Tell me about your sq ft gardens

[mermaidmama]

Question for those of you who have done square foot gardening.....

What about it worked for you?
What about it didn't work for you?
What would you do differently?

Thank you!

[Pepper44]

Originally Posted by mermaidmama

Question for those of you who have done square foot gardening.....

What about it worked for you?
What about it didn't work for you?
What would you do differently?

Thank you!

I have a garden in the ground, and I also have two 4x4 foot gardening boxes on the side of my house where I couldn't dig due to gas lines and stuff.

I decided on 4x4 feet because it's not too big to reach around in the box. That size has worked very well for us.

The first year I used non-treated wood and just nailed it together into a frame. That didn't work, as the wood expanded and contracted (or something?) the nails just popped out. The next year my DH fixed them with metal braces on the corners and that has held up wonderfully.

The untreated boards rot very quickly. I have had to make my DH replace them every couple of years. If you want something long term check into other options.

The only downside of my boxes is that they could be deeper. I forgot what size boards we used, the next size up from 2x4...maybe 3x4?

[mizmerricat]

Subbing.
I'm hoping to start a sq ft garden this year. We bought a house on about 1/2 acre last fall, and sq ft gardening seems like a good fit. Literally and figuratively.

[dogmom327]

Subbing!

I love the SFG concept but we are doing it without the raised beds since we have fantastic soil in our yard. I'm trying to figure out a good way to mark out the squares. I tried stakes and twine last year bur for a number of reasons, that didn't go well (string breaking, getting caught in the plants, tripping on it, etc.).

[Owen'nZoe]

I started with a square foot garden 4 years ago, and it has been morphing into a biointensive garden ever since.

What about it worked for you?

On the advice of a friend who sfg's, I built my beds 8 x 4 instead of 4x4. I'm very glad I did. The larger beds aren't harder to work than a 4x4, and they use less wood and less space (because there are fewer paths). All-in-all, a better use of resources.

What about it didn't work for you?

Replacing the soil has never sat well with me. I think a big part of being a gardener is responsible stewardship of the land you are given, and replacing the soil just doesn't fit with that (except in the rare cases of soil that is so contaminated that it cannot be used). I have had to purchase some inputs for my garden to start out with, but am trying to build the soil I have slowly rather than replacing it outright.

Also, the spacing didn't always seem right for my climate. Corn was a huge disaster - even with heavily amended soil, I ended up with horrible pest problems. I think the plants were spaced much too close.

What would you do differently?

-Build the soil slowly using what I have.
-Build larger boxes and narrow paths to use the space and wood more efficiently.
- In a colder climate, give the plants more space than the book calls for.
- I tried the grid for the first year, but was very glad to dump it. Depending on what I am growing, I either intersperse the plants throughout the bed (and find I have fewer pest problems this way), or plant on a diagonal, rather than straight lines.

[JessicaS]

Originally Posted by Pepper44

The first year I used non-treated wood and just nailed it together into a frame. That didn't work, as the wood expanded and contracted (or something?) the nails just popped out. The next year my DH fixed them with metal braces on the corners and that has held up wonderfully.

The untreated boards rot very quickly. I have had to make my DH replace them every couple of years. If you want something long term check into other options.

It sounds like they were warping

I don't use treated lumber because it can leech into the soil.


I use cedar boxes, it can be a bit pricey but I just get a couple at a time and am slowly building. I am thinking of trying some straw bales this year but I am not sure how hard it is to keep pests out of them.

http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.co...gardening.html