This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: new to sqft gardening...have ??

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

   Welcome to the garden.  I wouldn't expect much from seeds that cheap.
They may have a very low germination rate.  Which means a lot of them wont
grow.  Fifty cents a pack would be better if considering just the price.
It's not hard to pay 1.50 to 2.00 a pack for some seeds.
   How many blocks?  Well to quote Mel's book "One block will produce enough
vegetables for salads for one person all season".  If you can, it wouldn't
hurt to double the number of boxes.
   There is one way that is almost amusing but animals urinate around the
edge of there territory to say "this is mine stay out".  Man can do the
same. Animals tend to stay away from man  or anyplace that smells like man.
An easier way to do the same might be to hang some well used athletic socks
in the garden and change them every few days.  Mine would discourage a T
Rex:-)  The idea is because they smell like man and animals don't like it.
   For the clay soil you could get a hold of all the organic stuff you can
get your hands on.  For this season you would need to buy some compost made
from cow manure and other vegetable stuff and mix it with the clay soil.
The reason is the rain doesn't drain from clay quick enough.  The second is
plants don't grow in the soil but in the spaces between particles.  Clay has
very little space.
   Start a compost pile into which you can throw grass clippings, leaves,
and vegetable kitchen scraps.  Or even get some stuff from a local grocer
who throws out a lot of stuff from trimmings and non sale.  Next year maybe
sooner depending on how much you turn it you could add this to your garden.
Include some old soil for the live things that are in it to speed things up
also.
   You didn't say where you are so I can't say when or what to grow.  In any
case I am in New York and working like crazy to get ready for
the end of this month when I must put in stuff like lettuce, broccoli,
spinach which are cool weather crops.
   You can get some of the best help around thru such groups as this.  A
darn good site would be

http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

There you will find mention of a good book on the subject called Square Foot
Gardening.  The best 17.00 I have spent in a long time. There is also a
simple little garden manager program which helps you keep track of things.

Jim allAn zone 5 New York State
Northeastern USA.

> I'm new to the list and to gardening all together.  I was wondering if it
> matters what seeds you get......what I mean is are the 10 for $1 junk or
can
> you use them with success most of the time?  I can't believe the cost of
> some of these seeds nowadays.
> Also I am planning on doing 3 squares for my family of 6...3 adults and 3
> small children, does that sound like enough?
> Thirdly, any suggestions on keeping the deer out minus the 8 foot
fence????
> And lastly any suggestions on beds, I have clay like soil but am wondering
> if I should do raised beds or not and if so, any suggestions on what to
make
> them out of would be great.
> Thanks
> Rachel
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
> Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb


______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index