to imagine what lies ahead for the summer garden.
    We do intensive gardening, which is basically what you're doing, without the frames. Can't wait to watch your garden progress.

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  2. Mark finished digging the sod out of my little new vegetable garden tonight, He spent all day yesterday doing it. Tomorrow evening he will till the horse manure in and then I can plant. I am doing companion gardening an plan to plant a variety of items that do well together. Some herbs, onions, garlic, lettuce. potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, leeks, carrots and I can't remember what else! Of, horse radish in pots next to the potatoes. Potato bugs don't like horseradish. : ) Did I give you some ideas?

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  3. Yes, Sandra you did give me some ideas. How do you plant horseradish? Seeds?
    I already planted my herbs up close to the house so I can go right out of the kitchen and cut what I need when I need it. Fresh basil and parsley are a must have all the time.

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  4. We will start our garden a little later here in Wisconsin, but it is fun to see other gardening methods and share them on-line.

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  5. I'll be right over...when everything starts coming up...LOL! My sister has a huge garden...her way of relaxing after a long day. It could supply a small army with food during the growing season so we haven't really gotten into planting a garden. We do have tomatoes in containers...can't live without those and the more the merrier!

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