Square foot gardening.

[francesbean]

Thanks for bumping this thread - didnt have internet last summer so missed it. I'm redoing the veg garden this month, and have been thinking of how to rearrange the beds. This has been v helpful - I love it when plots look pretty and all of the pics were great.

francesbean

[Two_Sheds]

I have found it perfect for the small garden & also the small family.

I love your beds BM, thanks for the pics. I think my school beds are going to be done this way, they look so nice
The PDF is great, I esp. liked this bit: "If you want to go totally insane then work out a ....5 course [crop] rotation ...Others have tried and are still recovering"

[evenflow]

First time square foot gardening. We made these in the last few days out of old pallets. Cant wait to get growing....

[Newton]

Take a look at my pics from last year. I used mela mix and it worked well for most plants. The most successful were shallots peas parsley lettuce spring onions. Beetroot was a failure and my broad beans grew well but few pods appeared.

It was great fun but knave given both beds up to strawberries his year now I have my own lottie

Have fun with each and every sq ft. 4 shallots per sq ft is enough.

[Alan G]

I've built 3 beds in the garden, all 6ft x 3ft.

Now planning what to put into them, based on the SFG method.

I'm struggling to decide on putting corn in. Firstyl, is it worth it and if so how many plants per square (some say 1 others say 4?).

And I've seen beetroot & leeks range from 9 to 16 (!) per square.

Regards

[elsie-scot]

I've built 3 beds in the garden, all 6ft x 3ft.

Now planning what to put into them, based on the SFG method.

I'm struggling to decide on putting corn in. Firstyl, is it worth it and if so how many plants per square (some say 1 others say 4?).

And I've seen beetroot & leeks range from 9 to 16 (!) per square.

Regards

No working knowledge of SFG, planned to do last year but didn't get much growing done, but from what I read it would depend how big you want them to be.

If growing sweetcorn you need to grow a few as they need to wind pollinate. You can underplant sweetcorn, or have beans running up the stocks,

[Bigmallly]

Last year I had 4 corn per sq ft & 9 beetroot & 9 leeks. I didn't come across any problems. this year the corn is going in its own bed with courgettes & sweet peas as I don't want it to overshadow the rest of the SFG's.

[kingkano]

I've built 3 beds in the garden, all 6ft x 3ft.

Now planning what to put into them, based on the SFG method.

I'm struggling to decide on putting corn in. Firstyl, is it worth it and if so how many plants per square (some say 1 others say 4?).

And I've seen beetroot & leeks range from 9 to 16 (!) per square.

Regards

I think corn is worth it simply because you cant compare supermarket once you have had a fresh cob straight off the plant cooked within 10mins. Its so much more sweeter and tastier! I went for 1 per square and got 2 cobs of each (I planted 16 squares) - thought I underplanted it with pumpkins (did great!) and dwarf french beans (didnt get so many, probably too shaded). I personally feel 4 would be too crowded but it must work for some people.

Beetroot and leeks probably depends the size you want. I did leeks at both spacings and the 16s are just a bit smaller (didnt succeed with them this year anyways). I did 9 beetroot a square.

I find just looking at a square then imagining the veg there helps. ie look at a square and imagine 16 beetroot in there... wouldnt be very big before they were touching to my mind. Same with onions.

After the first year you will be more confident with it

[solway cropper]

The attached pic shows my square foot area last June (I prefer to call it block planting but that's just me)

The onions on the right were overwintered ones planted in rows before I decided on the other option. I have used 12 per SF and they grow as big as we need them to be. Beetroot can easily go at 16 per SF if you pick them small like I do. They are much sweeter that way, I find.

There's a bit more about it on my blog.
the recycled gardener

[ugley_matt]

I've got 3 6ft square beds and i think i am going to give this method a go as i am sure i haven't made best use of the space in the past. The only two crops that give me concern would be pumpkins and potatoes. I did have a 4th bed but that is now a raspberry and strawberry patch. I am contemplating make a new 4ft x 12ft bed for potatoes so it wouldn't be a problem if this method is not suitable.
I think the pumpkins i have got are trailing ones so restricting them to 1ft might be an issue?

[ugley_matt]

Oh, what do people use to plan their plots out? are there any good online tools?

[Bigmallly]

I tend to agree Matt, the pumpkins will take over more than one foot & your spuds are best off in a bed of there own or in sack/pots/bags unless you want to put one tattie per sq ft.

[Dazy]

Gardener's Supply Kitchen Garden Planner Garden Designer

This planner is quite good and its free

[ugley_matt]

Gardener's Supply Kitchen Garden Planner Garden Designer

This planner is quite good and its free

Thanks that looks perfect for what i wanted.

[ugley_matt]

I tend to agree Matt, the pumpkins will take over more than one foot & your spuds are best off in a bed of there own or in sack/pots/bags unless you want to put one tattie per sq ft.

Thinking about how they went last year, even if i planted them in one square the actual pumpkin developed quite a distance away.