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

Re: [My New Square Foot Garden]

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

Hi- Well-I can tell you what I did-I didn't want to use pressure treated
wood and I couldn't afford to buy cedar or redwood or even new pine so I
went around to the neighborhood cleanup days on a regular basis- as well as
the dump- the salvage yards etc and the things I found that were terrfic
were- WATERBEDS FRAMES! They are usually made of 2 by 12 pine  and worked
great. The other things I found scads of are -leftover parts from redwood
benches and tables- which made great beds too- I stacked them if I wanted
more than a six inch bed-.I also found lots of discarded lattice, pvc(?)
pipe, hose, bailing wire, pots and planter boxes, a great planting table, a
wonderful sink for my patio and pavers galore- not to mention lots of plants
that people were throwing out on cleanup day- it seems to be a time when
they decide to re-do the yard. To be sure- my house goes thru stages of
looking like a  junkyard until I get whatever junk I have hauled home-
arranged and settled in- but I have spent $$ on seeds, soil and plants and
some soaker hoses and a few tools and thats about it- the rest- including
much fencing and compost bin materials  has come from the curbside.The
shallac that was on the outside of the waterbed frames faded and peeled off
within 2 weeks of being in the sun and I oiled the wood with something that
Bill had suggested- can't remember now- linseed oil? Sure- the beds won't
last as long as cedar- but they are doing fine and if I had to wait til I
had the $ to build proper ones I never would have gotten started. A word of
warning. Although raised beds sound wonderful- they take a lot more watering
and dry out easier. You can do lasagna style( layering of organic
ingredients) beds without wooden or concrete borders- just using trenches
and you can also just use boards to separate your beds-like in Mel's book-
they don't have to be raised- you can also do what a lot of folks in the
desert do- have sunken beds- Square foot gardening lends inteself to many
wonderful ways to make the most out of your time and space.
What will you do different this year and what will you do the same?This year
I will mix more flowers and vegies- both for the asthetics and becasue there
are just not enough bees to pollinate! Here-I did all the most of the right
things and then this thing foiled me- NO BEES!!!  No BEES? Thankfully My
Square foot garden and my regular yard are very close to each other so there
was some pollination but not near as much as I needed- so lots of stuff just
didn't produce fruit. On the other hand- I got some very interesting crosses
between cukes, melons and squashes that no one could eat becasue they were
all having vegie orgies being so close together. This year - I will plant
less of a variety of vegies -but a larger quantity of  the ones I like.I
will also try funny vegies out in the flower beds to fill up spcaes and to
just see what happens- gotta try that scarlet runner bean. Was hoping to get
a winter garden in but had some health problems and didn't even get any
bulbs planted( gulp!) Had to settle for cleaning up the mess from  the fall-
spreading  leaves,compost and manure in the beds and using them as "holding
beds" for perinials that I started in the summer in pots from cuttings- The
bushes planted will keep the soil loose and hopefully not rob it of
nutirents.Then they will be ready to transplant somwhere else in the sroing-
lets me know if that seems like a bad ideas to anyone.I figure it's better
that just sitting there epmty and ugly- I scattered peas halfheartedly- this
is CA- they do that here- plant in Nov- peas come up and grow over the
winter. Never worked for me - but then I never really concenterated on
it.The other thing I did was to plant some dikon(?) radishes. I think that
is what they are called. This fellow who has an organic farm down the road
gave me some seeds- he says he plants them every winter and then lets them
get way over ripe and  big- they become like lufas and get all pithy and
then break down into the soil and by May are gone and have loosened up the
soil beautifully- who knows? He is asian and I barely understood him - I
might have gotten it all wrong(I felt like "grasshopper")but his garden is
just lovely. So maybe my beds will be ok.  Everything is so mucky out
there - I almost envy those of you who get snow and just forget bout things
for a while-I wish I had gotten paths in but - alas- it was not to be. My
herbs are still blooming bravely- lavender- sages-comfrey just died down-
