Square Foot Gardening

Gardening is a learning experience. One that I never get tired of. Almost 25 years ago my Dad bought a book called Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. He was living in Florida at the time, and while most of his gardening maintenance was trying to control growth, he decided he wanted to grow some vegetables. If you have ever tried to dig in the South Florida soil you might know that what you are usually dealing with is more of a coral rock than actual soil. He had big plans of putting in a square foot garden, and filling it with strawberries and tomatoes and other plants that he and my Mom enjoyed.

Fast forward to 2008, and life in Fallon, Nevada. Last year when the vegetable craze really started to take off we had a lot of gardeners come in and ask how to "quickly" correct bad soil issues. We would go over all the natural choices that came to mind; replace the existing soil, add in organics, add in more organics, correct the salt issues, add in more organics....... Sometimes, we would realize, that what they really wanted was not so much a large garden plot to tend, but something simpler and easier to work with. We would then go over the basics and benefits of raised bed gardening.

About a month ago, two of our steady gardening customers, Diane and Stan Legaux came by to check availability and pricing for some basic soil amendments. We started talking about what they were working on and what they were thinking of growing. Enter the Square Foot Gardening method. We started talking about the book and my own research on their website. They had made a raised box for themselves, and I guess they could tell by my enthusiasm that I would love to see some pictures of what they had built. They did me one better - they brought one by for me to see, and asked if I would like to possibly have them here at The Flower Tree to sell. They were enjoying working together making them, and really felt strongly that this was a way for people to continue to enjoy gardening well into their 80's and beyond.

Below are some of the pictures that we took last week. We have a great class tomorrow at 11am, on "Eating Your Way Through The Landscape", and we will also cover the basics of Square Foot Gardening. Stan and Diane will be on hand with their boxes, and will be available to take custom orders also. We hope to see you there. Susan

Start with a raised square foot garden bed.

Add: Mel's Mix
1/3 Peat Moss

1/3 Vermiculite

1/3 Organic Compost

(Gardner & Bloome, of course)

Mix it all together, with a friend if you have one handy.

Filled and ready to go! We will be planting it tomorrow along with the raised bed by the big white fountain. Join us, we promise not to toss any dirt your way. http://www.squarefootgardening.com/