Episode 4 - The Square Foot Gardening Method
tyler | January 5, 2007
This is the last part in our series on ‘Getting Started with a Vegetable Garden’. This espisode will cover the basics of square foot gardening.
But first, a quick fix of a mistake during our last episode. Towards the end, I referred to carrots as a horrizontal rooting crop. Hopefully that was an obvious mistake for everyone. Carrots grow vertically…not horrizontally. Hurm…maybe they can grow horrizontally. Something to try in your garden! Part of the fun of gardening is experimentation. Now a few gardening facts.
The average American eats 22 pounds of tomatoes a year (plus 20 pounds a year in the form of ketchup, salsa, soup, and BBQ sauce).
A tomato is a fruit, but it is legally known as a vegetable. In 1893, a case went before the US Supreme Court about importing tomatoes from the West Indies. Fruits could be imported tax-free, vegetables couldn’t. Since tomatoes were eaten with main dishes and not as desserts, the Court ruled them to be a vegetable.
The biggest tomato on record weighed in at a hefty 7 pounds 12 ounces. It was grown by Gordon Graham of Oklahoma.
The largest tomato plant was 65 feet long.
The Tomato Genetics Stock Center at the University of California, Davis has more than 2,750 genetic varieties of tomatoes.
Regarded as poison by American colonists because of its relation to deadly nightshade, the tomato’s reputation was saved by Robert Gibbon Johnson, who stood on the New Jersey courthouse steps in 1820, and ate a tomato. He suffered no adverse effects, to the amazement of the town.
The word "Tomato" has been used as slang for an attractive woman. Its use was most common from the 1920’s through the 1940’s and was used in Season 10 of the MASH TV series by a young boy to describe Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan.
Square Foot Gardening is a system designed by Mel Bartholomew and published in several books which you can find on Amazon or Mel’s website www.squarefootgardening.com. Mel wants practitioners of his SFG method to follow a strict system. The primary difference between his method and those of the wide row method is that the soil used to grow the plants is completely grower generated in that you create the perfect soil instead of ammending what you have. The rest of the method is really about maximizing space.
This is the particular method that I will be using in my new garden. I will expand on the actual use of the SFG method as we build out the garden in future episodes.
But now let’s briefly go through the requirements for a square foot garden.
First, always think in squares. Build garden box frames no wider than 4 feet, and 6 to 8 inches deep. Then seperate them by 2 or three feet to form walkways. The length is not as important, but a recommended size for your first time is 4 foot by 4 foot. You can, of course, go smaller. A 2 foot by 2 foot box works great on patios and 3 foot by 3 foot box is ideal for kids. The frames can be made from almost any material, but I would not recommend treated lumber. The new treated lumber is supposedly safe but why take the risk? Purchasing 1 by 6 or 2 by 6 lumber is ideal, and comes in 8-foot lengths which most lumber yards will cut it in half at little or no cost. Exact dimensions are really not critical. To put
the boxes together you can use deck screws in each corner. Remember to rotate or alternate corners or you wont end up with a square on the inside. If you want something that will last longer than wood you could also try stone or brick, or Mel even sells ready to build vinl boxes on his website with proceeds going to charity.
Next you create the soil. Use equal parts compost, peat moss and coarse vermiculite to fill the frames. No dirt needed. A blended compost made from many ingredients provides all the nutrients your plants will require. Peat moss and vermiculite help hold moisture and keep the soil loose. It’s best to make your own compost from many ingredients but if you have to buy it, make sure it is truly compost. Some stores sell mulch or humus and other ground covers but call it compost. Read the label when you buy commercial compost as most are made from one or two ingredients. So to be safe, don’t buy all of one kind, but one of each kind you can find until you have enough for your garden.
When buying vermiculite, be sure to get the coarse grade, and get the more economical 4 cubic foot size bags. You’ll probably have to call around to find the 4 cubic size, or have it special ordered. It will not be cheap but it’s a one time purchase for your garden. In the future you need only add compost to the squares each year.
Take all three ingredients and mix them together on a large tarp and then shovel the soil into your boxes.
On top of each box place a permanent grid that divides the box into one foot squares. The grid is the unique feature that makes the whole system work so well. If you don’t use a grid, Mel says you are not a square foot gardener. If you don’t believe the grid is important, do this little demonstration: Look at your 4 foot by 4 foot box with the grid on and imagine up to 16 different crops. What you see before you is a neat and attractive, well organized garden, that will be easy to manage. Now remove the grid. Could you organize and manage this space without dividing it up into squares? Besides, without the grid you will be tempted to plant in rows, which is a poor use of space. Grids can be made from nearly any material; wood, plastic strips, old venetian blinds, string, you name it. Use screws, rivets or ties to attach them where they cross. On a 4 foot by 4 foot frame, the grid divides the frame into 16 easy-to-manage spaces, for up to 16 different crops. You should leave the grid in place all season, so don’t worry about afixing it perminately. If you can’t bring yourself to make it perminate, then cut the grid slightly shorter and lay it on the soil.
Now it’s time to plant. Depending on the mature size of the plant, grow 1, 4, 9, or 16 equally spaced plants per square foot. If the seed packet recommends plant spacing be 12 inches apart, plant one plant per square foot. If 6 inch spacing; 4 per square foot. If 4 inch spacing; 9 per square foot. If 3 inch spacing; 16 per square foot. It’s simple math. Plant one or two seeds in each spot by making a shallow hole with your finger. Cover, but do not pack the soil. Thinning is all but eliminated since you don’t need to over seed with this method. You’ll be tempted to over plant with this method but fight that urge. Plant only as much of any one crop as you will actually use. Remember that this 4 foot by 4 foot box will grow more than a conventional garden that is 8 foot by 10 foot.
Once the plants are ready to harvest, harvest continually. When a crop in one square is gone, add some new compost and plant a new different crop in that square. Every square foot in your box should be full, all the time.
There you have the basics of an SFG garden.
That’s all for this edition of my Chicago Garden. my Chicago Garden is a production of AllisonHouse LLC, copyright 2007 and comes to you from my apartment in the Edgewater neighhood on the northside of Chicago. Music provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network. Check it out at music.podshow.com. I’m Tyler Allison and I hope you have a little bit of nature in YOUR own backyard. Thanks for listening.
