|
Eltham,
Victoria, AUSTRALIA
| Location Info: |
LOCATED
25 MINS NORTH EAST OF MELBOURNE CITY VICTORIA TOWARD KINGLAKE
– CLOSE TO GREENSBOROUGH |
Gardener: |
Jo |
Garden Size: |
320 square feet, 20 boxes, hardwood – 6” x12”H
(plus a number of trench gardens depending on season) |
Grid Material: |
Poles and mesh |
Aisle Width & Materials:
|
45 cm |
Vertical Frames: |
10 |
Types of Plants: |
Vegetables, herb, & annual flowers |
Specialty Features: |
Building a faux deck garden and one 4x8
foot waist high |
| Contact Info for Visits: |
E-mail: jmorgan@bizmail.com.au
Mobile Phone: 0402-137-317 |
Visiting Restrictions: |
By advanced booking at this stage – soon come
as you are certain days, kids/pets OK (wheelchair access to be worked
on.) |
Web Site: |
coming soon... |
How did you get started: |
|
Advice for those starting SFG: |
|
Best thing about SFG: |
|
Worst thing about SFG: |
|
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|
| Raymond,
Alberta, CANADA
| Location Info: |
Near Lethbridge |
Gardener: |
Noel & Lori |
| Garden Size: |
Five boxes: 4X4 AND 3X3. Wooden boxes
built up 18 inches off the ground and
depth is 8-11 inches of soil mix, compost, vermiculite and peat moss. |
Grid Material: |
WHITE TWINE |
Aisle Width & Materials: |
|
Vertical Frames: |
BEING MADE |
Types of Plants: |
STRAWBERRIES, VEGGIES AND FLOWERS |
Specialty Features: |
ALL OF OUR GARDENS ARE RAISED 18 INCHES SO
THAT MY WIFE DOES NOT HAVE TO BEND ... DUE TO SPINAL SURGERY, OUR
CHILDREN HELPED CREATE THEM AND CHOSE THE PLANTS, WE ALL HELP WITH
WATERING AND HARVESTING.... THE BEST FEATURE IS THERE ARE VERY FEW
WEEDS ! |
| Contact Info for Visits: |
E-mail:
madlozza@telus.net |
Visiting Restrictions: |
None. |
Web Site: |
Not yet. |
| Other Information: |
Our gardens are raised
18 inches so we don't have to bend...perfect height for kids helping
....no more fear of stepping on tender plants |
How did you get started: |
Heard about it years
ago....found the web site... now we are addicts! |
Advice for those starting SFG: |
Get growing without
delay! it makes so much sense. |
Best thing about SFG: |
We just love it ! we
have only had 6 weeds all summer...it is great for senior gardeners
too , grandma loves hers! |
Worst thing about SFG: |
The season is too short
where we live! |
|
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
|
Sidney,
British Columbia, CANADA
| Location Info: |
Sidney,
BC Canada, near Victoria on Vancouver Island (south-west coast
of
Canada)
|
Gardener: |
Jennifer |
Garden Size: |
144 sq. ft. 4 boxes |
Box Material and Depth: |
Split n’ Stack concrete blocks
Depth: 16” |
Grid Material: |
String |
Aisle Width & Materials:
|
2’, gravel |
Vertical Frames: |
2, metal tripods |
| Soil mix: |
Topsoil with lots of compost & leaf
mulch |
Types of Plants: |
One bed all herbs, many different salad
greens, leek, chard, shallots, kale, peas, scarlet runner beans,
nasturtiums, and in each of the 4 outside corners, box balls and
lavender to give it more formality. I also grow mint,
tomatoes and annuals in pots that sit on the edges of the beds.
|
Interesting Facts about the garden:
|
The beds have a micro-spray irrigation system
installed. The concrete around the beds warms up the soil and
provides a comfy place to sit while weeding or planting. No crouching.
|
How did you get started: |
Picked up a book years ago – 1981 edition of Mel
Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening – at a garage sale |
Advice for those starting SFG: |
Start with good soil. |
Best thing about SFG: |
It’s like making a quilt. There’s an esthetic
appeal to it – which plants will looks best near one another.
Love mixing veggies and flowers. Easy to weed.
|
Worst thing about SFG: |
People watching you lay out the grid
and then drop single lettuce seeds in little holes. They think
you are eccentric.
