Tag Archives: lettuce

The efficiency of a square foot garden

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This might look like a boring picture but there’s a lot too see. The pole coming out of the ground was once a  very thriving cherry tomato plant growing vertically in only 1 square. That’s it. Our evening temperatures have been mid- low 50’s and that marks a change with tomatoes. It changes the  quality of the taste and they become mushy and begin to fall off. There were still a lot of green cherry tomatoes on the plant but there’s not enough time for them to ripen. 

Looking more closely, you’ll notice 3 areas of lettuce coming up in the front of the square. I planted this a couple of weeks ago so that it will be perfectly timed to grow before the freeze hits. It’ll only be baby lettuce leaves, but these hold up much better than their more mature lettuces which turn soupy after a couple of freezes. 

I want to make sure my new lettuces get all the sun possible at this time of year. If I pulled up the entire tomato plant it would uproot the lettuces which you see growing. So, I will simply cut off the branches and the lower stem and now I have a square that will grow into winter. I’ll leave the stem in the ground until the lettuces are harvested. 

Beginning in January, this single square housed 25 carrots, 9 spinach plants, an 8′ cherry tomato plant, and now 3 heads of leaf lettuce which will remain until late December or early January. 

Not bad for one square foot. I’ve got 174 of them. 🙂

Mass planting-how to get your square foot gardens going early

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It’s been five months since my last post. Many activities have pulled me away for a time but I’m back. Full throttle. This post will focus on something I’ve done for a years with lots of success. Best yet, it’s so easy.

Take a container that has a clear plastic lid on it-such as the Costco rotisserie chicken. Rinse and clean out well. Add moistened potting soil and level surface. Then heavily seed the surface with lettuce or whatever crop you’d like to grow. I might use half a packet of seeds. Cover with a very thin layer of potting soil. Water in-heavy, but not so much that its soggy and waterlogged. Place cleat lid on top.

Then get a screwdriver and heat it up on the stove. When hot, push the screwdriver through the plastic to make 9 holes on top. for venting. After that, simply place your new little greenhouse outside in the sunniest place you have. Do no work for 6-8 weeks. Zero.

Come out to find an entire container full of lettuce (or other crop) that can easily be divided up and transplanted into your gardens. Save time. Save money. Do less work. 

And, you’ll also be eating better food and know how it was cared for. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mass planting your square foot garden box

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This year I did a little experiment. I took one of those Costco rotisserie chicken containers, cleaned it out, and poked two holes in the top of the plastic dome. This was done by heating up a screwdriver over a gas flame of the stove and then I simply pushed it through the plastic.  I then sprinkled quit a few lettuce seeds in some potting soil that I placed in the bottom container, watered in, and then put the top on. It was then placed under covers of a square foot garden box. I literally did nothing. I didn’t add water, I didn’t vent, nothing. After a few weeks it all germinated. This is what it now looks like after I have been separating into individual little plugs and placing them in a square. So far, i think I’ve added 20 heads of lettuce, with at least that many more still to plant. 

For those interested in learning how to compost, I now have a recored 75 minute class available on my blog. You can learn more about it here: https://thewealthyearth.store/products/3

 

 

Winter planting the square foot gardening

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Winter gardening in northern Utah isn’t really gardening. It’s all harvesting. That means a little extra planning. The important point isn’t really the average first frost date but rather the first day we go under 10 hours of sunlight. For us, thats around November 14th. This is just one of my 4X4 SFG boxes planted for the winter. So far, the timing looks good. What’s in there? Lots. Three different kinds of lettuces, green onions, arugula, minutina, claytonia, spinach, turnips, mache, red pontiac potatoes, and tatsoi. They all love the cold and even freezing weather, except the lettuces. The baby leaf lettuces will easily make it right through the winter months. Get those gardens planted!!! 

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.