Hello from Chicago!

Hi everyone, I am a new user of this forum & I just wanted to introduce myself. I've been interested in square foot gardening for the better part of 20 years, but have only used the system in its entirety in the last couple of years. Prior to moving to a smaller city lot I used raised beds but didn't always use dividers or follow plant spacing as closely. My husband made me two very nice 4 x 4 beds with divider grids and I've been using the seed spacing as recommended in the the Square Foot Gardening Book. I also have about 30' long space for growing vertically in containers; I use the same seed spacing as I do for the squares and have had good results with peas, pole beans, and runner beans.

My favorite thing about the system is how little maintenance is required for how many vegetables I get-even with the smaller space, I still get plenty of veggies. This year I'm giving a talk on edible landscaping and square foot gardens to my local garden club, so I'm trying to pick some pretty/colorful vegetable varieties. Some include rubine brussel sprouts, purple peacock broccoli, bright lights chard, a colorful lettuce mix, and purple mustard greens. I also like scarlet & painted lady runner beans, and this year found a new pink runner bean. My ideal vegetables are heirlooms that are tasty, nutritious, smell nice and pretty enough to be used as an ornamental! I have also been trying to get varieties that are a bit smaller and mature earlier; so I can plant more over the course of the season. I don't have a lot of room to add more beds so I've decided to try extending my season with hoops and a cold frame. I'd love to hear about varieties other gardeners have been trying.

Love the description of the colorful garden you have planned! Very interesting post and I look forward to more from you. Have a great day!

oh, wow! so glad you found these forums! please do share pics of what you've grown/are growing and those varieties are making me drool! they sound delightful for all senses!

i am looking forward to learning from you!

i'm on second year of sfg and we are hooked big time!

Love your post--I'm doing my first square foot garden in Chicago this year, and am just starting to look for Vermiculite. Any ideas?

Hello Chicagoans ,

Welcome to the forums! I hope you will check into the Northern and Central Midwest Regional Forum too. There is a lot of local chatter there.

Glad you found us. We're happy to hear from you and look forward to your posts and pictures.