| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| natesgirl |
Posted - Aug 13 2010 : 11:48:44 PM
I have the book and love the idea, just never actually put it into real use. I am thinking of doin this with at least some of my garden next year.
I did the math and, if I'm correct, I could get almost 10x's the produce from the same square footage! This seems unreal!
I figured it off the current garden I have. 1 row of carrots and 1 row of beets consume an 8 foot wide path for 80 feet length of my garden.(2ft walkpath, 1ft row, 2ftwalk, 1ft row, 2ftwalk = 8ft) From that I get 480 carrots and 320 beets for 800 total plants.
A 4 foot wide row with 2 foot walkpaths on both sides is an 8 foot wide path for 80 feet of length, stickin to my current garden. The book says I can get 576 carrots at 2 inch spacing per 4 square feet and 256 beets at 3 inch spacing per 4 square feet. Figuring 1/2 of the row for each, based off the 2 rows I usually plant, since I wouldn't want a 4ft wide row of each, this is what I came up with. I would get 5760 carrots and 2560 beets for a total of 8320 plants!
I figured basically I would have 10 4ft by 4ft blocks for 40ft rows of 4ft wide. The numbers have me staggering! I have reworked my math about 10 times and keep comin up with the same thing!
Am I wrong on this? Is this even possible?
My dad has a 10ft by 10ft garden and he gets an unusual amount of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, salsify, and zucchini out of it. I am always surprised that he has so much to share. His garden seems to fit with what the book talks about as to spacing and wide rows. He also can simply dig his garden instead of tilling it because he only walks in very small areas.
Have I been missin the boat on this idea for so many years?
I have always felt like most of my garden was empty space and too hard to keep weeded due to it, but are these realistic numbers and seriously workable ideas?
Does anyone out there do the square foot gardening thing? I would love some imput on this.
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Alee |
Posted - Sep 09 2010 : 2:52:36 PM
That's neat!
Just got back from visiting a friend in Fromberg with an awesome garden...and I got to meet Mr. Thanksgiving dinner. He is HUGE!!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| TJinMT |
Posted - Sep 09 2010 : 07:54:35 AM
Angela - I like that idea! Sort of a "Co-op" - without the hassle of weeding. I'm with you on weeding, ugh...
Alee and all - I found a neat FREE program called the Kitchen Garden Planner on gardners.com - actually I just found it in their catalog last night, I haven't been online yet to look it up. BUT - it says, quoting from page 23, "Plant a super-productive vegetable garden this year with all the crops you want to grow - anything from arugula to zucchini. Kitchen Garden Planner lets you choose from 8 pre-planned gardens or create your own unique design. Free and fun to use." You drag and drop icons of produce to figure out how many of each to plant in a square foot area! Gardener's Supply Company has alot of raised-bed planters, so this really works with their product line. If you pick eggplant, it puts one little plant photo in there... if you pick peas, it puts four... stuff like that! Very nifty!!
~TJ of Green Willow Place
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -CS Lewis |
| natesgirl |
Posted - Sep 09 2010 : 04:14:16 AM
TJ, I have basically done that type of business with family and friends. I get a share of the produce for helpin with the set up and maintainence. I was told by a friend that people get paid $20 to sketch out a garden plan, $10 for providin plantin instructions, and $10 per 10ft by 10ft square that is weeded. I guess you could make some money if it was set up right, but I don't like doin my weedin, let alone anyone else's! I usually just help them plan it out and supervise the plantins, then drop in to check it out for them when they ask for help. In return, they have to offer all extras to me first, so my winter stock of food is always quite diverse.
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
| Alee |
Posted - Sep 08 2010 : 4:54:28 PM
TJ- I thought I had little cabbage heads forming and then the leaves opened andit was cauliflower. I think I have 1 white cabbage, one red cabbage and then some broccoli and cauliflower! :D You gave me much more variety than I planted in my garden! LOL
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| TJinMT |
Posted - Sep 08 2010 : 10:38:38 AM
Alee - I actually almost did a business just like you suggested - actually planting and maintaining it - this Spring! but I was full into the Med Transcript training and DH did a thumbs-down... something about my own gardens, the homeschooling of the kids, my schooling, blah blah blah (grin)... I think I saw an article on someone who did that out in the Seattle area or something, in the Billings Gazette. Hmm. Well - great minds think alike, haha!
