Happy Square Foot Gardening Day!

Happy Square Foot Gardening day!  Today is the day we celebrate those unique raised beds people use throughout the world.  The cool thing about this method and philosophy of gardening is it really is about efficiency and conservation.  Back in the day, Mel Bartholomew, the founder of SFG, had a PBS show to explain how all this works.  There are still clips out there on youtube and other places and I encourage people to really learn more.   The idea of being able to maximize just 16 square feet to produce a bounty of vegetables really attracted me to the concept to start. 

I may have tried to get around things a bit over the years - from drawing square foot patterns in the ground and seeding accordingly to quasi-raised beds - and have mixed results.  The more I learn about the whys of how to do this properly, the more I understand and begin to adhere to original methods.

My beds are a little... well, cobbled together, which is OK.  I use a cement brick designed for boards to be slotted into the sides rather than nail the boxes together.  Part of why I do that is because I realized I can change out a manky 2x8 with a new one and keep the ones that are fine without a lot of effort.  This year, as I rearranged things, it made shifting beds easier.   It was hard work to move them this year, but I'm still not fully satisfied with the layout of my initial 60 square feet of space.  I do love having just a tomato box, just a corn box, and just a squash box, but I don't know about the big box of mixed stuff.  The carrots and radishes are starting to show me they're here and growing.  A couple of the little squash seeds poked their heads out of the ground this week, which made me squee in delight, but it feels big and empty and doesn't feel as happy as the full boxes.

I may just reconfigure everything into smaller sized boxes that are more easily changed up and controlled.  I'll give a season before I fully decide on what to do for next year.

The bean teepee isn't in a raised bed... this year.  Next year I may build a narrow bed for that.  I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning that way because weeding the mugwort, mint, and sundry of other ghosts from gardeners past is time-consuming.  I like being able to weed with just two fingers.  It's really satisfying.  Currently. I'm pulling all sorts of things that are sneaking in from the sides and it really is a matter of dig and pull another knot of roots.  I thought about putting in an edging border to cut down on weeds, but it just didn't work the way I wanted and yanked it, putting it to the side until I figure out what I really want to do with it next.

The potatoes are going gangbusters.  My blue Adirondacks really need more soil, as do the reds.  The problem is, everyone is a gardener this year, and raised beds do need a particular mix of soil to balance drainage and moisture retention.  Everyone, from the farm stores to the big box stores to everything in between, is out of raised bed soil.  That means mixing my own from a blend of peat moss, compost, and coarse vermiculite.  I didn't want to have to do that for topping off... so it goes.

While I often focus on the "downtown" garden over in the community plot, I also have the "uptown" garden on my deck.  That is mostly my kitchen herbs, patio tomatoes, and some bits and bobs as they say.  Because Ms. Tessie wanted to grow her favorite vegetable, French Fries, I decided to grow potatoes.  The two boxes downtown are going to have a third added as soon as I mix up some soil.  On my deck, I have a 10-gallon potato bag.  It started with a couple of inches of dirt and a couple of seed potatoes called "Eva."  Evas are similar to Yukon Gold and are a Canadian breed of potatoes.  The guy at the Agway store told me they're great mid-season potatoes for beginner growers.  I figured at 89¢ a pound, I could afford a couple.  If it worked, awesome.  If not, I was only out a couple of bucks.

It's working all right!  That bag is filled with soil.  I kept adding soil every time the plant grew six inches.  Now it's still growing and there isn't any more room to add soil!  I am going to have a 10-gallon bag of potatoes before long.  I'm pretty excited and I can't wait until Ms. Tessie comes over so we can make French Fries together later this season.

Oh, and to celebrate Square Foot Gardening day, I have completed level 1 of the SFG course and start the Master's level tomorrow.  Right now there is only a handful in New England.  When I complete the course, I should be able to help teach and set up gardens for others and teaching is what I do.  I'll keep you posted.