Hey everybody!!!!

Hi,
I just wandered around online and found this forum.  I hope to gain lots of information about SFG's.  I had 1 garden last year and focused mainly on kale with a few containers around the porch.  This year I expanded and have 4 SFG's and a few more containers for the veggies. 

Found out I have a thyroid issue, so that is really getting me moving on eating healthier and trying to grow my own food.  I have so much to learn and figure out when to plant, etc.  I am from SC so I went to the Clemson extension and printed out what to plant and when for my area.  Sure could have used that before I planted this spring but I was very excited to get started. 

I have already made mistakes im sure off and a journal is used for what I harvest to better plan next year.  Zucchini is going to be the end of me.  Tried yellow squash before in a container and the squash borer got it, so I planted 6 zucchini this year and so far only 2 very small zuc's and the plants just don't look well.

I am looking forward to learning from yall and sharing the excitement of beautiful gardens!

Have a great day

Hokie_paw, Welcome to the Forum from California! I think this Forum is a great place to learn and the folks are friendly. We love photos, so please show us what you have. Photos also help with diagnosing problems. Have you read All New Square Foot Gardening, 1st or 2nd Edition, by Mel Bartholomew? Valuable, virtually indispensable for anyone wanting to do SFG. Like you, many of us just want to eat better.

hey sanderson,
I have the 1st square foot gardening book by mel Bartholomew and a book with questions and answers from him.  I need to figure out what veggies grow the best where I live.  I had 27 bush beans and I thought I would have had a lot more produce for that many plants.  I started planning my mid-late summer squares last night and realized I didn't do a good job at all with that last time. I am considered central south Carolina region by Clemson extension.  Its a great resource for anybody else from SC that I just referenced if anybody asks you.
Have a great evening

Hey Hokie.....Welcome from the Northeast.
You'll want to check into the threads for possibly the Middle South which might be your area of gardening.  They'll have lots of info on those threads you can check out.  My weather and gardening is entirely different from what you experience so I can't help very much other than to wish you well. 
But all of us, whether gardening a long time or newbies, have some failures.  Its part of being a gardener.  But we just don't give up.

Welcome hokie!

I like the first book a lot. The second one makes dramatic changes, and you would probably find it very worthwhile. Both are good, but the second one is a worthwhile update.

Good luck on your squash! I am about the only person I've met who can't grow zucchini, so I know it can be aggravating not to be able to grow the stuff when everyone else seems to do it with ease!

Welcome, hokie!  I am a newbie to these boards, and a re-boot to SFG, back from a long and painful, veggie-sparse, weedy hiatus!  I too have the first book, and got the 2nd Ed. from the library.   Interesting to compare the changes he made, improvements, really.  

Glad you are here, these folks are amazing, and everyone has a little different twist on things!

hokie_paw wrote:I have the 1st square foot gardening book by mel Bartholomew and a book with questions and answers from him.

Just want to clarify.  All New Square Foot Gardening, 1st or 2nd (2013)  Editions.  I loaned out the 1st Ed to a neighbor so I can't reference what the publish date is.  

I need to figure out what veggies grow the best where I live.

Folks in your Region will be your best source month by month.  Does the Clemson extension have a planting guide for your general area?

When you have a moment, could you edit your profile Location to include the closest city/town so folks have a sense of where you are gardening?  Thanks

PS Is the title of your topic from 2 Broke Girls?

hokie_paw  
from Kelejan  

I read the first edition when I started and the day before I was about to start digging I went on to the Internet, found this site, and saved myself a lot of hard work.
Just as well as my land really is just a layer of rocks washed down by glaciers a little before my time and there is no deep soil.  Plant your spade  two inches and one hits a rock.  I live along the Columbia River in British Columbia.

Hey,
I hope this doesn't end up as a duplicate post.  Thought I hit the send button.  Oh well,  I have  not read the All New square foot  book, mine is the first book.  I will have to see if my library has it or if I need to go to the bookstore.  The Clemson extension does have a planting guide and SC has 3 regions which it tells you by the county you live in.  Each region is divided into spring and fall.

I didn't take the title line from the 2broke.. that you mentioned.  Do I need to change it?  Thanks for all the hey's.

Have a great day

hokie_paw wrote:I have  not read the All New square foot  book, mine is the first book.  I will have to see if my library has it or if I need to go to the bookstore.

