Square foot gardening.

[organic]

oldie - I've been wondering about spuds too. I don't think he even mentions them in the edition I've got, but I generally follow the "between plants" spacing given on packets and ignore the "rows" one.
Going by that I'm putting in one spud per square with my earlies but still undecided about mains as the instructions tend to say about 1 per 14" or so with them.

Looking forwards to any responses about that.


elsie and mally - I'll have a word and if there's no objection I'll get something arranged.
See you there?

[Bigmallly]

I am also planning 4 corns to a bed, they are baby sweetcorn so maybe will not grow as tall as normall corn. 4 spuds sounds a bit optimistic though.

[elsie-scot]

elsie and mally - I'll have a word and if there's no objection I'll get something arranged.
See you there?

Ha, bit far for me! And I've got plenty stones to get out of my new garden to keep me busy. Have also volunteered to help make raised beds and move topsoil at new allotments near me. I am on the waiting list for a plot.

[Bigmallly]

Ha, bit far for me! And I've got plenty stones to get out of my new garden to keep me busy. Have also volunteered to help make raised beds and move topsoil at new allotments near me. I am on the waiting list for a plot.

Excuses Excuses.............

[organic]

Mally - I'd have said exactly the same thing.

Elsie - If you'd just said "sorry, I'm busy that day" we'd have believed you but now it just looks like a case of "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

[Suky]

I have just watched last Friday's Gardeners World and had to smile, they have a SFG veg bed although they are not calling it that. Copyright, I would guess.

[Welsh Wizard]

IMO sweetcorn wont produce well at 4 per sq ft ie 6 inch spacing! I would keep it to one per square foot, as maize is a hungry beast: overplanting will diminish cropping. The bigger the block size the better in my experience. I think 16 plants is barest of minimums, I would opt for a double bed ie 32 if possible.

[Patchninja]

According to my book, it's 3 sweetcorn to a square and no potatoes - grow them elsewhere.

[Jeanied]

I am also planning 4 corns to a bed, they are baby sweetcorn so maybe will not grow as tall as normall corn. 4 spuds sounds a bit optimistic though.

Hi BM - sorry to rain on your parade - the baby sweetcorn plants I have tried all grew huge - bigger than the regular variety - and therein lies the confusion as to when do you pick the baby corns? We all waited till too late for them because they just kept growing taller.

[Bigmallly]

Hi BM - sorry to rain on your parade - the baby sweetcorn plants I have tried all grew huge - bigger than the regular variety - and therein lies the confusion as to when do you pick the baby corns? We all waited till too late for them because they just kept growing taller.

I'll bare that in mind, I won't be able to pick them till the husks have turned so I will just have to wait & see, maybe 2 to a bed then.....

[Suky]

My SFG bed is filling nicely and the bored beans will go in soon. I have onions, garlic, carrots, strawberries, red onions and beetroot and spring onion and lettuceseedlings in GH and now need some more ideas for what to plant/sow. What else are other Grapes planning for SFG?

[Bigmallly]

I put 6 marigolds in the beds, one per square. All under a bell cloche for a while. I would have put out more but didn't have enough protection. So far there is onions both white & red, garlic & now marigolds.

[Suky]

SFB looking good, radish and beetroot up and carrots just showing. Bored beans romping away and spring onions in modules planted out too. Really glad I'm trying this system, it has made me try more things than I would have with row growing.

[Welsh Wizard]

I am enjoying the SFG method too: first year growing this way, but I really like the discipline the grid system imposes. I think a lot of the spacings are instinctively too close though: 9 garlic to a square is way too close IMO.

[Patchninja]

Bored beans romping away

Perhaps you could take the radio out to the SFG