Square foot gardening mel bartholomew pdf download ifas

Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. Square foot gardening Item Preview.

EMBED for wordpress. Want more? Advanced embedding details, examples, and help! You should either fill your box completely with blended compost, or you can use a mixture of equal parts coarse vermiculite, peat moss, and blended compost.

With square-foot gardening, plants are placed close together in order to increase the vegetable yield per square foot. This can also help with weed control since the closely growing plants will create a shady canopy, making it more difficult for weeds to take over your vegetable bed. You'll plant either one, four, nine, or sixteen plants per square.

Exactly how many depends on what you are planting. For plants that take up more space you will want to plant only one per square; this includes sweet and white potatoes, broccoli, kale, collards, cabbage, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, okra, and peppers. Slightly smaller leafy plants like lettuce, chard, spinach, bok choy, and many herbs can be planted four per square.

Beets, turnips, string beans, or peas can be planted in groups of nine per square foot. And for those plants that take up very little space, like carrots, radishes, and onions, you can fit sixteen plants in one square foot. Adding a trellis for climbing plants adds even more efficiency to your garden; plant two cucumbers or other climbing vegetable per square. When building your trellis, be sure to place it on the outer edge on the north side of your planting bed so that it doesn't shade the rest of the garden plants.

When planting, have variety in your planting box; don't fill all sixteen squares with the same plant. As you harvest, continue to change out plants. For a little extra color and interest, you could even add some flowering annuals.

One of the benefits of square-foot gardening is ease of maintenance. Since the planting area is relatively small, many gardeners are able to adequately water by hand. The best time to water your plants is in the morning, avoiding rapid evaporation while also preventing some diseases.

Be sure to always tend to your garden from the aisles. You never want to walk on the soil in your growing box; this compacts the soil and can hurt plant roots. Since you will be planting different crops together you may find yourself in a continuous and fulfilling cycle of harvesting and planting. As you harvest one square in your garden, add compost to the square and plant a different crop.

Square-foot gardening is just one way you can start a vegetable garden in your landscape. Many gardeners find vegetable gardening to be a relaxing activity, and there is nothing like the satisfaction of eating something that you grew in your own backyard.