Yikes, read All New before you do anything more!

I didn't take the title line from the 2broke.. that you mentioned.

It's fine

I agree wit sanderson, read All New before you do anything else ASAP!  I got it from the local library, and intend to buy it.  I mistakenly keep referring to it as 2nd Ed. but it is All New...first book, 1981, All New is 2005?

Hey,
I was able to get the All New 2nd edition from the book store today.  I am in the process of reading it. Thanks all for taking the time to reply.  I did get some screen mesh today and we are going to build a cage around 1 of the gardens that can be lifted off as needed.  LOL I feel like I am obsessing over the garden and planning now for a better fall harvest.

Have a great evening

Glad you got the ALL-New 2nd Edition, Hokie-Paw, as it really will save you a lot of work.

I am so excited, Imjust ordered the All New 2nd Ed. from Amazon!  My library had the original SFG, and the All New, but not the AN2d.  Can't wait!

I have both the old and new SFG books as well as the book about making cash from your garden.

Just because the raised bed is the current SFG method, it does not mean that the original method no longer has merit.

Personally, I love working in the 60X2 original 120SF bed with real soil amended with compost.  Over the years, I would estimate that it is now 18-24 inches deep in composted materials, and on the whole, plants grown in this plot do better than anything else we have. 

Currently, we have squash and zucchini in containers, in raised beds, and in old square foot level plots.  All are doing well and producing fruit.  The containers produce smaller fruit and produce it less frequently, and the weight of the plants sometimes knocks it over when it is really windy.

The raised bed zucchini is basically a no-hassle getup.  It is like a portrait hanging on the wall in your living room.  You only need to admire it, as there is so little work required to maintain it that you almost take it for granted.

The original SFG method is still my favorite, because it forces me to move my fat butt and belly and actually use muscles and sweat enough to render some of those lipids.  I will work out there while thinking to myself that I am Oliver Wendall Douglas in Hooterville.  As a matter of fact, the misses and I are headed back outside now to get some fresh air, or a reasonable facsimile therof, as Nashville has something other than fresh air.  You can see the air 20 feet away from you; it is an abstract painting of yellow, gray, and brown.

Razed Bed wrote:...Just because the raised bed is the current SFG method, it does not mean that the original method no longer has merit...

...The original SFG method is still my favorite, because it forces me to move my fat butt and belly and actually use muscles and sweat enough to render some of those lipids....

Very true.  Every gardening method has its advantages and disadvantages.  

You're an anomaly though!  Nearly all the original SFG method gardeners that show up here express their appreciation for how much less work the new SFG method is.

6-7 years ago, I used to joke about my TTs, that although I was in good health, I was preparing for the day that my knees started to go.   That day has arrived sooner than I expected, and I'm grateful that I've minimized the amount of gardening I do on the ground.

Razed Bed wrote:I have both the old and new SFG books as well as the book about making cash from your garden.

The original SFG method is still my favorite, because it forces me to move my fat butt and belly and actually use muscles and sweat enough to render some of those lipids.  I will work out there while thinking to myself that I am Oliver Wendall Douglas in Hooterville. 

I love that show! Matt Groenig, creater of The Simpsons, says that's his favorite old show and that it still remains weird even to this day. I agree ... it's still wacky! Such a fun show and talented cast.

Hi Hokie_paw.  Welcome from Atlanta, GA.  I MAY be your Regional Host....

Sorry I haven't responded before now.  Was gone for a few days.

I've read all of the editions Mel has put out.  They get better & easier each time!

Feel free to ask questions!  And be sure to check out the archives.  There's LOTS of good, practical info there!

Hi hokie-paw!  I'm in Atlanta, so we're regional neighbors. 

I'm dreadfully new to gardening, too.  I started off this year with a mish-mash of ideas from different container gardening websites, and then I found this forum.  I ordered my SFG 2nd ed. book last week and read it through when it got here.  I really wish I'd come across this method first, as several of my "cute" or "cheap" container plants just aren't doing all that great.

Good luck with your garden.  

Thanks Marc.  I thought we were the only ones who can't grow zucchini. We sure miss it.

And yes, I put the equivalent of two tabletops in when we first moved to this house 12 years ago.  One of my best investments ever.