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Re: Questions from a newbie gardener

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

Hi, Scott --

Welcome to the list. 

Let me preface my remarks by saying that I am far from an expert (a fairly
new gardener myself) -- so I'll just be thinking aloud a little bit here.
IOW, this is just a conversation, not advice. <g>

>Question #1...
>Due to size limitations, I am planning on building 3'x3' boxes out
>of 2"x12". I was considering: 
>
>A) Waterproofing the wood to help make the wood last longer  

I've seen people going through all kinds of contortions to preserve the
wood they're building their beds from (since railroad ties and pressure
treated wood aren't considered good alternatives where vegetables are
concerned). I'm always left wondering -- why not just bite the bullet and
go for cypress or redwood to begin with? I do realize there's a significant
price difference and that some people have more time than money, but even
so, it might be worth considering especially if people start with just a
few beds. OR perhaps to plan on (and budget) replacing them with these later.

My beds are built of scrap lumber. They were free. Other than the work
involved, I feel I can *afford* to replace them later. I'll be doing some
beds this year that aren't raised, at least for now.

>b) Lining any wood that touches the soil with plastic

That sounds like a pretty good idea. Don't know how it would work out in
practice, though.

>C) Attaching a square of weed blocker fabric along the bottom

The entire inside area of the bed? Hmmm, some of your veggie roots may want
to go deeper than that. 

>D) Purchasing some good soil from a local company since my soil is bad

As someone also battling *bad soil,* I can identify. My problem is I don't
trust anyone's top soil. I don't trust what I can buy in bags at Home
Depot, and I don't trust what local suppliers might call top soil, or what
might be in it. Your situation may be different.

I felt better (a little) about the process of improving our *bad soil* when
a friend told me it takes about 3 years to get it in shape. I'm more likely
to think of it as a perennial pursuit, but at least 3 years offers a
milestone of sorts, something of a light at the end of the tunnel. My own
plans are to add as much humus as I can find, even if I end up buying some
of it (which I'll have to do as I expand my garden this year), adding
composted manure (also purchased), and other organic amendments and
fertilizers. In fact, I was reading one of my books tonight and it had an
excellent plan for soil improvement. I'll post it separately.

We had some awful failures last year, and some decent successes. The
failures happened where we just wanted to get SOMEthing planted before we
ran out of planting time altogether and didn't have the time available to
*do it right.* 

>Have I stepped beyond the realm of sanity and now I taking this a 
>bit to far? Should I eliminate any of the things I am considering? 
>Will the 3'x3' boxes affect anything other than how much I can plant
>per box?

I started out with Mel's 4x4 boxes but have graduated to rectangular ones
which IMO make better, more economical use of the space, and to some extent
the scrap wood we had. I like 3x whatever, personally.

>As for purchasing supplies (i.e. plants, seeds, etc), I live
>in Sacramento, California. Anyone know some good suppliers around
>Sacramento? Do you normally buy your supplies mail order? Any 
>recommendations on mail order companies?

I've bought some open-pollinated (non-hybrid) seeds from places on-line
like Pinetree Seeds, Gurney, Richter's (herbs), Johnny's, Cook's Garden.
Actually, I requested catalogs after visiting their sites because I prefer
hardcopy if the catalogs are large. Pinetree has exellent prices and
extensive offerings and Cook's Garden is fairly expensive. I bought fruit
trees from Starks. I've been pleased with all of these sources, but there
are many other fine sources as well. 

In fact, I bought some Martha Stewart seeds last week at K-Mart. I love the
packaging -- the back of the envelope is chock full of all kinds of useful
information -- much more info than any other seed comapny I've seen. Very
impressive.

>Finally, since this is my first try at this gardening gig I'm trying
>to avoid any disasters. Which veggies have you found to be easy to
>grow? 

I know of some plants that are *difficult,* but not all that many that are
easy. Maybe tomatoes and peppers. A lot depends on your area, your soil,
and proper timing of planting. Some herbs do well in almost any kind of
soil (and are often great companion plants as well). You might want to ask
your extension agent what veggies are less likely to have significant pest
and disease problems in your area. And of course, grow what you like to
eat! You'll be a little more enthused about taking care of it. (I myself
still prefer flowers to veggies. <g>)

Good luck -- keep us posted!

Patricia
Zone 7b, West Georgia


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