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Re: newbie

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


From: Skavvy <Skavvy@concentric.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2000 7:16 PM
Subject: newbie

> I think the biggest challenge will be narrowing down the choices.
> 
> Do those of you who use this method, do you also garden or
> landscape in other ways or do you do everything in blocks?

Narrowing down the choices.  Never did that, I always seem
to plant two plants of everthing that caught my eye.  Doesn't
everyone need a couple dozen pepper plants for "Personal
use".  

I have been sqfting for half a dozen years or so, for me raising
crops using Mels guidelines in nice raised beds has been
working great.  The one other type of crop gardening I do
is container gardening.  For this I follow all the same ideas as
sqft  but apply it to containers that I hang from fence posts.

I find that I can start container plants sooner.   If there is danger
of frost (early or late season) I can pop them in the basement 
for a few days.  This gives me a jump on the season at the
early end and also allows me to extend harvests at the late
end.  Plants brought inside continue to ripen their veggies
but (for me) do not set anything new once brought in, they
fail to flower anymore inside...  I companion plant in my 
containers, I may have spices (basil) or green onions planted
with my tomatoes/peppers etc.  

I do not sqft non crops, since I don't remove one flower to 
put in another, I amend the soil per the book.  (Double dig, 
organic matter, getting seeds started) Then just leave the beds
be.  They pretty much take care of themselves, but then I
am not asking the flower bed to feed me.

Starting small is a great idea, Helps avoid burnout, I find that
I still enjoy this and every year or so I add another raised bed.
I am currently at 6 (4x4 squares) going to 8 by summer.  I 
am building a 20 foot long 6 foot tall fence along one side of 
my property, I am planning on putting a 1 foot wide square
foot trench at it's base.  I plant to alternate between edible
flowers (nastursiums or the like, never eaten any, sounds 
like it might be pretty in a salad) and peas, beans, sunflowers.
While 20 feet may seem like a lot to some, being only 1 foot
wide it is the same as one "square" that is 4x5.

Have fun, dry your own spices, learn how to dehydrate and 
can.  You CAN enjoy your harvest all year long.  And remember
do a little weeding or maintenance every day.  I have my 
morning coffee amongst the garden and visit it when returning
from work.  I find it helps to get me out of work "mode" and
makes me a nicer person to live with.

Best of luck.  This is a good crowd of folks here.  Ron Souliere


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