Subject: Square Foot Gardening - One Explanation

From: [email-masked] ()
Date: 29 Mar 1995 16:24:19 GMT

I received e-mail recently from another reader of this newsgroup, asking me
what Square Foot Gardening was.  I had referenced it in something that I wrote,
and this person was curious.  For the benefit of anybody else who might want
to hear a brief description of Square Foot Gardening, I am posting my reply
here for the general population....

[ NOTE - This is my understanding of what Square Foot Gardening is, based 
on having read the book with that name, and having tried to implement these 
methods last year in my own garden.  If you really want to know what it is 
without my interpretation getting in the way, check out the book of that 
name... its pretty easy reading and is very informative. ]

   Square Foot Gardening is, as some folks have implied, the name of a
   book that was written to go along with a PBS gardening special that
   used to run.  I don't know if its still on, but I haven't seen it in
   the Boston area recently.  
   
   The author is proposing what some folks see as a major change in
   gardening style.  His feeling is that most people have late summer
   trouble with their gardens because the work is just too much - either
   too much to do, or just too intimidating to even try to get started -
   so things like weeding and such fall away by late summer.  This led
   him to start using a 1'x1' square as his model for gardening - hence
   the name Square Foot Gardening.  His teaching is that most people
   plant too much and take too much space to do it.  By planting fewer
   plants, and by putting them closer, he teaches folks to have a more
   productive garden.  He takes his 1' squares and combines them into
   4'x4' or 4'x8' plots and works his garden that way.  Its sort of a
   modified raised bed, if you want to look at it that way.  He doesn't
   really talk much about making these plots into raised beds, but they
   are treated much the same - relatively intense planting and extensive
   use of trellises.
   
   The theory is that 4'x4' plots are fairly easy to manage - you don't
   have to step into the planting area to care for it - and because the
   plants are closer, you are supposed to use less water.   The other
   part of the theory looks at vegetable yield per area of ground,
   instead of per plant.  I got smaller heads of broccoli than I expected
   last year, but then again, I had 12 plants in a 3'x4' plot, so I still
   had a good yield for the amount of space it took.  And for root
   veggies like carrots and parsnips, it was great.  I had 16 plants per
   square foot, and because I planted them in a grid fashion, I didn't
   have to spend any time at all thinning them out.  If you've ever spent
   time thinning carrots, you'll understand how exciting that is.
   
   For example, many of us have planted rows of beans, and then had
   trouble keeping up with weeding and picking and such.  He proposes
   planting bush beans such that there are about 9 plants per square
   foot.  Basically, visualize cutting this 1' square into a 3x3 grid,
   sort of like a tic-tac-toe board, and then put a bean plant in the
   middle of each section.   With the bean plants that close, by the time
   they start to grow multiple leaves, they are close enough to mostly
   crowd out the weeds, and that combined with judicious mulching will
   basically eliminate the weed problem.
   
   For cukes, he proposes 8 plants per square foot.  That, combined with
   a trellis, gives you a great vertical cuke patch that is easy to care
   for, has less trouble with weeds and bugs, and is easy to harvest from
   as well.  I planted about 12' of cukes last year using this method and
   it was great.  
   
   He proposes the same sort of vertical growing for anything that will
   grow that way - melons, squash, tomatoes, etc.  And yes, vines will
   grow to handle the weight of most moderate sized squash.  For medium
   sized plants like broccoli, eggplant, peppers, etc, he proposes 1
   plant per square foot.  For larger bush plants like zucchini, he
   proposes 1 plant per 9 squares, or planting 1 zucchini hill in the
   middle of a 3'x3' plot.  Even that uses less space than traditional
   rows - at least it did for me.
   
   His book has lots of pointers on all this stuff, along with suggested
   planting density for lots of stuff - see if you can borrow a copy to
   check it out - you may decide its worth owning, but at the very least,
   its worth browsing through it once or twice.
   
   I planted my whole garden using that method last year, and I was able
   to get a larger variety of plants in the same space with at least the
   same yield, probably better, though I really didn't take any serious
   measurements on that.
   
I hope this helps a little.  
   
- Tom

---

From: Karen Russell <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 20:23:15 -0800

The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation by Michael
Dirr and Charles Heuser is full of good general directions and specific 
information for different plants.
Karen

On Mon, 27 Mar 1995, Leo Alls wrote:

>   Is there anyone that can tell me the hows, wheres, and whats on
> growing trees from cuttings or of a book that gives very good
> instructions/information on this subject.  
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> 
>

---

From: [email-masked] ()
Date: 29 Mar 1995 16:24:19 GMT

- Tom

---

From: Karen Russell <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 20:23:15 -0800

---

From: [email-masked] (Mbwa Baka)
Date: 30 Mar 1995 18:10:01 -0500

Thanks for the extensive reply - very helpful!  I am looking forward to
trying the method when I move into my new place.  Amy

---

From: [email-masked] (Mbwa Baka)
Date: 30 Mar 1995 18:10:01 -0500