Of course, I love the idea of not having to use 15+ dollars of vermiculite for each garden, but I don't want to do it if it's just going to make them fail. The rest is done as needed. However, there are some limitations: None of these reasons prevent SFG from being a useful part of a garden though – you can use 100% recycled compost in the beds instead of Mel's Mix, gradually build up the number of SFG beds and combine it with areas of your garden which are set aside for fruit trees and larger crops. The only ingredient you will need to replenish regularly is the blended compost — and the vast majority of Square Foot Gardeners report (just as Mel did) that their Mel’s Mix™ stays loose for 7 to 10 years. I have used 'normal' peat as a test alongside my veggie boxes; while normal peat was better I still think I prefer my cocopeat. God Bless. A local nursery advised against vermiculite due to his belief that there is no such thing as an asbestos-free product. ", "Yes, you can use 100% compost if it comes from a reliable commercial source such as I describe in this article: http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=74. My garden is over-run with weeds and I have no idea how to keep up with it. ", "I started my first-ever vegetable garden in 2012 with the SFG method. I don't have one yet, but going to order at least one and give it a try. I left the country for a month in early summer, with someone filling the gravity tanks once a week and that was it. Doubtful. ", "Thank you for providing information and a garden planner for those interested in the Square Foot Gardening method. suggestions on what to put under my bed if building over previous garden? The whole roll cost $6 or $7. The Square Foot Gardening method saves gardeners time, effort, tools, space and water. Eliminate all the hard work, expense and mixed results of amending your soil year after year. In the end, are they going to talk about your housekeeping? I have to say that it really does help to keep the compost airy (we have very heavy clay so not much good unless you like knobbly carrots!). An Expert Guide Written By The Bonnie Gardener. First, give yourself a little break. Compost supplies the only nutrition in Mel's Mix, as both peat moss and perlite/vermiculite are completely nutrient-free. At GrowVeg we regularly get enquiries from gardeners following the SFG method who want to plan their beds using our Garden Planner. Square foot gardening is a simple method of creating small, orderly, and productive kitchen vegetable gardens. I use the same ratio. Best of all is that the SFG plants can be part of a larger garden plan that includes more traditional planting layouts and large plants, so there's the flexibility to combine different methods in a plan of a single garden area. Does anyone else use it and have good results? Thanks a lot. I can sympathize. We'll see how we got on in spring and summer 2011. SFG rapidly gained popularity during the 1980s through Mel's first book and television series and since then has spread across the world, eventually going 'mainstream' with several companies offering ready-to-assemble SFG gardens. ", "Good afternoon - nothing to do with the article above - qick question - im turning my side yard in south california into a veg growing area , based on the high temps we get every year which type of topsoil/ compost should i be looking to purchase? I'd never suggest overextending yourself financially, but this is a situation where it may be worth finishing the projects and enjoying these precious years and budgeting the projects in he back end. Do you need a sitter so you can finish the work? Will be going today to the local nursery for the soil. The recipe below is tweaked from a recipe found in Mel Bartholomew’s book “All New Square Foot Gardening.” Compost, peat moss and vermiculite. That can be an expensive starter (8cuft total per 4x4x0.5’ box). The sand works well although it is a little heavier to mix. I can't promise the to do list will ever get shorter, but it will change over time. If you like your home, and you think you and your family will be happy there, it sounds like you could really benefit from a little help. ", "I found this when I was looking for similar that I had viewed last year on a tv programme.This is so nicely explained I will order the book too. If your upgrades are for the long term, you may want to reconsider a short term loan. How do you keep weeds and grass from coming up? “You never set foot into your garden using this method,” Zelenak said. To get the best results from your square foot gardening, use a mixture of soil and additives like compost, vermiculite and peat moss. Mel’s Mix, as stipulated by Mel Bartholomew, author of All New Square Foot Gardening is made up of equal parts peat moss, compost and coarse ground vermiculite. I see that Mel's Mix is equal parts of compost, peat and vermiculite/perlite. I've filled with topspoil/vermiculite/compost. It soon became clear that getting rid of rows and using intensive deep-beds could dramatically cut the amount of maintenance the garden required. It sounds like you probably have quite a bit of equity in the home. If you were to purchase a comparable new home, would you then have the needed money to hire out any necessary projects, or would you be in the same place financially where you would need to do them slowly and piecemeal? Problem is I can't find the