It’s a lot of fun to go out to the garden, find some lettuce, give it a rinse and then chow. This lettuce mix was pulled in late fall. There’s lots of good things about being able to do this, but some of the main points are 1)I know its been taken care of organically, with no chemicals or pesticides. 2)I know the water source that was used so I won’t have to worry about any water-borne illnesses. 3)It tastes great-it hasn’t been sitting in the back of a truck or dock for several days before I get it. 4)It saves money! I don’t want to spend a lot of time on the last point, but I also don’t want to minimize the potential dollar savings you start to see when you grow and harvest your own things. As the first of February is rapidly approaching, I’m going to start my seed selection for the upcoming year. I always like to try at least one new thing each season, usually a lettuce variety. For those looking to start a brand new SFG-it couldn’t be easier! The first thing you need to do is buy Mel Bartholomews book. It will serve as a great reference point to answer all sorts of questions. But, for those who don’t have the book, here are the first 5(of10) steps:
1. New Location-Close to house(doesn’t need to be “way back there”)
2. New Direction-Up, not down(no digging required-put gardens right on top of existing soil)
3. New Soil-Mel’s mix-don’t cheat on this!
4. New Depth-Only 6″(but the more the merrier-I have pictures of things growing in only 6″ of Mel’s mix)
5. No Fertilizer-You don’t need it. I’ve never used any in 12 years because of my homemade compost
That’s it for now. If you’re a gardener who ends up hating gardening by the end of the summer because of the weeding, watering and hard work, then you really need to consider putting in a square foot garden. If you’ve tried square foot gardening but have not been pleased for one reason or another, try buying my new ebook which addresses the two biggest things that get in the way of a successful square foot garden…[ois skin=”below post”]