A Christmas gift a year ago was the book, " All New Square Foot Gardening 
There are few varieties on the theme, such as cubed foot, or square inch. I haven't read them and can't comment on them.
Framed
The last step I've taken is to staple the weed barrier to the frame. Not part of plan in the book, I just thought it would be easier to drop it in place.
Then, cleared out a spot in garden to place it.
A few other posts online:
Square Foot Gardening is a pretty quick read, easy to understand, and leaves you eager to break ground, even mid-January.
I've assembled a schedule along with the seeds/plants I plan to start. I will share that separately.
Framed
Although the concept allows for configuring the boxes as much as the user would like, the default design is a 4' x 4' square, broken up into 16 squares. Mel, the author, advocates using scrap and recycled materials where possible. With that intent (that's the way I roll, anyway) I headed to The ReBuilding Center, on N. Mississippi, here in Portland. They deal in reclaimed materials. A piece of advice to potential visitors; it's not like a visit to Home Depot. Not a heater in the place. So if you're going in early February, bundle up, have a warm drink, and don't let the kids get too chilly.
I was browsing around the center to get some ideas for materials; boards to frame the boxes and poles to support tomato and squash plants mainly.
Approaching hyporthermia, I quickly laid claim to four pieces of tongue and groove cedar 2x6's, splattered with plaster and cement. At fifty cents a foot, it's hard to complain. I had to borrow a tape measure so that I could measure Nolan's height, and have him stand against the boards so I could make sure everything was longer than four feet.
These sat in the car for another week. Over the course of a few evenings, I cut them to length, pre-drilled the ends, and built a square. Come to find out that this is some really tough wood; I sheared the points from two Phillips bits getting those screws in.
Each piece was cut to 49.5 inches. Each corner was then framed as a flush corner joint, each board has an end exposed and one covered. This leaves a four foot square on the inside.I was browsing around the center to get some ideas for materials; boards to frame the boxes and poles to support tomato and squash plants mainly.
Approaching hyporthermia, I quickly laid claim to four pieces of tongue and groove cedar 2x6's, splattered with plaster and cement. At fifty cents a foot, it's hard to complain. I had to borrow a tape measure so that I could measure Nolan's height, and have him stand against the boards so I could make sure everything was longer than four feet.
These sat in the car for another week. Over the course of a few evenings, I cut them to length, pre-drilled the ends, and built a square. Come to find out that this is some really tough wood; I sheared the points from two Phillips bits getting those screws in.
The last step I've taken is to staple the weed barrier to the frame. Not part of plan in the book, I just thought it would be easier to drop it in place.
What's Next
Acquire the materials for "Mel's Mix", equal parts compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. Mel advises a mix of different composts. He concedes that there are environmental issues with peat moss, but suggests that you end up using fewer resources following this method. (I will still consider other fillers.) And that vermiculite is not to be feared. The asbestos controversy is long resolved. It is difficult to track down in any quantity though, but I think I'll be able to get some at a local hydroponics shop, that just happens to be decorated with rasta colors.A few other posts online:
- J.D. at Get Rich Slowly provides an intro to square foot gardening.
- Being Frugal on Building a Square Foot Garden
- Farmer Brown's Page on SFG
- Wired.com's how-to site on SFG.
- Frugal Dad on SFG.
3 comments:
Hey, Joe, great write-up! Your frame is much simpler (and easier to build) than the one my husband built a couple of years ago. It'll be great to see how it progresses. Thanks!
- KAB, GoodStuffNW
Cool, I've been using SFG here in Australia too. You've motivated me to write something up about it!
I was going to suggest a hydroponic shop for vermiculite, but I see you've already hit on that idea. Just remember to say "man" and "dude" a lot and they won't suspect a thing :-).
Instead of peat moss, I've been using stuff called coco peat (also coir). From what I can tell, it's chopped up coconut husks. It comes in compressed bricks that swell to 10 times their size when soaked in water, which makes for some great water-holding ability in your growing mix. It seems to work as well as peat moss from what I can tell.
For the compost component, I've just been using my own backyard mix - stable sweepings (sawdust and horse manure), lawn clippings, chicken manure, mushroom compost, and garden clippings/prunings put through a shredder. It seems to work great. I also add a bit of blood and bone and some rock dust to ensure the mix has lots of trace minerals.
@Darren,
I specifically sought out coir, but could not locate it in any quantity nearby.
The peat moss I've used is from Canada, which, according to what I've read, does not have the depletion problems of peat from the UK.
I also have been composting for about a year, and should be able to keep the box replenished with my own.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to reading up on your progress.
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