Spring season is here for some square foot gardeners

spring square foot gardenSpring time is here if you’ve taken care of your (square foot) gardens during the fall and winter. If you’re able to cover your boxes with plastic, your soil will be ready for planting in a few days. There will be more winter weather to come, but if you’ve been able to minimize the size of your gardens as we teach in the SFG system, it becomes very easy to protect.

I’ve been asked to make some suggestion for a few of my favorite things to grow during spring. I grow many things but if I had to choose my all-time favorite item to grow during any season it would have to be lettuce. I’ve trialed many different varieties during the past 5-6 years and have discovered some wonderful cultivars. Here we go: EZ serve, Heatwave, Black Seeded Simpsom, 4 Seasons, Yugoslavian Red, Little Caesar, Forellenschluss, and my very favorite-Green Ice.

My recommendation for spinach is Space. It’s got a classic taste, performs well, and is resistant to mildew. Remember several years ago when there was no spinach to be found in the U.S. because of some kind of contamination issues? Grow your own and never have to worry about that again.

If you’ve only grown black beauty zucchini in the past a recommendation for a new squash would be Golden Egg. These tasty gems work great on the grill or for stuffing, and have a cartelized, nutty taste.

How about something new for cucumbers? Give Iznik some thought. This German variety is picked when its 4-5 inches long and grows on compact vines all summer long.

Here’s one last tip: if you order from Burpee, which is advertised on my blog, be sure to add the code “B1FA” in the promotional box when checking out. This will give you free shipping, but the offer ends on February 20th. This is a good way to keep your spending on seeds to a minimum[ois skin=”1″]

The importance of the soil in the square foot garden

homemade compostWhen all is said and done if you don’t get the soil right nothing else will matter.  The back-breaking work of adding soil amendments every spring is not only time consuming, it’s flat out hard work.  And row gardeners do it every year, sometimes more than once.  Taking a sample of your current soil and getting it tested will give you some insights of what you need to add.  Then its a trip to the nursery store to spend money on soil additives that may or may not make a difference.

One of greatest things about the growing medium of the square foot gardening system is that you don’t need to know anything about soil.  N-P-K is nice to know, but it’s not needed if your going by the book of the SFG system.  And you can mix it together in about 10 minutes time once you have all the ingredients at hand.  

But there’s another reason that the SFG soil is so beneficial which goes beyond the issue being discussed, and that’s what it does to the taste of anything growing in it.  If greens/vegetables grow well in your garden but taste a little bland, it’s probably because of your soil.  The environmental factors of your soil will have a definite effect on the taste of your food.  Folks that are involved with the farm-to-table movement understand that organic practices where growers pay attention to the health and biodiversity of the soil produces the best tasting vegetables.  The health of the soil from which the vegetables are grown imparts a unique quality and flavor that is specific to the growing site or plants’ habitat.  This is the reason why executive chefs develop a close relationship with local organic growers.

After gathering your raised bed materials and putting your boxes together, step #2 is to fill it with the perfect growing medium.  That will be the topic of next weeks post[ois skin=”1″]

Gathering your things for a square foot garden

wood for a square foot gardenI thought it might be a good idea to begin showing how to have a successful square foot garden. I’ll make it simple and quick. There isn’t a lot to do but there are some key things I’ll address over the course of the next few weeks.

The very first thing to do is to construct a raised bed. It’s very important to put together a box that can simply be placed on top of your existing soil. Use this time to gather leftover wood around your home. Maybe neighbors have wood laying around that they don’t need. Is there construction going on in your neighborhood? If you can rummage up free wood, get it.

Make sure your bed will be able to hold 6 inches of soil. If you have 2X6’s-thats perfect. If you have 2X4’s thats okay too. Just double up on them and use hinges to hold them together. Also make sure your beds aren’t any wider than 4 feet. They can be as long as you’d like, but no wider then 4 feet. They can be 1, 2, or 3 feet wide depending on your garden plans.

The last thing to do is to screw the wood together. Do not use nails-they aren’t as strong. These raised beds are going to last you a long time. Mine have been in for 16 years and have a long way to go. What about preserving your wood? That’s your call. I’ve got my own opinion about that but the good thing is that it doesn’t matter what I think. You get to do whatever you like.

My next post will be brief but important. I’ll address the critical nature of soil before discussing the perfect growing medium. After all, if you don’t get the soil right, nothing else will really matter. Start getting ready-Spring is coming.[ois skin=”1″]

Early square foot garden planting

early spring planting of arugula and lettuceI know it’s probably way too early to start but I like to experiment on cheating the seasons. I’ve still got 2 layers of protection over my square foot garden main beds and feel pretty confident that I can get these two crops to germinate and grow.

I decided to give this an attempt because I looked at the weather report and saw low’s in the mid-20’s, highs in the upper-30’s to low-40’s and some sunshine. That should be good enough to start a few things. The real issue is bang-for-the buck.

This will successfully grow(hopefully)and be done in about 80 days. If I wait another 3 weeks and began planting lettuce then, it would be ready in 55-60 days. So, why start early? Because I’m bored. We hit the 10 hours of sunlight later this week which is another early sign that spring is close.

To learn more about the two crops planted click here and here. I love this variety of arugula. It’s milder than any I’ve had before, and it’e even more so when harvested in the baby stages.

By clicking on any of my Burpee links, you get free shipping for online orders of any size by entering “B1FA” into the promotion code box when checking out. Its a great time to start ordering your seeds[ois skin=”1″]

How to water your square foot garden in winter

how to water your winter garden with snowNot too far away to start planting your spring gardens! Mine have been covered and protected since mid-November. As the main spigot has been turned off since then, I have no easy way to water during the winter. I know there are some that say it’s not necessary to water from November until mid-late February.

As a general rule that might be okay. My experience has been a little different. I have had years where I didn’t water any winter crops the better part of 3 months and things survived. But not very well. When I removed the protective covers and started to water them again, most things perked right up and started to grow immediately in early spring. There would be times when I looked at a crop, such as chard, and saw that it wasn’t doing very well and could benefit with some water. In previous years I wouldn’t add any and would wait until February. But now if a plant looks like it’s struggling, it’s going to get watered. And I noticed a dramatic difference. I’m happy to report that I think that’s true for everything under your protective coverings.

This picture shows my newest thought on how to water in winter. Roll back the covers and shovel some snow on top of everything! It works so well and your watering with something that is free-and very clean! Because the soil has remained warm, the snow melts in a matter of hours, but your plants get what they need. I’ve covered my entire garden with snow and it’s really amazing to see how much better the plants do with jus a little bit of attention. For those interested in this particular variety of spinach click here. It’s my favorite, it’s easy to grow, hasn’t had any pest/disease problems, and it’s always reliable. I get it from Burpee.

As a side note and a very good inside tip, if you’re interested in buying seeds from Burpee you can click any of the links on my page. If you add “B1FA” into the promotional code box its free shipping! Can’t beat that.[ois skin=”1″]