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
|
Sidney,
British Columbia, CANADA
|
| Location Info: |
Near Victoria , BC Canada
|
Gardener: |
Susie |
Garden Size: |
About 24 ft by 37 ft
12 boxes and room for 4 more! |
Box Material and Depth: |
Untreated cedar 1x8
bottoms covered with screen to prevent grass from growing into
soil mix |
Grid Material: |
Bamboo poles nailed down with brackets |
Aisle Width & Materials:
|
3 ft grass aisles |
Vertical Frames: |
Have chosen 4 boxes for verticles but not placed
in yet |
Types of Plants: |
Horseradish,
tomatoes,herbs, lettuces, carrots, peas, beans, flowers, peppers,
sunflowers, brocolli, cabbage,brussel sprouts, strawberies, corn
,rhubarb....and still more to come!!!
|
Interesting Facts about the garden:
|
Learning lots and lots...keep
a "map" that I mark each planting for my records, etc. Planting
only organic seeds and plants. Live in a fabulous part of the
world for growing season.
|
Contact Info for Visits: |
E-mail: SMGWILD@aol.com
|
How did you get started: |
Was first introduced to SFG about 15 yrs ago..was
fascinated but was raising 2 small children at the time so never
really got into it..rediscovered it a few months ago and since then.........wow
|
Advice for those starting SFG: |
Just do it!!! even if it's
just one little 4x4 |
Best thing about SFG: |
It is just sooooo much
fun with immediate satisfaction
|
Worst thing about SFG: |
Being over zealous!!
and getting all my garden chores over in such little time...I
keep wanting to get at it again before the next day has arrived!!!
|
|
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
|
| Kamloops,
Vancouver,
British
Columbia, CANADA
| Location
Info: |
Near
Vancouver, British Columbia. |
Gardener: |
Steve |
| Garden Size: |
4’x8’,
4 boxes. |
Grid Material: |
Venetian
blinds. |
Aisle Width & Materials: |
2
feet, interlocking paving stones. |
Vertical Frames: |
7-foot
chain link posts. |
| Types of Plants: |
Many
types of vegetables, marigolds. |
Specialty Features: |
Watering via
drip lines connected to timed underground lawn sprinkler; wire
frame with bird net covering permanent vertical frame of chain link
posts. |
| Contact Info for Visits: |
Web
site photos only. |
Visiting Restrictions: |
N/A |
Web Site: |
No
personal Web site |
| How did you get started: |
In 2001 my Father, then
83 sent me his favorite gardening book Square Foot Gardening from
his home in Colorado. Conversion of my garden took parts of two seasons.
Next year will see some of the boxes elevated. |
| Advice for those starting
SFG: |
Preparation is all-important.
I suggest that you get all materials together including tools before
making a day of it. Once the physical structure is in, the real fun
begins. This proved to be a great family project for us. |
| Best thing about
SFG: |
SFG is a very effective
way to control the outdoor environment. I have spent only moments
weeding. The soil makes all the difference (you can plop in a seedling
in seconds), but so does the sense of order gained with the grid system. |
| Worst thing about
SFG: |
Because of my busy schedule
I had to forgo the watering method. When my life is too busy, the
garden takes care of itself. |
|
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
|
Winfield,
British Columbia, CANADA
Location Info: |
Near Kelowna in Southern
B.C. in the Okanagan Valley. |
Gardener: |
Willene |
Garden Size: |
8x4, with 1 box made of wood attached with deck screws,
depth 12". |
Grid Material: |
plastic rope and nails. |
Aisle Width & Materials: |
2X8 wood, no aisles, but 2' pea gravel around
it |
Vertical Frames: |
none |
Types of Plants: |
garlic, marigolds, green and yellow beans,
corn, broccoli, grape, cherry and regular tomatoes, cantaloupe, cucumbers,
lettuce, radishes, carrots, onions, cilantro, red peppers, jalapenos.
|
Specialty Features: |
|
Contact Info for Visits: |
E-mail: leneperez@yahoo.com
|
Visiting Restrictions: |
Must be by advanced e-mail. |
Web Site: |
Found the SFG Web site on Google. |
How did you get started: |
Have hard and rocky soil and wanted to do
raised beds. |
Advice for those starting
SFG: |
Keep the bush beans and corn away in a separate box
- they're shading and taking over the
broccoli's spot!! (I'm going to be doing a separate box for those
two crops nest year) |
Best thing about SFG: |
No weeding!! Every seed seems to grow - not
so much waste and time spent thinning. Looks like a painting.
|
Worst thing about SFG: |
I didn't
discover it sooner. |
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
|
| Headingley,
Manitoba, CANADA
| Location Info: |
Near Winnipeg |
Gardener: |
Angela |
Garden Size: |
20 ft by 40 ft and 16 Boxes |
Grid Material: |
Metal |
Aisle Width & Materials: |
3 Foot 2X6's and ¾ gravel
|
Vertical Frames: |
10 |
Types of Plants: |
Strawberries, Veggies, Flowers
|
Specialty Features: |
None |
| Contact Info for Visits: |
E-mail: amondor10@shaw.ca
|
Visiting Restrictions: |
I welcome anyone to my garden that is interested
in the SFG method. I hope to learn from everyone that visits.
|
Web Site: |
Not yet. |
How did you get started: |
|
Advice for those starting SFG: |
|
Best thing about SFG: |
|
| Worst thing about
SFG: |
|
|
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
|
|
St-Hubert, Quebec, CANADA
|
| Location
Info: |
St-Hubert It's in the province of Quebec, South East
of Montreal. A suburb of Montreal |
| Gardener:
|
Yves & Marie |
| Overall
Size: |
Equivalent of 7 4x4 blocks |
| Number
of Boxes: |
1
1x[24x2] + 1x[8x2] + 1x[8x4] + 1x[5x3] + 1x[2x3]
|
| Box
Material and Depth: |
2x10 beams |
| Type
of soil mix: |
1/4 original soil (previous owner) + 1/4 new enriched soil +
1/4 peat moss + 1/4 compost
|
| Aisle
Width & Materials: |
Using 18 inch garden tiles, single and double rows.
|
| Vertical
Frames: |
None yet, will be using recycled "Gazebo" corners soon.
|
| Grid
Material: |
Blinder straps
|
| Types
of Plants: |
Tomatos, Zucchinis, Radishes, Brocoli, Salads, Peppers,
Mint, Basil, misc herbs ... |
| Specialty
Features: |
"Fence" Garden, using the fence for vining |
| Contact
Info for Visits: |
E-mail:
yves@cheznousse.com
|
| Visiting
Restrictions: |
After 7PM only, contact before hand ...
|
| Web
Site: |
N/A
|
| Interesting
facts about your garden: |
|
| How
did you get started: |
Bought a house,
wanted a garden, hence, squarefoot garden. :o) Actually, I
was looking for a good way to get started on the internet
and stumbeled on Square Foot Gardening (never saw the TV Show). After
reading, it was clear that it was the way to go for a neophyte.
|
| Advice
for those starting SFG: |
Start small |
| Best
thing about SFG: |
Easy to get going, pratically no maintenance.
|
| Worst
thing about SFG: |
Can be hard if you are too ambitious (we started whole hog with
the equivalent of 7 4x4s + Composting bins so ... it took a
toll on us. On the other hand, it's done, the garden is good
for 10 years, just need to give it some fresh compost each year
and it'll do fine). |
Oh yeah: Geotextile tarps are awesome. You
should try them. Prevents you from having to weed. Cover garden
with tarp, staple it on top, then cut holes for the locations where
you're going to plant something. No weeds -- and it keeps the soil
warmer.
|
We
planted tomato plants and Zucchini plants in June, this is what
they look like in august. We have a few salads and herbs in the
front row -- they are doing pretty good.
The
two composting bins have removable front panels so we can easily
mix the compost and water it. The unplanted square shows how our
modules look like without any plants. Since we wanted to avoid
weeding at all costs, we put a geotextile tarp on top of all the
squares to prevent weeds from growing. It does a great job because
we haven't had to weed the garden yet.
Small
Herb squares next to the house.
|
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
|
|
| Location
Info: |
Near Norwich
|
| Gardener:
|
Franz Sidney |
| Overall
Size: |
average British size, probably around 80 square metres
|
| Number
of Boxes: |
9 |
| Box
Material and Depth: |
wood and Depth: 30 cm |
| Type
of soil mix: |
(compost, peat moss, vermiculite)
|
| Aisle
Width & Materials: |
wood
|
| Vertical
Frames: |
None
Yet |
| Grid
Material: |
Wood |
| Types
of Plants: |
Type of plants: radish, potatotes, zucchini, sweet corn,
alfalfa,
onions, spring onions, tomatoes, carrots, echinacea, nasturtium,
ivy |
| Specialty
Features: |
|
| Contact
Info for Visits: |
E-mail:
franzsidney@sidneys.org |
| Visiting
Restrictions: |
no big dogs, no Sundays, appointment needed |
| Web
Site: |
N/A
|
| Interesting
facts about your garden: |
|
| How
did you get started: |
I found it through
www.providentliving.com when I looked at the gardening links.
