Square Foot Gardening

It's okay to be square!

This year, I am experimenting with a square foot garden, in which I plant a variety of vegetables in a 1-foot grid. Here are some tips I used to get started:

 Step 1: Loosen up the soil with a fork, shovel and/or rotor tiller. Add compost and fertilizer, if needed.  (Thanks Katie & Dad!)

Step 2: Use a hammer to pound in wooden stakes on each corner.

Step 3: Continue to outline your 1-foot grid with string and wooden stakes, starting with the four corners.

Step 4: Create approximately 6 rows, spaced about a foot or two apart in one direction.

Step 5: Complete the grid by adding rows in the opposite direction.

Step 6:  Choose what to grow and plot where each veggie will go. Consider the following:

Sunlight: plant taller plants to the North so they do not shade the shorter plants.
Support: some plants like peas, cucumbers, and vine tomatoes will need a trellis. It’s best to put your trellis in a place where you can get to both sides of it, and where it won’t block your access to other plants.

Companions: Look up your vegetable using the Companion Planting Tool and make sure it’s “neighbors” are compatible.

Competing spaces: don’t plant vegetables next to each other that will be competing for the same space. For example, potatoes try to spread all over (or under!) so don’t put them next to onions or carrots.

 

Step 7: Follow the planting instructions on the seed package, planting seeds the appropriate depth and width. 

Some things to keep in mind:

Weather: It's best to plant seeds when the forecast is for overcast skies, light winds and slightly cooler temperatures. Hot, sunny days will dry out your soil faster, making it harder for your seeds establish a home in the soil.

Soil: Make sure to loose the dirt below seeds. Cover your seeds with fine soil and press lightly on top to set seeds in place.

Water: Always water your seeds after planting.

  

Step 8: Water the new seedlings. (I used water from our Sustain Dane rain barrel)

Step 9: Fingers crossed that it grows!  :)

Seedlings

Start seedlings indoors
Here are some tips to keep in mind when starting a garden:
Read the seed package or gardening book to find out how early to start your seedlings indoors. Some plants can be sewn directly into the garden.

Label your seedling containers so you know what you planted and when.

Place a lid or plastic bag over the containers at first to create keep moisture and heat in.

If planting seedlings in a cardboard or biodegradable container, watch out for mold! If there is too much moisture in your greenhouse environment, you may start to see mold growth on the outside of the container.  This could harm or even kill the plant.

Make sure to rotate your plant containers, so seedlings get even amounts of sunlight and they are not growing in one direction toward the light.

Have fun with a variety of plants and containers.  Here, I planted cat grass in a boot, so that Charlie can enjoy some grass later this summer.

My Not-so-Green Thumb

Okay - so the 2010 gardening season has not gotten off to a great start.  I tried planting my seedlings in some cardboard, biodegradable cups. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I thought a material that could be planted right into the garden would spare the Earth of yet more plastic containers.  Unfortunately, it only took a week before the cardboard cups started to mold and the few seedlings that actually emerged withered and died. So it was back to square one!

I reluctantly reverted back to plastic. This time, I planted Roma tomatoes, jalapeños, banana peppers, yellow, green and red peppers, cayenne peppers and two ornamental peppers.  A few days passed and there were no signs of life in the black plastic cups.  And just as I was about to declare my garden project a complete failed, it was broccoli that come to the rescue.  The little green seedlings look great and I can once again see the faintest glimpse of a green thumb.