vermiculite and the guy at our local garden center says it's because it's now illegal. Schools across the nation and international humanitarian groups around the world are using the Square Foot Gardening method making inroads against poverty and hunger. I tried using my Stirrup-U-hoe and found that, because it was a lighter-weighted tool, my muscles instead of the ground were supporting it, making me work harder. Square Foot Gardening was revolutionary when it was first invented and it's still a great system for people who are starting out, have limited space or want a highly organised method to follow. I am in the cleaning industry in an automotive plant as a supervisor. Thank you very much, I love it! I have failed miserably! I did not use raised beds as I live in Colorado where it is very dry, plus I didn't want the expense, so I just prepared the soil with a broadfork and compost, planted everything, laid out gravity-fed drip lines (that were on an automatic timer)and mulched with straw. I used peat moss, and composted manures from a nearby farm. As Mel has explained, the seeds can actually be sown deeper than most normal seeds. Because they achieve very high temperatures you don't get the weed problems that home produced compost often has (though you can still use that for the bottom of the boxes). I decided I had all this land, so I would try the "traditional" garden method. However, I'm now growing other things too, just in normal soil, so having this SFG addition to the software is absolutely ideal for me. Only use medium to coarse grain vermiculite when mixing your growing medium. I simply nail one end, unroll the veneer, cut it to fit and nail it down. His success has been astounding and changed the idea of wasteful row gardening handed down from farming. Decades later, the book continued to be top-tier among gardening guides – so continuously purchased, used, and enjoyed, that a long-awaited update of the book was released in 2006 as The All New Square Foot Gardening, followed by a second edition in 2013. What's most crucial is done frequently and often more than once per week. Upkeep for 3500 square foot home. October 07, 2013 Announcements. There's a great quote: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." It sounds like you have a really nice home. ", "Claudia, we have an article all about how to preserve wood for raised vegetable beds here: http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=71 and there are some very useful comments people have added. Beds are between 6 and 12 inches deep which gives the plants plenty of rich nutrients, while maintaining good drainage. Do you dislike your current home and are you just frustrated and you feel like you will love it when the projects are complete? Wayne", "Thanks Wayne..., but Cedar is one of your country's indigenous forest species, unfortunately rarely planted and managed sustainably ...,it's worth to consider when buying products. Square Foot Gardening. ft. bags! However, you don't need to follow SFG to benefit from gardening with raised beds and good organisation. Square foot gardening is the practice of dividing the growing area into small square sections, typically 1 foot (30 cm) on a side, hence the name. Do I mix up the Crop Families as per the square foot method, or group them as per what I have read in the 4 Area Crop Rotation method? (If you have difficulty using this form, please use our Contact Form to send us your comment, along with the title of this article. The other 4 for rotation. More than once I've been tempted to invite all of them over for dinner and cleaning. I'm doing my best to master square foot gardening and thus, am making Mel's Mix for our 6 raised beds. I would do without the Pete moss, but that is a personal opinion based on my soil type and compaction problems. ", "This year Sam's Club sold 42" x 6" x 7' raised bed kits, no maintenance, slide together, $40. Necessary? Square Foot Gardening (commonly referred to as SFG) is a planting method that was developed by American author and TV presenter Mel Bartholomew in the 1970s. So what makes Square Foot Gardening special and why don't all gardeners use it? Buy All New Square Foot Gardening Revised Edition by Bartholomew, Mel (ISBN: 9781591862024) from Amazon's Book Store. It was only natural that he would apply his analytical skills to the problems he encountered. I have used vermiculite and I have used clean sand. Mel’s … We put them in last summer after pulling out the small beds I had for three years. This fab tool is a shallow pentagon with sharpened edges—looks like a Stealth Bomber—that you push along the soil's surface to unroot the weeds. ", "We can get coconut 'peat', from Fair Trade coconuts plantations. Here is a question....if you were to finish the projects you have, sell your home, and move, would you be able to afford another home as nice or nicer? In any case, my soil produces well, but I will be adding vermiculite to help conserve water as it does flow a bit too easily through the soil despite my use of soaker hoses. ), By clicking 'Add Comment' you agree to our Terms and Conditions, "I bought the book a couple of months back and now a lovely SFG box in my back garden. ", "Norman: I think you plant two rows of four - one row in each half of the square, and you have the support running across the square in between the two rows. In the case of square foot gardening, Mel’s Mix (the creator) calls for one-third compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. They have been awesome!! 