move back applied scientist - turned - gardener Mel Bartholomew’s“Square Foot Gardening”consistently top the list of best - selling gardening books — and there ’s a reason . Square Foot Gardening anticipate picayune or no weeding , uniform results , and dozens of organic veg from a lilliputian infinite .
The later Mel Bartholomew brought horticulture to a whole new crowd , and it really await like a fun way to grow . But does it work ?
permit ’s take a look .
What Is A Square Foot Garden?
Square Foot Gardening differs from most other horticulture systems in that you do n’t use your native earth . Instead , you use a perfect commixture ( “ Mel ’s Mix ” ) of soil create from 1 part compost , 1 part vermiculite , and 1 part peat moss .
The classic Square Foot bottom is a 4 - animal foot x 4 - foot square constructed of anything from timber to bricks to cinder block . Bartholomew also powerfully recommends putting a lasting grid over the top , dividing the bed into easily realizable 1 - invertebrate foot square . This is utile for crop rotary motion , replanting , seeding , and spacing . This control grid can be made of stretch string , PVC , 1 x 2 timber , or whatever else you have lying around . Having a visual depiction of your plant is unquestionably helpful , but this part of the Square Foot design is where nurseryman often diverge from the architectural plan in Bartholomew ’s volume .
An “ official ” Square Foot Gardening layer is n’t in contact with your native soil at all . Provided the boxful is 6 - inch deep and contains “ Mel ’s Mix , ” it will still farm well . The only fertilizer Bartholomew recommend is compost . Keep producing that , and your garden will keep produce for you .
That ’s Square Foot Gardening in a nutshell . It ’s a unusually well - engineered , self - contain way to garden .
Benefits of Square Foot Gardening
“ Mel ’s Mix ” is a spongy , airy , rich medium for your plants . It ’s also skunk - free , unless you start with homemade compost that was n’t “ cooked ” enough in a spicy compost pile .
( banknote : Even if you do consider your compost pile got hot enough , watch out , aslots of cum unremarkably manage to slip through the cracks . )
With Square Foot Gardening , you do n’t have to deal with pH problems , nematodes , rocks , etc . It ’s like … science gardening . have a clean slate is great .
Another place where Square Foot Gardening shines is in its ability to bring about orotund amount of veggies in a minor distance . If you want to grow bonce , cultivated cabbage , salad viridity , pepper , onions , and other small works , Square Foot bed are very convenient and supportive . Bartholomew also provides plans for melon and noggin trellises , so you’re able to grow vertically and get more use from the outer space .
Unlike some method , Square Foot Gardening was redesigned to be a completely constitutive system . As you pull out spend crops , put in a handful of compost in the holes leave behind and then plant again . This entail you do not have to bring in anything young after the initial purchases of peat and vermiculite . All your “ fertilizer ” is produced by you .
With a Square Foot garden , you’re able to throw away a garden the right way over grass or weeds without even rive stuff and nonsense up .
Bam . Instant infinite .
The book recommends assign a barrier down at the bottom of the newly retrace layer . smoke city block and cardboard both body of work . Or you may build the bed on top of concrete , believe it or not .
One net place where this method really shines is in its appealingness to new gardeners . The organisation is simple enough for anyone to create and it produces systematically . Mel Bartholomew is really fun to take — the book is deserving buying just to hear what a unfeignedly worked up and enthusiastic gardener vocalise like . For a mortal just getting started , he takes the consuming world of solid food production and cuts it into prissy , smashing 12 - inch x 12 - inch pieces that are easy enough for even a all over novice to digest . When my wife wanted to start up gardening years ago , I set her up with Square Foot beds . My food forests , seed economy and come slinging , green manuring , and intercropping were beyond her , but a 4 - foot x 4 - foot boxwood of veggies was a sound gateway to bring in her to home food production .
Drawbacks of Square Foot Gardening
Now allow ’s calculate at the other side of the coin . If Square Foot Gardening were the end - all arrangement , it would be recommended across the gardening biotic community , proper ? Yet author like Steve Solomon , Ruth Stout , John Jeavons , Toby Hemenway , Carol Deppe , Edward Smith , Dick Raymond , and yours truly all have different methods that form for them .
Square Foot Gardening , despite its advantages , also has some drawbacks …
( get across here to take the rest of the clause over atThe Grow connection )
