Square foot gardening.

[monkeyboy]

I need to plan again for this year. I've already sown garlic last month.

Things I do not wish to grow again this year (I may try next year):
- radishes, lettuce, spinach, cauliflower

Things I will grow again this year:
- calabrese, kale, courgette, carrots, garlic, onion, toms, jalapenos, padrons

Not sure about:
- aubergine (a lot of work for not much), celery (small and weedy), mangetout (didn't pick early enough)

Still thinking of a plan and layout. Any advice would be welcome.

[monkeyboy]

I've removed the broccoli plants as the second mini-broccoli were largely consumed by slugs. Annoying when I'd bought Nemaslug and had applied it twice now. Hopefully there will be more nutrients for the other veg.

The lettuce had bolted so I just dug them out.

Calendula now growing well. I really should have sown these much earlier in the year.

Cauliflower - there's a small head with a few florets but the leaves have almost been completely destroyed - the main rib and veins are there but the body of the leaves have been eaten. Look like skeleton leaves.

Aubergine - one plant was decimated by slugs. The other one has now flowered.

[monkeyboy]

Mid-year update:

I need to rethink my layout and choice of veg to grow in SFG.

1. Radishes - french breakfast - came out small and thin (like a green chilli), small and brown (like a date), or otherwise deformed. The one radish that came out the right size and colour had been nibbled at by something.

2. Spinach - doing okay

3. Lettuce - slugfest.

4. Kale - didn't really grow as overshadowed by broccoli

5. Calabrese - doing surprisingly well. But taking up more than one square foot each.

6. Courgette - never got beyond shoot stage. Then again, it was sown directly in the ground.

7. Celery did well but stayed short at 6" tall.

8. Calendula - didn't germinate

9. Onion and garlic - did well albeit small but need to get proper bulbs and sets. The garlic was grown from supermarket bulbs, and the onions were from a mix bundle of sets I was given.

10. Carrots - didn't germinate

11. Aubergine - initially grew well to 6" tall but nothing thereafter. Most leaves have been eaten, presumably by slugs.

12. Mangetout - should have sown directly in the ground. They were fine in the propagator but didn't really use the supports I had set up once transplanted.

13. Garden pearl - don't want to grow bush toms again - too much spread.

14. Gardeners delight and moneymaker. Grown in separate pots but they need something more solid than a blowaway. The moneymaker plants had fallen over in the storm we had, so their roots were disrupted.

15. Padron and jalapeno peppers - not very successful this year compared to last year and I'm not sure why.

[monkeyboy]

So I spent yesterday transplanting the remaining veg - celery, cauliflower, broccoli (calabrese), and sowed one square of radish and one of lettuce. I had to change the layout around because it's a bit more awkward to get the middle back squares once the frame and netting is in place.

Somehow, I managed to forget to germinate any courgette so I sowed some seeds and hoped for the best.

My peas are doing okay. One of the aubergine leaves has been nibbled at in the twelve hours since I removed the plastic cloche. Garden pearl toms are flowering nicely. The moneymaker and gardener's delight toms are still growing in growbags (not in the SFG as originally planned), a few flower buds starting to form.

Potato leaves are growing rapidly and I've earthed them up twice in two weeks.

[Lumpy]

In the £ shop you can get loads of the skinny green canes (I think there's 20 in a bag) so I just use 2 in a cross pattern to hold them in place.
I also use the 1 ltr plastic bottles for smaller plants in the same way.

[monkeyboy]

Monkey boy. My daughter saves the large square water containers for me.
I cut the bottom out and use them as a closh.

That's a good idea. How do you secure them down?
We have large round bottles for the water cooler. If I can take a few, they could be useful.

(*) story of my life this year. many things I've sown more than required on the assumption that they won't all germinate or grow on so they've defied me by ALL doing so

This year was my first time growing veg and I planted double with the idea that some would fail to germinate. Celery seemed to struggle (I got only one plant) so I sowed even more (about 12 seeds) in the propagator and they've all now germinated.

Funnily enough, with padron peppers, I sowed four seeds. All germinated but two turned out to be some sort of weed rather than pepper plants, so that was a saving grace.

[chris_m]

^^ Yes, mine have done that as well. May end up having to give away some plants

I've already given away my spare tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and aubergines - the spare courgettes and squashes might well follow them.

[bramble]

Monkey boy. My daughter saves the large square water containers for me.
I cut the bottom out and use them as a closh.

[Sylvan]

^^ Yes, mine have done that as well. May end up having to give away some plants

[chris_m]

I have one square of carrots still to be sown - that'll happen either this coming week or the week after - more lettuces into existing squares on a fortnightly successional basis and my leeks, courgettes and squashes to plant out. The leeks need a bit longer in the rootrainers but the courgettes and squashes are "champing at the bit" to be let free so, since I have twice as many as I actually require (*) I shall plant half of them out in their squares in the next day or so and pot the other half on as insurance.

(*) story of my life this year. many things I've sown more than required on the assumption that they won't all germinate or grow on so they've defied me by ALL doing so

[monkeyboy]

Well over the weekend, I added my cherry tomatoes to the beds (though I kept them in growbags). I transplanted my mangetout, aubergines, and sowed one square of carrots.

I need to buy some more bell cloches to sow some more lettuce.

[Sylvan]

Fingers crossed for a good summer.

[chris_m]

I might need another freezer ;-)

That's a dangerous road to go down. I ended up with another THREE

I hope I don't have to go that far - the porch isn't big enough for a third although I dare say I could clear some space in the outbuilding. I really ought to anyway, 2 years after moving in it's still a "dumping ground"

You've an impressive load though

Cheers. It might be an impressive list, although whether it turns out to be an impressive harvest or not remains to be seen

[Sylvan]

I might need another freezer ;-)

That's a dangerous road to go down. I ended up with another THREE

You've an impressive load though

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I think the Wilko idea will work but you'd have to be careful of bushy toms and Q's blocking the light to other squares.

I was thinking the bamboo canes might be enough for the tomatoes as they are cordon tomatoes although as they come in packs of three I guess I could try one and see if it makes any difference.

Both toms and cucumbers are going at the north east end of the bed so they should only shade the beds first thing in the morning hopefully.