Square foot gardening.

[veggiechicken]

Don't worry about hijacking this thread - I do it all the time Many of us here like to bend the rules a bit - sow earlier or later than the packets say - to see if we can beat the system. Why don't you list the things you want to grow, as in your plans, look at the seed packets for the sowing dates and write those down and follow those. You live in the south so you don't have to worry too much about the cold weather. Once you get started it will all come together. If a few squares fail, it doesn't matter, you can always put something else in there. Even though you have a plan, you don't have to follow it rigidly - its a guide, that's all. I promise you that this time next year, you'll look back at this and laugh

[rabbit]

Sounds like you're having a little crisis of confidence, Rabbit. Don't - there's no exam at the end of it - just lovely homegrown veggies.
Watch the "What I did today" thread on here and you'll get some ideas about what to sow, when. Many of your veggies can be sown direct anyway and thinned out if too many come up. Don't worry about it, it'll come good! Once you're eating your own veg, you'll wonder why you felt stressed

bless you veggiechicken (hiya, I am a veggie rabbit!), I am finding it all so complicated, thanks for kind words I dont want to hijack this thread but I have been subscribed to 'what I did today' and it both helps and panics me more I guess it'll be fine, if the slugs don't get it all! Now don't even get me started on compost, the more i read about it the less I understand,...

[Sheneval]

I see where youre coming from, I havent started this to add stress to my life but the timings of the sowing is really messing with my head. What stuff in is in pots indoors, when it gets hardened, goes in the soil, which is sown out when, yada yada, I have no idea how this is going to work. I don't know how to grow any of this stuff. I hate slugs! If I think about it too hard I start to miss my 12ft square garden!

Funny I have been thinking exactly the same thing regarding sowing seeds - the advice re. sowing outside contained in the seed packets I have collected seems fairly straightforward with only early carrots being sown outside in February and the rest from March on, but the whens and whats of starting off indoors and eventually transplanting outside, or sowing under cover without a greenhouse is still a bit of a mystery - hopefully VC is right and the previous versions of 'What I Did Today' will cast some light on the best way forward.

Certainly the onion sets I started off outdoors back in November, protected by environmesh, are progressing really well, said he with fingers crossed

[veggiechicken]

Sounds like you're having a little crisis of confidence, Rabbit. Don't - there's no exam at the end of it - just lovely homegrown veggies.
Watch the "What I did today" thread on here and you'll get some ideas about what to sow, when. Many of your veggies can be sown direct anyway and thinned out if too many come up. Don't worry about it, it'll come good! Once you're eating your own veg, you'll wonder why you felt stressed

[rabbit]

Never panic, it's supposed to be a pleasurable experience not a stressfull one. Just enjoy & learn from any mistakes you make. Believe me, I've had a lot of learning to do.........

I see where youre coming from, I havent started this to add stress to my life but the timings of the sowing is really messing with my head. What stuff in is in pots indoors, when it gets hardened, goes in the soil, which is sown out when, yada yada, I have no idea how this is going to work. I don't know how to grow any of this stuff. I hate slugs! If I think about it too hard I start to miss my 12ft square garden!

[Bigmallly]

If I had the option, I would not grow squash in a SFG bed. If you want to grow them vertically, play safe and fasten a structure to a wall if poss. Just throwing my 2penneth in.

[Stonewaller]

I'm thinking of doing this for one of my beds this year. What do you make the frames of out for squashes to climb? I've seen bamboo structures, would a grid of canes be strong enough given that my garden is rather exposed? I haven't grown squashes before so I have no idea how many fruit per plant or how big the plants grow, just that I can expect them to be large!

[Bigmallly]

Never panic, it's supposed to be a pleasurable experience not a stressfull one. Just enjoy & learn from any mistakes you make. Believe me, I've had a lot of learning to do.........

[rabbit]

Rabbit, I would consider putting the sunflowers on the most northerly beds so as not to shade the cucs. Put one either side of the cucs.

Ah thanks Bigmally, I've just googled them (autumn beauty) and I'm very surprised to see they can get to 6ft!!!!!, I thought because there werent giant ones the'd be more like 3 so it wouldnt matter! Great advice. Looking at the plan makes me sort of panic. At least some of the things will go out direct and some will be started in the coldframe/inside.

[Bigmallly]

Rabbit, I would consider putting the sunflowers on the most northerly beds so as not to shade the cucs. Put one either side of the cucs.

[rabbit]

Oh goodness I have a plan. It's nutso.

Planning is 9/10ths of the battle right?

[Bigmallly]

Last year I planted one per sq ft CH but they were pecked by the birds. This year they are going undercover........

[Chalk_Heart]

Thanks That's exactly the sort of thing I needed.

[Matt94]

Yep I was right, well there's a first time for everything - here's a link that BM originally posted earlier on in the year

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?k...5TaXc&hl=en_GB

[Matt94]

Hey, sorry if this has already been brought up, but how many brussels sprouts to a square foot would you say? It'll be my first time growing them this year if I manage to get the beds in, so any advice would be appreciated, but mainly I am curious about spacing. Thanks xx

I'm sure it's 1 brassica plant per sq ft?