Category Archives: Summer gardening

Growing zucchini vertically in 1 square foot

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We all know how much space one zucchini plant can take up. Ive been growing mine vertically with a t-post and a jumprope for years. If you’ve been to even my beginners square foot gardening classes you know how it’s done. It also helps you to harvest zucchini at the proper stage by not letting it get too big. This is sandwiched next to 2 tomato plants, a cantaloupe plant, basil, parsley, potatoes and beans. Everything grows in the square foot garden while being really efficient.

Thinking about the winter square foot garden

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Here it is-almost the second week into July and we’r already talking winter. Though lots of fun summer harvesting is still ahead, it’s time to think about what needs to go into the winter garden. In a few weeks it’ll be too late to think about crops such as leeks, and green onions. You certainly won’t be able to find them in the nurseries around here. And what ever happened to parsnips? Nobody grows them anymore! If you’ve not tried them you should. They are so good in the winter garden as the colder temperatures make them very sweet. I’ve always started these three crops this way. The reason? I’m not telling yet. But you’ll see when they are harvested. You can grow them better than anything you’ll find at the market.

I’ll have a few gardening classes coming up for those interested. The first couple will be the fall square foot gardening class. Immediately after that will be the square foot garden winter classes, complete with how to build protection, what crops do well here, and when to plant. These are both done at my home in a very comfortable setting where you learn how to do it. 

Come Labor day when most people start thinking it’s time to close the garden, yours will be up and producing a huge harvest. Stay tuned. 

Vertical growing in the square foot garden

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All vining crops in the square foot gardening system are grown vertically. This includes squashes, melons, tomatoes, pole beans, pumpkins, gourds, etc. The thinking is crops get better air circulation and better sunlight. Another benefit is that it keeps things off the ground making it more difficult for pests to ruin your crop. You also don’t have to worry about turning an ankle because you didn’t see one as you moved through the large leaves they have. 

I’ve posted before on growing zucchini vertically in one square foot. It works and I’ve been doing it for years. This is a picture of angel hair spaghetti squash. Right now there are 6 growing, with one ready to harvest in about a week in the lower left hand corner. There’s probably only 10 pounds of squash growing at this time but in several weeks, this will be a wall of green filled with a lot of squash. And all it took up was 2 square feet. 

Little gem for us square foot gardeners

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I’ve been growing zucchini vertically for years in my square foot garden. All vining crops are grown on trellises to save room, and to also provide better air circulation and sunlight. You know that zucchini leaves can get very large. As long as you have things that can get some sunlight you can use those larger leaves as a shade cover to cool down the soil for crops that don’t normally like the extreme temperatures we get. I’m able to get good morning sun on this lettuce, and then the larger leaves shade it for the hottest part of the afternoon, Combined with 3 or 4 other tricks, you can grow lettuce all summer long no matter where you live. We have temperatures in the high 90’s and even low 100’s every year. My ebook is right over there on the blog if you want to learn more about growing lettuce in the hot summer months. 

Advantages of the Square Foot Garden

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It’s true there’s no heavy digging or hard work in the SFG system. It’s also true that there’s no weeding or thinning. Another thing that’s true is because you’ve minimized the size of your garden, it’s easier to protect. This week we had 50+ MPH winds, heavy rains, and hail. When you know what’s coming you can easily protect your small gardens from the elements until the bad weather is no longer a threat.You’ll see the tomato plants beginning to get some height along with a basil plant. But look at that lettuce! This variety has always been a great performer and seems to do well in the warmer temperatures. Being easy to protect, the elements had no effect on these plants while my neighbors had theirs almost totally ruined.

I’ll be having some upcoming classes on composting, and I know it seems early, but how about the winter garden? With the seed shortages and the need to get things going well ahead of time inside, now is almost the time to start thinking about that. I’ve tried to do better about letting people know about these classes on my blog and also my Facebook page.