0. ", "I am at this time constucting my 1st SFG I always grow runner beans using a conventional support system, I'm puzzled as to how you would plant 8 beans in a sq ft and train them up a support albeit like one in the SFG book.can anyone explain I live in a suburb outside of Toronto. I gardened for 3 years this way in my small in town backyard. SFG was developed as a reaction to the inefficiencies of traditional gardening. This year we moved to a farm with 53 acres. I grow determinate paste tomatoes in the two middle rows and the front row is reserved for jalapeno peppers. I did square foot gardening back in the early 80's and I'm pretty sure "Mel's Mix" didn't exist back then. This fall we will be building nine 4x10 square foot gardens. The days may seem long right now, but in a shorter time than you realize, they will be fleeting. it's a hard clay soil but i used the digging fork to aerate it before adding the manure", "Articles say plant in well drained area. I did square foot gardening back in the early 80's and I'm pretty sure "Mel's Mix" didn't exist back then. The most important feature of square foot gardening is using this specific enriched potting soil mixture: blend different organic materials by using equal parts of bagged organic potting soil or compost, vermiculite, and peat moss. Square Foot Gardening differs from most other gardening systems in that you don’t use your native earth. I have three current beds 4x12. Don't have a lawn? It is mainly used to aerate soil in pots. The square foot gardening book advocates using landscape fabric or some other impene­trable barrier at the base of your raised beds if you’re placing them on a driveway or other man-made surface. , ive now dig out all the old soil and have an average depth of 10 to 12 inches over 200 square foot approx , hope this isnt too hard a question. So the answer is no, you don't NEED vermiculite, but it is helpful if you can afford it. New to this forum but not new to Garden Web. I would encourage you to visit our website www.squarefootgardening.org to see how we are carrying on Mel's work to get people growing their own organic, fresh produce. Again, doing this would inhibit growth when roots try to … Very much a no-no for SFG purists, but he gets great results. Please help. Instead of buying vermiculite from a garden centre I've used Mycafil (insulation matter made from vermiculite)about £15 for a 100ltr bag comapared with £5 for a 1ltr bag at the garden centre. Ask your questions! Could you find some professionals who can do parts of the work that they could knock out quickly where it would take you more time to do the same projects? Yes, there is! I believe my soil was the issue. ", "I use sfg more for keeping me from growing something like 300 carrots to something more manageable like 32 or 2 or 3 heads of cabbage instead of 20 so in that respect it works quite well. The e-mail does not appear to be correct. I have also just started to really experiment with gardening by the moon so will incorporate the two. Sand is not an acceptable substitute for vermiculite in square foot gardening. Ideas?? My best growing beds are my existing soil with my compost. When building more than a one square foot garden, put three feet of space between as your walkway. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to gardening and am trying to start a plot using the concepts of www.squarefootgardening.com. The Square Foot Gardening System. All are made out of old scaffold boards which can be purchased quite cheaply on Ebay or in the local ads. (We won't display this on the website or use it for marketing), (Please enter the code above to help prevent spam on this article), Growing Fruit and Vegetables in Small Spaces. Moved into what I thought was my dream house. I was absolutely brand new to growing ANYTHING and this was a great way to start. the book says that in third world countries they teach the system using just compost, so........ My brother does not do SFG but does raised beds with a mixture of compost and topsoil. This is 4 cu. If you've seen any pests or beneficial insects in your garden in the past few days please report them to The Big Bug Hunt and help create a warning system to alert you when bugs are heading your way. He has said he does envy my mel's mix a bit, but is fine with his method. ", "I've recently built 9 beds some 6ft by 4ft, some 4ft by 4ft. ", "Thank you Jeremy,....having read all the links and comments...I guess I'm on the secure side using rocks as a local resource ...it just takes a bit longer (and the slugs never changed their mind in front my existing timber frames ;-), have to transplant all seedlings anyway, a bit of coffee-ground around the edges also helps ... thanks again", "Jaime, I am veg-gardening in two places: a small kitchen garden with small, raised beds planted in the SFG way, and a 30'x70' row garden. Hi jeweledangel, It seems like you have come so far but you are growing weary. I have one solar pod with a mickey mouse spray waterer. The key has been the right tools: we run down the rows with either The Winged Weeder, or more frequently a heavy-headed Scuffle Hoe. You are in a stage in life where your days are busy and long and the to-do list is never ending. 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