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STARTING A VENEZUELAN SFG
Q: I just finished reading your first book and I am in love with gardening! I have always liked it but it always seemed too overwhelming. Now with your method I can't wait to start. I am also a Kindergarten teacher and I tried starting up a garden these last two years. Our first garden was a flop (we did row gardening), it filled up with weeds and the kids got absolutely bored. I was pregnant so bending down was a huge chore so we all lost interest. This year's garden was much better although I live in an extremely HOT HOT HOT climate (eastern Venezuela). We planted pumpkin seeds (they just flowered but nothing else and the leaves are dying and lots of ants attack the plant), radishes (we harvested those and they were a hit because they were fast), marigolds, Kentucky pole beans that never climbed the teepee poles we set up) and of course tomatoes. They keep flowering but that's where it ends. The end of the school year is coming up so I will try this project again next year but this time using your method. I will also make a garden for my family.
I will be going to Canada this summer and I want to buy seeds. What do you suggest I can grow here in such a hot climate? The average weather is 100 F (all year round!); it is either rainy season (coming up) or dry season. We have no winter, fall, spring. If I get those cages and use sun protectors can I grow lettuce? Which variety do you suggest? What else can I grow??? Also I don't know where to find vermiculite, peat moss. . . what do you suggest??? Anyway, I hope to hear from you soon and will keep you posted on how things are here in Anaco, Venezuela! SFG IN VENEZUELA
A: Dear Alejandra: Thank you for your letter and I have to chuckle over your past endeavors because it is typical of trying to start a garden in a very challenging area. Challenging either because of the soil or the weather conditions. The beauty of Square Foot Gardening is you eliminate all the challenges of poor soil and you can compensate a great deal for difficult weather conditions. If you try to grow in the rainy season, you end up with just a water-logged garden unless you can protect it from the heavy rains and that is possible with Square Foot Gardening. If you’ve read the " Mel’s Column " on India, you’ll see that they now garden straight through the monsoon rain season for six months when they used to sit in their huts being miserable from the constant rain. But, now with hoops over their square foot beds and plastic covers, they get enough light, but don’t get saturated with all the water. You might try the same thing but on a much smaller scale, of course.To answer your question , " Where do you get the ingredients for Mel’s Mix ?" If you don’t have peat moss and vermiculite available in your country, then start a compost operation immediately, run it year round and grow in pure compost. Again, that is exactly what they did in India. If you are going to grow in the dry season, then Square Foot Gardening is perfect because it does take so much less water and it is easier to tend your plants. Particularly for a school project, you’ll be teaching the children how to nurture a living thing. Also, because it is so hot, then I would also make your soil deeper than the minimum six inches that we suggest. But, again, this depends on your building a compost operation and having enough available. Start small and get successful with just one 3'x3' (that’s the same as a square meter garden). As for what plants - go to a local nursery and see what they are selling and see if you can find some other gardeners around that are growing things. Pick small plants and try to stay away from the big space-grabbing plants. It is much easier to protect from those iguanas. You can keep them out of your garden (a) by putting a bottom on the boxes and raising them up, either out of their reach but within the children’s reach; or (b) by covering the garden with a simple cage that we’ve pictured on our website. Hope some of that helps you get started. Just remember, in summary, start small, gain experience, and see what works for you in your particular situation. Make sure you take pictures and good luck with your garden. Please keep in touch and let us know how you do through the years. Tell all your friends and neighbors about Square Foot Gardening and invite them to visit our website. Yours truly, Mel B. |
