Just starting in Minnesota!

karen58 4/26/2012, 9:58 pm

Confession! I have never had a garden. Brand new to this. About time i start and this seems like something i can do??? In my 50s and work full time (and then some) at a hospital.

Anyway, bare with me if i embarass myself, but i think this is a place to learn, correct?

I have the book...wish me luck! tongue

Chopper 4/26/2012, 10:08 pm

Yes, this and your backyard are the places to learn. Do yourself a favor and get the book - All New Square Foot Gardening if you do not have it already. It will get your learning curve moving as fast as possible. Then just do it. Year one you learn a lot. ANd by year three you will be an expert - at SFG anyway. Trust me, I have seen it happen over and over right here.

Just don't skimp on the Mel's Mix and you should be OK. It is as easy a system as you will ever experience. And the only thing I would have done differently is to consider doing table top gardens rather than in ground because of the back and knee issues (I am 56). Other than that, it is foolproof. At least this fool couldn't screw it up.

karen58 4/26/2012, 10:16 pm

Thanks for the advice. I do have the book and raising them up off the ground sounds like a good idea! I am only going to try green beans (bush), strawberries, and lettuce this first year. These are the main things i love. If i could grow an orange tree up here i would do that too. Smile

brenda g 4/26/2012, 10:33 pm

Hello and welcome! I'm new to the SFG method as well, and so excited about it! I think you'll find everyone here to be very friendly and helpful but a warning: this forum is habit forming!

Good to see someone else here from up north, 'eh'! Wink

Best of luck with your new endeavor - and lookin forward to hearing about your progress!

zomo 4/26/2012, 11:54 pm

Welcome! I think I might have some insight into embarrassing things to do. I have managed to make a couple (maybe more than a couple ) of mistakes. The good news if you learn from your mistakes then you tend to remember what not to do. I tend to learn things the hard way LOL I am sure that you will do really well. I am a special case Laughing

givvmistamps 4/27/2012, 12:18 am

You're in the right place to learn! You're doing well to start
small...that's just what Mel recommends. You'll likely find, though,
that once you have some success you're going to want a lot more
gardening space and a chance to try growing a larger variety of things. This gets very addictive very quickly! :drunken:

If you can raise your beds up, do. It would make things so much easier for me if I could've done that, and I've already put in a request to my husband that current boxes be put on legs and future boxes be waist-high. I'd like to only have 1'x4' boxes on the ground eventually, so I can grow my vining veggies in those boxes, then put everything else in table top (TT) boxes.

Sponsored content

Just starting in Minnesota!

Just starting in Minnesota!

Re: Just starting in Minnesota!

Re: Just starting in Minnesota!

Re: Just starting in Minnesota!

Re: Just starting in Minnesota!

Re: Just starting in Minnesota!

Re: Just starting in Minnesota!


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.