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Square Foot Gardens

JoynersHotPeppers

JoynersHotPeppers

I have not seen a topic on this but of course that does not mean there is not one already. I failed to find it searching however so here it is and is a 2013 experiment I am planning. The backdrop, behind my property which is very small, there is an area roughly 20 x 15. The sunlight hits most for 8 - 10 hours and other part for 6 - 8 roughly. This area is protected on all side from severe wind and I am the ONLY one that maintains the area, technically an easement shared by 4 houses.

I have decided I am going to use this for a square foot garden for 2013! So, the first garden will be 8 x 4 using 2 x 10 x 8 untreated wood for the frame. I have yet to decide what I am using to section off each square foot but currently leaning towards nails and rope. There is a whole religion behind growing like this and Google is your friend.

I cleared the area this weekend, put down weed barrier in a 10 x 6 area and tracked the sun to make sure I knew what to plant where due to sun requirements.

Pictures coming soon along with the first round of what will be growing!
 
Yumyumyellow said:
sounds really neat! pictures! pictures! could also use wire?
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Yes, there are many things to use and in the end maybe fishing line since it would last over rope and wire...oh the details! I did forget to mention, 8 x 4 gives me 32 growing plots for different items and allows for easy crop rotation. You more or less follow general spacing concerns. Example 1 pepper or tomato plan but maybe 12 carrots in a square foot.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
8 x 4 gives me 32 growing plots for different items and allows for easy crop rotation. You more or less follow general spacing concerns. Example 1 pepper or tomato plan but maybe 12 carrots in a square foot.
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I like the idea, but a square foot is too small for just about anything IMO. I would section that space off into 8 growing plots at the most. For things like tomatoes, I would plant maybe 3 or 4 in a 4x8 plot, and nothing else.
 
muskymojo said:
I like the idea, but a square foot is too small for just about anything IMO. I would section that space off into 8 growing plots at the most. For things like tomatoes, I would plant maybe 3 or 4 in a 4x8 plot, and nothing else.
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There is a whole dedicated culture and proven science around this idea, it is not my own. I just want to give it a test drive. I am doing a 8 x 4 and my friend is doing 3 8 x 4's.

One of the main principals is you can reach your plant from any side, you never walk on the soil compacting it and all microorganisms live free and happy in uncompounded soil. I hope I am successful and if so I am sure it will shock you!

Thanks for stopping by.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
There is a whole dedicated culture and proven science around this idea, it is not my own. I just want to give it a test drive. I am doing a 8 x 4 and my friend is doing 3 8 x 4's.

One of the main principals is you can reach your plant from any side, you never walk on the soil compacting it and all microorganisms live free and happy in uncompounded soil. I hope I am successful and if so I am sure it will shock you!

Thanks for stopping by.
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Yes, I'm very familiar with square foot gardening, and have been for years. I also have 4' wide raised beds for those same reasons you mentioned. All I'm saying is you can do the same thing with larger growing plots, and depending on what you are growing, less plants given more room to grow will often equal more production. For example, I do 40 chile plants in a 4 x 40 raised bed, and they are packed in there tight by August. If I do more than 40 plants in that bed, some get overcrowded and don't produce much. I know because I've tried it.

I hope you are successful too, and if so I am sure I won't be shocked! :lol:
 
Square foot gardening is suddenly popular again... it was years ago and now it is all the rage again. I have three raised beds in part of my community garden plot: 1-4'x4', and 2-4'x12'.... they will all be in square foot gardening style this year. I dont use square foot for tomatoes (unless it is a dwarf tomato plant) or peppers much(i did have a mini bell in it), but it is nice for other crops and nice for picking and working on. The garden plot next to mine is completely square foot gardening in various sized raised beds, and that lady is a newbie who is reading the squarefoot garden book and following the directions word for word...lol. I agree that the nails and string method work best for marking off the squares... easy peasy. Happy growing to you fellow square footer.. =)
 
Hi Chris
I've been using the square-foot method for years, and have my veggie garden laid out on that plan. I have fifteen blocks laid out on the ground and a double row for all the chiles. The soil here is so sandy that I don't bother with a raised bed.
hoophouse.jpg
 
Very nice stick, in a round about way I have used it for years as well but not sticking to the planting principles. I have a raised bed that is 3 foot wide by 20 foot long. This year I think I am going to max it out with annuums, roughly 40 plants.
 
oh wow... if that's how densely they can be packed i've had quite a misuse of garden space! looks like I have room for LOTS MORE PEPPERS!!!! :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: I like to stagger basil in-between my peppers to make use of space and it helps a little with all the mosquitoes. plus i love pesto! looks like i'm going to have a jungle this year!
 
I tried square foot gardening for the first time last year and it was very successful. I planted, 1 cucumber plant, 2 zucchini plants, 16 greenbean plants, 8 pea plants, and 64 carrots in 4x4 box. All of them were very productive. Doing it again this year with a second 4x4 box. I used nails and twine to mark off my grid. The twine broke off by the end of the season, but that didn't really matter as everything was already established.
 
RandyYJ said:
I'll get pics of mine up today if I can. Mine's in full swing right now. They're definitely alot of fun. I wish I could my kids into it a little more.
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Couldn't agree more on the kids. My daughter acts interesting for a second then she wanders off while I'm trying to get her to help me.
 
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