New Member

Greetings from the N.E. Cumberland Plateau! I've been an avid gardener for many years. Growing anything teaches me humility, patience, and tolerance. I look forward to learning from the more knowledgeable members, as well as, the fresh views of people exploring gardening for the first time.

We grow veggies, fruits, flowers and landscape plants. My first love is growing and using herbs. I'm interested in wild edibles and believe in learning to live in harmony with our environment. Minimal maintenance gives me more time to "smell the roses."

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

Do you currently use the Square Foot Gardening method? If so, do you use the original or new method?

We sure do learn a lot from our gardens don't we?

Kim

Welcome sustainabilly. Less maintenance is why SFG is so great. When you don't have to double dig or till your garden, you don't bring up dormant weed seeds. That means lots less weeding with SFG.

Taking our clues from Mother Nature has always been a priority for me.

I'm hoping to learn things from you regarding herbs. I'm not a herb person but want to know more. I grow them in pots since few are tolerant of our long, cold winters in Maine. Welcome.

Hi Kim and quiltbea and thanks. I don't currently utilize sfg practices per se. I'm blessed with an abundance of gardening/growing space. I've read some sfg forum postings in the past and felt that this forum included members who use critical thinking skills to solve problems and get results.

I probably use some of the same concepts, albeit on a larger scale, in my personal garden plan. I am in the midst of a fallow year in my main (3200 sqft) garden. The soil is severely depleted. I have buckwheat growing now and will seed with white clover after that.

When I'm done with rebuilding, most things will be grown in intensively planted blocks with biodiversity and soil conservation/health as key components. I'll be trying to incorporate companion planting, beneficial attractants, living mulch, and aesthetic beauty into a working garden/outdoor room concept. Ideally this will minimize bare earth areas, the use of extra fertilizer, and pesticides.

Quiltbea, one of the things that I've discovered about herbs is that they can be added to landscape plans in more zones than people realize. Some are very hardy perennials. Some are annuals that add flower or foliage accents, as well as fragrance, to beds or patios in short season areas. For instance, I never knew how attractive common sage could be until the second year it grew. It has very long lasting spikes of lilac/purple blooms which our bees love.

Thanks, I'll have to think sage and plant that in my flower beds. I'm decreasing my rose space since Japanese beetles devastate any new roses. I'm thinking perennials that can survive in my area.

Welcome to this great forum! Glad u found it! Glad u are here! I am also gardening in Morgan County, Coalfield to be exact. Love the area! I look forward to hearing what you plan on growing. My garden is up and going. Do you have a lot of deer in your area? Let us know how it's going with you.

Welcome to the forum, it would be a neat comparison if you added on 4x4 complete with MM to you garden! I love learning from our gardens, I would love to see pictures of yours!

michellentn, Yes, there are deer. Aren't there always? As well as turkey, raccoons, rabbits, and squirrels. I've taken to wrapping my peach tree with bird netting to keep the tree rats off of the young peaches. A couple of years ago they cleaned me out! