I'll Start Next Year

Q:  Hi Mel, my name is Robert and I live in Texas. I think your method is just great. I just found out about it yesterday and am really looking forward to getting the books and videos and trying it out next year. I printed the flyer that you have on your site to read through. It is a great flyer but I noticed that it is set up to print on a laser printer with 1/4 inch margins. Most of us average folks don't have a laser printer, much less a color laser printer. The margins on the inkjet printer are a little different. I don't mean to be critical, I love the site and all that you have on it. I just thought that if the flyer could be printed by more people, you might have more people passing them out! Hope you had a wonderful trip. Thanks, Robert

Next Year May Never Come

A:   Dear Robert: Thanks for your great letter, but don't wait until next year. Why not start just one box this year? The trouble with single-row gardening has always been it is thought of as a one-season crop. Yes, they do plant some early spring crops, but quite often that row is never replaced because there are too many weeds to hoe and too much other work to be done dealing with a large summer crop. And then by the time the summer is almost over, there are so many weeds and overgrown areas of the garden that a person just gives up and says, "Well, next year I'll make it different." But that never comes.

     With Square Foot Gardening, everything is totally different. In most parts of the country, it is a true three-crop year: spring, summer and fall. The person never gets discouraged because there are no weeds to pull and no great amount of work to do, so you get triple the harvest because you have three full crops during each calendar year. We also encourage people to start small and if they are switching from single-row gardening or starting a garden for the first time, we suggest they start with just one or two 4'x4's, build them, add the Mel's Mix, put on a grid and start planting to gain experience. Start out with simple easy crops to grow and by the next season, they can plant different crops and by the next year they become quite confident and experienced with SFG.

     I appreciate your comments about the printouts and I have to admit that I'm rather behind the times on all the computer workings. I rely upon some of our people to put things up so they are most useful to everyone. So, your comments are very apropos and current. I will pass them on and see what we can do to make this more user friendly because we certainly want people to be able to print everything that we have so they can help spread the word just as you have.

      Thanks again for your letter and seriously consider putting in one box now for the summer and fall crop. Tell all your friends and neighbors about Square Foot Gardening and invite them to visit our website. Best wishes, Mel B.