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Re: disappointed new list member

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

I'd love to see more "how I came to this" stories, and here's mine just so you
don't think I'm chicken...

This is our first year in this house, and the 5th year of gardening.  My
husband has always been the green-thumbed one, but since we moved here I've
been able to stretch my wings in the garden because the back yard is fenced and

the kids can't escape!  I garden because I love to cook and I don't want to
serve my family any more pesticide cocktails from the produce section than I
absolutely have to.  We buy all of our grains, beans, rice, milk, etc. from our

local organic food co-op, but haven't found satisfactory produce there (yet,
anyway).

So I got this bee in my bonnet about growing *all* our own produce myself, and
the sqft. method promised to be the best way to go about it.  So while it will
probably take several years to see whether we can, in fact, supply ourselves
with vegetables year-round, this year's garden is already better-organized (and

better-looking!) than any in the past.  I love thinking of each square as a
tiny garden in itself, and I pay much closer attention to each plant and its
progress (as well as the overall planning and design of the garden as a whole)
using this approach.

Any other Gardener-Cooks out there?

Mary
Richmond, IN
Zone 5

Valerie Mutton wrote:

Valerie Mutton wrote:

> Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
> Hello list members--thanks for the flood of mail asking me to stay on
> the list!
>
>   As requested by Richard, my story is: I used to live in a townhouse
> condominium, where I didn't have to even
> cut the lawn, and barely saw the outdoors anyways due to a rather brutal
> work schedule. Then I moved to a new house, doing the proverbial
> subdivision thing--big house, small lot.  Anyways, once I realized I
> truly had my own patch of dirt, no longer just "exclusive use"
> of a condo common element, I discovered an interest in gardening.
> Unfortunately, I didn't have very much room to exercise
> my new found desire to grow stuff.  So I started reading up on how to
> grow things in small spaces. I now have three
> espaliered fruit trees (a 4-in-1 apple tree trained to a candelabra-type
> shape, a peach tree, growing fan-shaped, and a
> plum tree). Then I decided that it would be fun to grow some veggies and
> herbs, so last year my long-suffering husband built me
> four raised beds & wheelbarrowed in lots of good soil.  I grew peas,
> tomatoes, cucumbers, green & jalapeno peppers, & all kinds of herbs last
> year. I even tried corn.  I was moderately successful--in fact, I made
> pickles, and quite frankly, for awhile I never wanted to
> see another cucumber again.  It was a real trial and error year, though.
> I discovered I didn't shake the pollen down my corn enough, so the lower
> ears didn't pollinate. I discovered that my pepper plants produced a low
> yield because they were dwarfed by my tomato plants, which just
> about took over the world, & definitely shaded out some of my other
> crops. Anyways, I think the square foot idea is really cool, and I'm
> quite looking forward to "growing season" again. And to this list.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Val
>
> Richard Helton wrote:
> >
> > Val, I have been a lurker so to speak on the list for years, and I
> > sometimes post. Please do not take this recent little spiff, as the
> > normal tone of the group. I beg you reconsider your decision and continue
> > to participate, you will benefit from wisdom here.
> >
> > Do you Sq-foot now or are you just interested in it?
> >
> > I have been interested in Sq-Ft since I originally saw the method on PBS
> > about 10 years ago or so. However I have only had a place to garden in
> > the last three, and my family and I sure enjoy the harvest we get from
> > such a small plot of ground! :-)
> >
> > What is your story?
> >
> > Richard Helton
> > In not so sunny Sacramento California
> >
> >
>
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