Re: that program - I wonder how much use you'd actually get out of something like that, even if you did start a business, presumably (at least for the first couple of years) it would be local. So there wouldn't be a need for zone information. The spacing and stuff would be interesting, but I bet as much as you know about gardening it wouldn't be anything you didn't really already know! To me one of the fun things (with good and bad results possible) of gardening is trying something out and seeing how well it did. You could always do a discount to your customer if something didn't work out as well as hoped! Although of course when you get into that, you're fighting Mother Nature!! Gee I bet you'd have to do a Hold Harmless form (like I used to do with horse training and boarding) stating that the results may vary depending on the weather and pests!!
I did know that about the cauliflower - well, that some of them should have been - I started them all from seed - but that's what I get for desperately overplanting AND failing to tag each one with an identifier - No Cauliflower Left!! grin. Too much enthusiasm and not enough caution taken with the seedlings. Next year, I'll have cauliflower again! (and no, I don't want any back, I'm just laughing at myself!)
~TJ of Green Willow Place
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -CS Lewis |
| Alee |
Posted - Sep 08 2010 : 07:51:16 AM
TJ- that would be awesome! I have heard of people putting out their shingle and offering to plant and tend other people's gardens for a fee. So they get a beautiful garden growing in their yard and all the produce, but don't have to do any work. I thought about offering that service around here to see if anyone would be interested but then I was wondering what to charge!! I think I saw a really cool program for the computer- probably on Mother Earth news where you put in your zone and what type of planting method you want and it helps you figure out the spacing and dates to plant and everything. Only you only get a free trial and then you have to pay for it. I wasn't willing to pay for it if I would only use it on my own garden. Then it is more economical to do the research and do it myself. But if I had a business where I would be planting and tending for other people then using the program to cut down on the planning time would mean a better profit margin...
Did you know some of the plants you gave me were cauliflower?
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| TJinMT |
Posted - Sep 08 2010 : 07:25:40 AM
Alee - anytime! I love figuring out which plants will work together for space, soil, light and companion planting requirements - and figuring out how to get the most out of a small spot!! Yours sounds like it will be big enough to really have fun! It'd be great to share ideas!
BTW, how much horse gold is available from your stable? Does she bag it or anything?? Our community garden folks tasked me with finding a good source for horse d'ouvres (as Sherry puts it) for our huge compost piles, the only caveat being that it's fairly transportable (ie bagged) as my back isn't gonna be happy with shoveling it out of the back of our truck as in years before.
Wrong forum for this, as it's not the Entrepreneur forum - but my dream job would be to get my Master Gardener's shingle and then help people all over town set up low-maintenance, high-output gardens. Wouldn't that be COOL??! Of course, quite SEASONAL here in Montana! But couldn't you imagine - having different little garden plans all set up - the Heirloom Spot, The Reluctant Veggie Eaters, Go Green Learning Patch (for kids), etc... use intensive and companion planting methods with lots of mulch, have some different fencing options if necessary for kids and/or animals, either plant it for them or help them plant it, and provide weekly consultations/visits to see how things are going and address any problems.
Boy, somehow that just speaks to me so much more than this Medical Transcription thing I'm learning at night (sigh). Oh well, the things we do for love!!! grin
~TJ of Green Willow Place
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -CS Lewis |
| Alee |
Posted - Sep 08 2010 : 06:41:52 AM
TJ- I hope you will help me plan next year's garden. I am going to dig up more garden space this week and start hauling manure home from the stable.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| HealingTouch |
Posted - Sep 07 2010 : 8:12:39 PM
My garden was rototilled first. Then I placed the pallets on top. I placed my plants in the openings of the pallets. Then I placed newspaper around the plants and put straw on top. Squash and cukes should have soil filled in the openings first, then paper and straw. I then paper and straw the walking paths. NO WEEDS! Year end the pallets are moved and the straw and paper are rototilled under. You coul leave them in place if you want but rotate what you plant in them. My garden has produced wonderfully and I am planning a bigger garden next year. Does this help?
Blessings and Peace,
Darlene
Sister 1922
God first, everything else after!
DNA doesn't make us sisters, Love does!