Silly orange dayliilies are blooing in spite of themselves and as I watch as
all my lovely iceplant and succulents that survived the el nino winters of
the last two years  turning gray and dying- I look at all of the stuff that
you folks and others on other forums have encouraged me to plant - in spite
of my ignorance- - also goofy  stuctures- like the iron chairs that had
moring glories gwoing out of them - now there is ivy spiliing out of them
down the front porch steps.- My Purple PVC Trellis( All the neighbors
laughed) has White jasmine on it and makes a nice entrance to my back yard-
even without blooms- - the birdbaths made out of tomatocages and terracotta
saucers have ivy all over them and look just terrifc( thank you Trudi) and
the wierd foot pavers that the neighbors kids and I made  are weathering and
are quite so "bright"  and look very sweet amd the ground cover under the
oaks.We made wind chimes out of every concievable object we could find to
block out the sound of the supermarkket being built nearby and things rattle
and tinkle and jingle as you walk by. My favorite is a huge thing made of
washers and mussel shells( from the mongolian barbeque around the corner)
mounted on driftwood.This was courtesy of the grumpy guy across the street
who busses tables for them and who brought me a bag full of the stinky
things after I gave him a bunch of unidentifyable egplant and some
tomatoes.I should say that I live in a very conservative uspscale
mobilehomepark and most of the yard of very tidy - but there are a lot of
gardeners- - I turned the small emty lot behind the laundry room(and right
next to my home into a garden and invited the meighbors to participate. No
one did this year- except to tell me how square foot gardeing woldn't work
and then to eat the vegies I gave them when it did.It it rea;;y true about
being able to see the "bones" of your garden.  So even tho things are dying
down - I can see the fruit of my labor and for the first time as a gardener-
for me- it feels like a creative artistic endeavor- I am not artistic- at-
all-but nature is so forgiving and when you have plants and food and fun
things to share with your friends and neighbors- it suddenly makes you feel
a part of something bigger.I was hoping to be going great guns this spring
but have to go easy becasue of my health- but I think it will be ok  now
that the beds are already made-I have also been trying to think of some ways
to garden that are easy on the back and the knees- I am young- just have a
very bad back- sitting down on a stool would be good.- Post any tricks you
find work for you- I see all these ancient people out in their yards and I
think that they MUST have some tricks!-My body pulled a fast one on me and I
dohn't want to miss a season of gardening if I can help it.-Welll way too
long- but what the heck- Hope you are all well and healthy and enjoying your
winter--Teri
----- Original Message -----
From: jallan6977 <jallan6977@clarityconnect.com>
To: Square Foot Gardening List <sqft@listbot.com>
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2000 3:26 PM
Subject: Re: [My New Square Foot Garden]


> Square Foot Gardening List - http://myweb.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>
> >Hi there! I love the photos, and I'm looking forward to starting my first
> >garden come this spring...got a question for my fellow sq footers:
> >Where can a person get wood Cheap?  I'm looking for 2 x 12's or even 1 x
8's
> >and boy are they expensive out here in california!
> >Scrap wood would be just as good but the construction people around here
> >aren't too keen on letting go of theirs. Any Ideas?
>     Try searching for sawmills in your area.  They usually have rough cut
> lumber for less money.  Although it is full of slivers because it is what
> it says, rough cut.  But the bonus is when you buy 2inch, you get two inch
> not one and three quarters.  If you have a disc sander, you can smooth it
a
> little if you wish fairly quickly.
>     Jim allAn
>     Zone 5 NY.
>     U.S.A.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
>
> Want to effectively manage your Accounts Receivables?  Need to
> maximize cash flow?  Now, you can with Freeworks' FREE ONLINE
> ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE MANAGER!  Create invoices, track receivables,
> review account statements and much more!
>
>
> http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/Freeworks
>
>


______________________________________________________________________
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