Monthly Archives: June 2016

Growing potatoes in the square foot garden

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IMG_0451Alright-square foot gardeners talk about growing things in only 6″ of soil. That’s true most of the time, but for potatoes not so much.

In Mels book on SFG he talks and shows pictures of his “top-hat” as it’s referred to. This is a simple wood structure that has four side, with no top and no bottom. It can be a 2X4, 2X6, 2X8, etc. Place this top-hat on any square(or squares), fill it with more Mel’s mix, and then you can successfully grow potatoes or any other root vegetable with more soil available.

I make sure that each seed potato has at least 2 eyes, and then I place 5 of them in each square. If it works out, I can count on 6-7 pounds of potatoes per square foot. I don’t bother hilling the potatoes. I just bury them 6-8 inches in the soil, cover them up, water, and then in a matter of weeks they will break the top surface.

Let them grow until the stalks turn brown and start to fall over. Cut back the growth and then reach down to find little gold nuggets. Once you’ve grown your own new potatoes you’ll never want to buy them again.

My favorite potato to grow is Red Pontiac. I grew a purple variety last year and they were okay. Nowhere near as good as the red’s, so I’ll stick mostly to that. Growing different potatoes does give you a contrast in taste and color.[ois skin=”3″]

Square foot gardening-keep growing summer greens!

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braising greenIn addition to the many designer lettuces that I love to grow in the summer months I also add some different things-like these braising greens.  Planted 16 per square for a dense harvest, they are delicious and come up quickly.  After 45 days you can either harvest the entire square for a saute, or clip them about an inch above the grown for a cut-and-come again crop.  The second cuttings aren’t as clean looking but they still taste great and grow back quickly.

All week long we’ll have temperatures in the 90’s.  Looks like summer has arrived early.  I’ve begun plantings for summer lettuces in anticipation of a long, dry, and hot summer.  Trying to grow lettuce in this environment is a huge challenge-many gardeners don’t even attempt to do it for that reason alone.  I’ll have an ebook coming out very soon that will teach you how to grow lettuce right through the summer months.  It takes a little more effort, but it is so worth it.  Since nothing can beat the taste of those just harvested off-the-vine summer tomatoes, you might as well have the best tasting lettuce around to go with them.  I’m hoping to finish it in a week.

Writing doesn’t come easy for me.  It’s taken 2 years to put this ebook together.  Much of the material was written in a timely fashion, but it’s all other things that bog me down.  I won’t bother going into it, but I think you’ll be pleased with the information contained  in the book.  Aside from the growing techniques taught, I think the best part is that I’ve actually done what I’ve written about.  And I’ve done it successfully for a long time.  So, keep an eye out.

For folks that live in northern Utah I’ve got a couple of classes being offered in the next couple of months.  If you’re not a square foot gardener but would like to be, there’s a class for you.  If you’re interested in learning how to have a winter garden in our zone, there’s another class for that as well.  Please pass the word along to friends, neighbors,  and family members who would be interested in attending.  Thank you[ois skin=”3″]