starting again

I have been doing SFG for years, but gave up gardening when my kids left home. But now they are coming back home with their kids and it is time for me to teach my grandkids about gardening. I now live in Tulsa OK in a new home and need to make new beds. this time I will make them out of vinyl 4x4 foot and only 6 inches deep. My old boxes were 12 inches deep and made out of wood and they were 4x8 foot. I am older now and I am going to learn from my past mistakes in the garden.

Welcome back to gardening. You're never too old for SFG. I started at 67 and find its a big part of my life now, and I love every minute of it. My old bones can handle SFG.

Hi JF,
Welcome back into the fold .
Squarefoot gardening has moved on a heck of a lot since 1981, its morphed into , " All New Square Foot Gardening ".

Mel had a relook at what he said in his original book of 1981 and as a result did a second book with the above title in 2005.
There are some important changes , this site really runs well using only the new book .
It is a worthwhile investment and can be purchased in the site shop .

The biggest change is that it has moved from an earth based growing medium into a three element one for the initial set up , which uses peat moss or an acceptable substitute , vermiculite & a balanced compost mix .

There after to replenishing lost goodness with a balanced compost made of five difffering elements of composted manures & vegetation .

It's all in the new book & the best thing is it works well. It is much easier work than moving earth around in the beds

The guys and gals on site are good as well some have been using the new way for several years , in this aspect I'm just a baby who is changing over to it in all my beds .

1st thing I did was buy the new book and I have already got 3 items I need for the mix for my first 2 boxes. I got the idea for the vinyl boxes from websites of other sfg and when I sold my farm I kept 3500 foot of new 6 inch vinyl rails and posts so i am ready to start building before spring gets here.

Hi JfKelly001 !

to the forum. As plantoid says, the new method will make things a breeze. Smart cookie you were for keeping that vinyl...

when I sold my farm I kept 3500 foot of new 6 inch vinyl rails and
posts so i am ready to start building before spring gets here.

Looks like you could start another farm with all that vinyl....only this time a SFG'ning one

Pls post pics if you can and/or share your stories as things get going/

jfkelly

Glad to see you back in gardening.
Since you gave up gardening when the kids left, I think you will be really suprised at how easy the new system is.

Next to no weeds, no double digging (that was a real killer for me) and such a great growing medium.

You are really going to like it here. We have a great group of people and we love comparing notes as well as helping each other out.

jfkelly001 wrote:1st thing I did was buy the new book and I have already got 3 items I need for the mix for my first 2 boxes. I got the idea for the vinyl boxes from websites of other sfg and when I sold my farm I kept 3500 foot of new 6 inch vinyl rails and posts so i am ready to start building before spring gets here.

It is easy to see you are one smart cookie.