| LATEST IMPROVEMENTS IN SFG | | Print | |
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(Condensed Version) INTRODUCTION Since I wrote the book "Square Foot Gardening" twenty-five years ago, there have been just four "improvements" to the Square Foot Gardening method. Although all four of these "improvements" were mentioned in the original book, I emphasize them much more now. Over the years, I've found they make the system even more gardener-friendly, especially for beginners. THE OLD METHOD - Single Row Gardening A backyard garden has traditionally been a large area (usually way out back) where you have to loosen and improve all of the existing soil every single year before laying out row after row of crops. THE NEW METHOD - Square Foot Gardening Now all that is TOTALLY UNNECESSARY with Square Foot Gardening. Improvement #1: Up, not down Visualize your garden as a series of large, shallow, planter boxes... Improvement #2: Aisle Width Which are separated by wide walking aisles... Improvement #3: Mel s Mix And then filled with a perfect growing soil... Improvement #4: Grids And finally, divided into square feet with a bold, visual grid. IMPROVEMENT # 1: UP, NOT DOWN! Square Foot Gardening allows you to grow 100% of your harvest in only 20% of the space. Illustration of empty box. Start with bottomless boxes laid on top of your existing soil, remove grass or weeds first, and then fill the boxes in with a perfect soil mix. Forget all about your existing soil we don’t care how bad it is. BUILD UP, RATHER THAN DIG DOWN It’s really that simple: If you no longer have to dig down to improve your existing soil, you no longer need rototillers, heavy tools, soil testing or the time to do all that work! BE INDEPENDENT! START YOUR OWN SQUARE FOOT GARDEN If you only need 20% of the normal space, think how that simplifies your garden. Location, weeding, watering, equipment, and protection -the list goes on and on. Whatever you do, you’ll only be doing 20% of what you did before, but still getting 100% of your harvest! In the original book, I explained how to improve your existing soil by digging down and adding lots of good stuff. But that only produced a slightly improved soil, and it was a lot of work. Now we eliminate all that hard work by building up...no more digging down. For the full text of this improvement click here Back to top IMPROVEMENT # 2: AISLE WIDTH The Golden Rule of Square Foot Gardening is: "NEVER WALK ON YOUR GROWING SOIL!" To accomplish that, you walk around your garden boxes and reach in to garden. If you do that, you'll never have to do any heavy digging, and your soil will stay loose and friable forever. Old cover of Square Foot Gardening book. STRAIGHT AND NARROW If you notice the garden on the original cover of my first book, “Square Foot Gardening,” the aisles were 1" x 12" boards separating the 4’ x 4’ planting areas. But the 12" boards were difficult to maneuver on, and too narrow to be comfortable. THE IDEAL WIDTH For accessibility, ease of walking around, kneeling, working and harvesting, the ideal width is three feet between boxes. But it can be more. DRESS IT UP, DRESS IT DOWN The space between your boxes can be left in grass, plain soil, or covered with any attractive ground cover. In our TV show, we laid down brick in between the boxes in one area and made it into a patio garden. "SQUARE FOOT" LANDSCAPE DESIGN Your boxes can be located at different places around the yard, even close to the house, in interesting patterns that fit in with your landscaping or emphasize a sitting area, the pool, or a patio. Your garden doesn’t have to be way out back any more. For the full text of this improvement click here Back to top IMPROVEMENT # 3: MEL'S MIX Forget about trying to improve your existing soil! START WITH A PERFECT SOIL, AND YOU'LL HAVE A PERFECT GARDEN! We don't even care what kind of soil you have! Hard work and digging up your garden every year are a thing of the past when you switch to the Square Foot Gardening system. Illustration of filled box. If you fill those boxes with a perfect soil mix, you don’t have to be concerned about your existing soil. This can save you an awful lot of time and money. You won't have to buy heavy-duty tools, and you won't have to do any hard work. Go mow the lawn if you want some exercise! THAT PERFECT SOIL MIX HAS… * A light texture: easy to work with; easy for plants to grow in. * All the nutrients and trace elements that plants need. * Excellent drainage and moisture retention. ...And it never needs replacing. WHAT’S IN IT? The three ingredients originally recommended in the book, “Square Foot Gardening,” still make the perfect mix: * 1/3 Peat Moss * 1/3 Vermiculite * 1/3 Compost All three of these ingredients are all natural, not manufactured, non-chemical and readily available. This mix has a light loose texture, smells good, and is a pleasure to work with. For the full text of this improvement click here Back to top |
