Spring square foot gardening

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spring square foot gardenLay down a weed barrier, build a box and put it right on top of it. Fill it with the perfect growing soil, add a grid, and start planting. That’s the beginning of a basic square foot garden. With the perfect mix put together in about 10 minutes, you don’t need to know anything about soil composition, pH, or NPK! Zero. As I’ve always said, if you don’t get the soil right nothing else will really matter. There are some who try to convince others that there’s nothing wrong with native soil. Not unless you don’t mind weeding! Let’s face it, native soil is one of the things that cause a lot of the trouble. Don’t skimp on the SFG soil-set yourself up for success by using the recipe of equal parts of peat moss, course vermiculite, and a good, blended compost.  Though we’ll still have some weather issues to deal with, now is the time that I direct seed lettuces, spinach, poc choi, arugula, and a few other things. These are cold weather crops that do just fine in our USDA growing zone of 6B. If you don’t trust the weather you can always start them inside under a grow light. If I do that, I always keep my shop-light about 2 inches above the plants. This assures that I’ll get no long, spindly looking plants. If you’re looking for a nice tutorial on seed starting click here.  You can also get there from the links on my page.

Here’s the lettuce varieties I direct planted today.  Prize head, Little Caeser, and finally this Gourmet Blend.  Only 3 squares of lettuce, each one holding 4 heads.  I finished by direct seeding this delicious swiss chard, and then 1 square of beets that I usually grow for the greens only.

In about another week it will be time to start tomatoes, eggplant, cabbage, and peppers indoors.  The timing usually works out pretty well, and it’s even better if you’re prepared to quickly protect your garden if you have to.

Burpee is having quite a few specials this month.  They are linked on the left hand side of my blog.  If you’re going to spend $45 on seeds, you might as well spend another $5 and get the free 72 cell watering kit.  And until the last day of March, shipping is only .99 for any size order.  Details are in the links.[ois skin=”1″]

Winter spinach-square foot gardening style

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winter spinach in the square foot gardenI had a good friend of mine tell me many years ago that if your spinach plants are established by the beginning of winter you could cut them back to just above the crown and you’d be the first person in your neighborhood to have fresh spring or even late winter spinach.  He said you didn’t even need to cover them as the snow would act as an insulator during the winter months.

Well, he was right about the earliness part.  I’m pretty sure I had the first spinach harvest in the neighborhood.  That particular year I took his advice and cut everything back and didn’t worry about protecting any of it.

By the time spring rolled around it certainly grew.  However, it grew unevenly-the leaves were more crinkled than what they normally would have been.  The biggest difference, however, was in the taste, which could best be described as close to shoe leather.  I learned that advice wasn’t going to work for me.

From then on out, I did cut back the crop in late fall, but I then protected it.  The difference in appearance and most importantly-taste-was huge.  Gone was the crinkle and shoe leather.  Back was the smooth texture and sweetness of the spinach I’d been used to eating all spring.  This picture is what it looked like today after being under cover since November.  The variety is Space, and it’s my favorite variety of spinach to grow.  This is the time that I direct seed my spinach for the earliest spring harvest that I can get[ois skin=”1″]

Spring season is here for some square foot gardeners

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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

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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

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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″]