My first square foot garden (pics!)

I have two 2x8 beds along the back of the house. In this first one I have cilantro, spinach, bush beans, lettuce (I hope! It's the only thing that hasn't sprouted yet), green onions, parsley, marigolds and a cantaloupe (my 3 year old picked that one, we'll see...)



In box #2 I have peas, cucumbers, a summer squash, more marigolds, corn and a mini pumpkin. The last two were also kid selections and while I'm not sure if we'll have any corn or pumpkins by the end of the season, they're having fun watching them grow.



We also have a tomato plant and a serrano pepper plant in pots.





So far so good!

I've made some progress in the past week. I've gotten frames installed for two of five trellises. Hope to have the others finished Thursday or Friday. Maybe I can get the netting up on Saturday. I put in more tomato plants and eggplants. My first crop of radishes sprouted 14 of 16 so far. I plan to put in another square this weekend. Goldrush bush beans are peeking out, and I should have some little plants tomorrow. I have to look for some images of turnip and beet seedlings, but I think they might be coming up too. For a garden that didn't even exist two weeks ago, I'm thrilled. I hope to have pics Saturday or Sunday.

Your boxes are so nice and neat!

Corn was a kid selection at our house too. If you're planting corn in MN, then I should be okay in WI. The mini pumpkins should be fun.

That's a lovely garden you've started! to the forum cjoy, I look forward to watching your garden grow.

Thanks, everybody!

Do you have room to spread your pumpkin leaves out well beyond your box? They get huge, even the small ones. I put in New England Pie Pumpkin last year, in my community garden beds, and the vines and leaves are huge. With a small area, you can pinch off the vines beyond where your first fruits are starting so the energy can go into the fruit and not making new vines.



Above: NE Pie Pumpkin leaves from 3 plants.

@cjoy.....If you can, train them up and over that fence you have around your bed and into the yard.

If you have only a few sqs of corn, then make sure you pollinate by hand. Just brush a makeup brush or a small duster over the tassels at the top of the stalks onto the silks forming below. Do this a few times a day for several days because tassels produce pollen only at certain times and you want to be sure to spread some of it on the silks.

Cucumbers have huge leaves as well so another good one to train over the fence if you don't have a trellis.



Above: My Pickling cukes from last summer.

Welcome newbies. We love to see newcomers to our forum. This is the way to grow your own healthy food. And the kids love helping.

Thanks for the tips, quiltbea! I have plans to get some trellises in this weekend or next. I'm a little nervous about that pumpkin - it's one of the mini ornamental ones, so I have no idea how big it's going to get. That cage pops right off if things start gettingg crazy in there. lol.

awesome pictures! that's great having the children involved. they will certainly enjoy seeing the harvest.