The road to a friends house is never to long!
|
| TJinMT |
Posted - Sep 07 2010 : 2:18:07 PM
I use some of the concepts of SFG - intensive planting, lots of mulch to cut down on water consumption and weeds - but the little cottage gardener inside of me won't let me use a ruler in my garden!! I prefer broadcast seeding to plant by numbers. I use companion planting principles as well, like putting onions with my tomatoes, carrots under my brussels sprouts, flowers mixed here, there and everywhere. It's all herbs, veggies and flowers in one big happy, productive mess! I rarely weed (thanks to the mulching), don't suffer as much if I miss a watering (ditto mulching), and don't have too much problem with pests as they are confused by the companion planting (supposedly). That, and I have two very active little grasshopper catchers in my kids!!
I think if you did the intensive planting and heavy mulching, you could skip the raised beds (those are suggested mainly for ease of not having to plow up the soil I think). And the ruler, man, that one needs to stay in the house!! grin...
~TJ of Green Willow Place
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -CS Lewis |
| EastTXFarmgirl |
Posted - Sep 07 2010 : 1:05:30 PM
We did SFG for the first time this year. I did everything by the book. Exactly! Let me just say I will be using the beautiful boxes for asparagus and strawberry beds next year. It might work in other parts of the world but it does not in East Texas. I had to water 2-3 times a day. I had beautiful plants in the beginning but like I have seen many of you say the produce just wasn't there. It was a test run and we also had a traditional garden. The traditional out produced the SFG. We had about the same amount of plants in each. The traditional could get by being watered every other day and we did not have the start up expense of the growing medium and box building materials. I feel we wasted a couple hundred dollars in the set up. Won't attempted it again. Too much effort in our Texas heat.
Begin each morning with a song in your heart. |
| caa1032 |
Posted - Sep 07 2010 : 1:01:09 PM
We have been doing SFG for several years. This year we had 26 raised beds. Two additional beds have already been added for next year.
Our main reason for SFG is because we have poor soil quality. Our house sits on a former farm field. The soil is very worn out, loaded with clay and very little top soil as well as home to left over chemicals. Rather than fight the battle against these odds we chose to garden the SFG way.
We have been very pleased with our results.
Life is precious! Don't wait to enjoy it. Do it now!
http://glowingdark.wordpress.com/ |
| laurentany |
Posted - Sep 05 2010 : 3:11:53 PM
Yes Darlene- Please if you can explain pallet gardening.. I am very interested!
Smiles,
Laurie
Farmgirl Sister#1403
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.. |
| Alee |
Posted - Sep 05 2010 : 08:36:09 AM
Darlene- what is pallet gardening? I have never heard of that before.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| HealingTouch |
Posted - Sep 05 2010 : 06:12:07 AM
I did pallet gardening this year for the 1st time. My husband said I was crazy but I did it anyway. I have 1 with 18 openings and I planted peppers in them and they have produced wonderfully. I have 8 with 4 openings in which I removed a few boards to make it 6 and planted my different squashes in them. My squash did well then got the blight to which I took all the dead leaves off and the are still producing well. Most prolific the spaghetti and zucchini. Then I planted beans in 3 more pallets and they are doing well. What I have learned is this: I will be getting more pallets and planting more veggies next year. I will also plant my tomatoes in them because it will be easier to stake them when they become heavy. I will make sure that I fill the openings with soil and mound it for the squash as I added more when I took off the dead leaves which seemed to help. I have NO WEEDS. For someone who has had back surgery that is a big bonus! In between the aisles and around the plants I put newspaper and straw. NO WEEDS. I will never plant a traditional garden and kill myself weeding again. I enjoyed my garden tremendously this year and will always do pallet gardening from here on. I'm already laying down plans for next year. LOL! I hope I have encouraged you to try it because you will be so surprised at the results. Most places will gladly give you the pallets for free. Think about it, plan it and then do it. Good luck and have fun.
Blessings and Peace,
Darlene
Sister 1922
God first, everything else after!
DNA doesn't make us sisters, Love does!
The road to a friends house is never to long!
|
| HorseLady |
Posted - Sep 05 2010 : 04:46:14 AM
I did a square foot garden years ago when Mel was on tv and tried it again last year. I was rather disappointed. It was crowded and messy and didn't really produce like he shows in the book. I took down my square foot dividers and just did it regular this year.
