Category Archives: Summer gardening

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.

How many carrots can you grow in 1 square foot?

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SFG instructors usually teach 16, and for the beginner SFG’er, thats a good way to start. After a while, you continue to learn how to make your SFG even more efficient. There’s 25 of the sweetest, overwintered carrots you’ll ever taste right there. I’ve got a few more left and thats it for the winter carrots. The summer carrots will be direct seeded in about another 2 weeks or so. They don’t taste as sweet as these but still better than what you’d get at the super market. These are Napoli’s, and they are very good.
Give a look at the two classes I’ve got coming up in the next little while. Learn how to be a great square foot gardener, and then learn why Mels mix is a one time expense if you want to make your own compost. Just a few things to learn and you’ll be off to the races. You can’t buy fertilizer as good as you can make at home. And, it’s not even close.

Tomatoes coming on like crazy

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I’ve got 8 foot walls of tomatoes! Took a little longer than usual but with the cooler weather they’re now producing heavily. A few more weeks to go and that will be it for the summer/fall season. Temperatures going to the high 40’s coming up. My standard cherry tomatoes have been so sweet, and I’ve also discovered two other great varieties. Unfortunately the label name has washed off so I’m not sure what they are. One of them was given to me by a friend so maybe I can track it down.

Wow…look at that red onion!

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I dont usually grow onions in my square foot gardens. They just seem to take a long time and you can buy them cheaply during the summer months. The last time I grew them was probably 15 years ago. I wont be doing that anymore. These red onions were the best I’ve ever tasted. Much like garlic, they are sweeter and milder than store bought. They look perfect. Given the fact that the square foot gardener can grow 9 in just one square foot, I can certainly give up 3 or 4 squares during the growing season, which will give me 27 or 36 onions. The taste is certainly worth it. I don’t know, maybe I’ll grow more than that and store a lot of them for winter. The things that come out of the home gardens continue to amaze. And everyone who tastes the delicious things harvested during the season always comment on it. I’m certain the the soil used also makes a big difference. In this case, it’s 100% pure homemade compost. And it’s made in a manner that beats anything you can buy commercially.[ois skin=”1″]

Harvest basket from the square foot gardens

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Just a sampling of what my neighbor customers get every Saturday morning. Not much work really, just several washes of the greens and off they go. The one item that’s been very surprising is the small yellow squash in front. Angel hair spaghetti squash. This was my first year growing it, and it’s just delicious. You can read all about it here. Give it a go next year, you won’t be disappointed.

Chard, arugula, zucchini, basil, cherry tomatoes, golden egg squash, green onions, cucumber, kale, lettuce and carrots.[ois skin=”1″]