I
noticed that there were translations in many languages so I
decided
to provide the Italian translation for the entire site. Then
I
ordered the new book and DVD and got started. I thought that
no
seeds would ever grow and my plants would all die as usual,
but 80%
survived well and we are now eating our own produce.
|
| Advice
for those starting SFG: |
read the book
before starting. Then work out a budget, as the boxes + Mel's
mix
will cost some money. Protect the seeded area from birds and
all
the rest will take care of itself.
|
| Best
thing about SFG: |
we love the
quick results, healthy plants, and basically almost no weeding!
But
the best thing is the lack of digging!!!
|
| Worst
thing about SFG: |
unfortunately
peat moss here in the UK is non environmentally friendly, because
it takes hundreds of years to be replaced. So people will have
to
come out with a suitable alternative.
|
|
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
Havant,
England
| Location
Info: |
Havant, Near Portsmouth
in the south of
England
|
| Gardener:
|
Jo |
| Overall
Size: |
20ft x 15 feet
|
| Number
of Boxes: |
3 |
| Box
Material and Depth: |
made from old scaffold boards
-
painted the outside
|
| Type
of soil mix: |
vermiculite, peat and lots
of different bags of compost
|
| Aisle
Width & Materials: |
paving stone width |
| Vertical
Frames: |
bamboo canes and metal trellis |
| Grid
Material: |
plastic electrical tubing |
| Types
of Plants: |
salads,
radishes, courgette(zuchini),mange-tout(sugarsnap),pakchoi,cabbage,brocolli,tomatoes,
beetroot,peppers,cucumber,carrots,spring
onions,french beans,sweetcorn (baby),
|
| Specialty
Features: |
Patio garden - the patio
wasnt really being used.
|
| Contact
Info for Visits: |
jws_70@hotmail.co.uk |
| Visiting
Restrictions: |
only by advanced e-mail
|
| Web
Site: |
|
| Interesting
facts about your garden: |
|
| How
did you get started: |
Read
about it on the web and then
ordered the book |
| Advice
for those starting SFG: |
Go
for it!!
|
| Best
thing about SFG: |
The amount of plants you can
grow in such a small area - its fantastic!!
|
| Worst
thing about SFG: |
The Tomatoes havent done so
well this year - but we have had an exceptional year - humid
and wet.
|
|
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
Den
Andel , Holand
| Location
Info: |
Town
or City: Den Andel
Near
Which Large City:Groningen
County:
Holland
State
: Groningen |
| Gardener:
|
Jelle |
| Overall
Size: |
Four SFG around 3x5
|
| Number
of Boxes: |
7 (including 1 tablebox
of 60 x 120 cm) |
| Box
Material and Depth: |
Box Material: Garbage wood
Depth:
22 CM
|
| Type
of soil mix: |
Mel's mix
|
| Aisle
Width & Materials: |
80 cm, grass |
| Vertical
Frames: |
6 from electrical conduit and wired garden fence, 1 bamboo piramid
for pole-beans) |
| Grid
Material: |
plastic
strips |
| Types
of Plants: |
Vegetables,
herbs and flowers
|
| Specialty
Features: |
We
have one tabletop garden for Granddad, who is in a wheelchair.
|
| Contact
Info for Visits: |
Jellemede@live.nl
|
| Visiting
Restrictions: |
only by advanced e-mail
|
| Web
Site: |
www.MakkelijkeMoestuin.nl
|
| Interesting
facts about your garden: |
|
| How
did you get started: |
My
mother told me about it
|
| Advice
for those starting SFG: |
Read
Mel's book! (or my go to my website www.MakkelijkeMoestuin.com
if you are dutch.)
|
| Best
thing about SFG: |
It's
great!
|
| Worst
thing about SFG: |
That
I have to think way to long to figure out a bad thing about
SFG.
|
|
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index
=================================================================
|
| Feilding,
North Island, New Zealand
| Location Info: |
Near Palmerston
North in the North Island of NZ. |
Gardener: |
Jim and Rita |
Garden Size: |
|
| Grid Material: |
One garden uses fiberglass electric
fence rods. The second uses stretched curtain wire fastened
with screws and the wire is "woven" over and under each
other, and I think works better than the electric fence rods. |
Aisle Width & Materials: |
|
Vertical Frames: |
|
Types of Plants: |
|
Specialty Features: |
|
| Contact Info for Visits: |
E-Mail: jimnrita@paradise.net.nz |
Visiting Restrictions: |
Visitors are fine, but should make initial contact
by email. Wheel chair access is not a problem as the land is
level. |
Web Site: |
|
How did you get started: |
|
Advice for those starting SFG: |
|
Best thing about SFG: |
|
| Worst thing about
SFG: |
|
|
|
Back
to Neighborhood Garden Index |