Hug a horse or a dog today! |
| Leilaht |
Posted - Sep 04 2010 : 03:48:47 AM
Look for oversized pallets. I got one from work that the ceiling fans arrived on. They are 2x6s instead of 1x6, but they are the right length. I used pallets for my compost bin. My hubby says it's ugly, so I have to paint it. I say I don't care. It's a compost bin for crying out sideways.
Liz
Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
Proverbs 31:25 |
| Alee |
Posted - Sep 02 2010 : 06:13:20 AM
I think I am going to try this next spring. Except I don't think I will be doing raised beds. We rent and I can't afford the expense of buying things to do raised beds and then leaving them behind. But I am going to do lasagna gardening and basically just plant in the top layers and let the plants find their way down. I am also thinking of "seeding" my lasagna garden with worms because I know it will attract worms, but it would be great to have a population start breeding in it right away.
For you gals that already do raised beds, and especially for you that have solid bottoms to your raised beds- do you seed your beds with worms?
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| laurentany |
Posted - Sep 01 2010 : 9:28:37 PM
I just bought the book last night and find it very interesting. I did 2 raised beds this year for my first try at raised bed gardening and it was quite successful. Amazingly easy to keep weeds out!
I have big plans for my square foot gardening next year and cant wait!
I planted a new fall crop of sugar snap peas and lettuce and want to get some more in the ground too!
Such fun!
Thanks for the post1
Smiles,
Laurie
Farmgirl Sister#1403
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.. |
| Leilaht |
Posted - Aug 20 2010 : 3:00:01 PM
I am going to make some beds and give it a try. (When I quit procrastinating);) I want to use the lasagna method too instead of the mel's mix. I will start with herbs this fall.
Liz
Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
Proverbs 31:25 |
| Bonnie Ellis |
Posted - Aug 15 2010 : 5:59:17 PM
Talk to alittlesonshine (April) from Minnesota. She has done it and the produce is fantastic. She led a program for the farmgirls meeting.
grandmother and orphan farmgirl |
| Ninibini |
Posted - Aug 14 2010 : 2:36:04 PM
Great goin', Angela! I can't wait to hear how it all works out! - Nini
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
Farmgirl Sister #1974 |
| natesgirl |
Posted - Aug 14 2010 : 12:33:18 PM
My DH is a very mechanically minded person. He sat down and start sketchin and drawin and grumblin. After about an hour he looked up, smiled and said, "Looks like I won't need to till up the rest of the pasture next year. I just need to make a small plot for vines and strawberries." So I guess the plottin and figures are mathmatically and machanically correct. We're gonna really beef up our ground this fall and make a large compost and manure pile to start seasonin for the summer additions. He doesn't want to raise the rows, so evaporation is reduced, and he's got calls out to a bunch of local farmers for bad hay bales. He wants to run them through the chipper and mulch the whole garden with them. I think we might be onto somethin here, but I need a little more research and plannin time. I guess that's what winter's for!
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
| Ninibini |
Posted - Aug 14 2010 : 11:45:46 AM
We did this this year for the first time, too! The plants are amazing, but produce not as abundant as hoped. The garden looks impressive, though. What I'm finding is that the veggies are slower to fruit - is that what you all are finding, too? Another great book is "The Backyard Homestead." It was my inspiration this year that led to many other books and many winter nights of planning for companion and succession planting. I'm going to eradicate that title, "Al Capone of Green Thumbs," if it kills me! - Nini
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
Farmgirl Sister #1974 |
| BarefootGoatGirl |
Posted - Aug 14 2010 : 05:32:43 AM
I love square foot gardening and will never garden the traditional way again! I started my beds in the fall using the lasagna method and in the spring all I have to do is add a bit of compost and plant. I had 6 beds and one "vine cave" (a 4 by 6 rectangle made out fencing panels with a top and open front for the kids to hide in). From these gardens we could eat all summer, dehydrate a good amount for the winter, make pickles, and still give some away. The best part is that it was so easy. The weeds were easy to manage and it required far less water than the row garden. They were also very pleasant to look at.
http://www.alittlebitofred.webs.com/ |
