We Are Square Foot Gardening This Year.

We moved to this house two years ago and I was just overwhelmed by the amount of land that is in 3 1/2 acres! I've been a gardener just about my entire life but never tried "Square Foot Gardening", per se, before. I've actually done it but didn't realize it had a name! One place I lived had a small, raised garden bed and I stuffed as many things into it as possible. This bed was about 6' x 4' but I managed to grow 10 different kinds of veggies in it, plus plant a dwarf peach tree in the corner and a blackberry bush against a wall on one side. I just didn't see the sense in letting all that space go to waste between tomato plants, so I planted radishes, carrots, onions, strawberries and cauliflower between them. I got a bumper crop from that tiny space! My problem with this property is in deciding what to plant where. With so much space, it's hard to visualize what would look nice where. So, what I started doing was to plant fruit trees and berry bushes wherever, then plant veggies around them. Our dirt is very stoney and mostly clay. (We live on a mountain.) I've had to supplement the soil as I went along. I know that growing veggies in a raised bed would do so much better and would love to grow them in only raised beds sometime in the future. Our land also slopes, for the most part, and building raised beds would certainly make gardening a lot easier! I do plan to grow corn, with pole beans growing up the stalks and melons at the base of the corn. Either the weather or my husband was not cooperating, so I'd better get busy! Enjoy your gardening and much luck with it!!!

I´ll try raised beds this year. I had completly forgotten about them. Thanks for remainding me! I remember I had really good beets and carrots that way the year I did it (I could have a better soil that way). Thanks again, Have a nice day!

I love square foot gardening. I have arthritis in my spine and a few squares is all I can handle, but as I live alone and in a drought area it is wonderful. I usually have 4 squares. That is as long as I can get down to weed and care for it, but the veggies are wonderful and I love climbing things as i can do part of that standing straight. I work in new compost every year and keep the weeds down. I have added gardening fabric and wood chips between and around the squares to help keep the weeds down and maintance easy. I also use 2 liter bottles in the areas to help water deep enough for my veggies.

Hi...i am new in gardening too..last year was my first year..and i can say that was beginner luck, was a great year, all last summer i had all i need as vegetables and flowers. This year i hope that will be more better...you know i were born in capital, never gardening in my life, but step by step i learned, and i can say that this year i know for what is good this land, where tomatoes grow better...where onion have a good place, or how i must care about my yellow roses. Is a great experience, and i am so proud when i go in my garden and i find there all what i need as vegetables...i can cook even for winter something. Square Foot Gardening is based on the idea of using small raised beds that are low maintenance to grow vegetables and flowers is a small space. The basic unit of planting in the square foot (30cm) with a basic raised bed of 4ft* 4ft (1.2m* 1.2m).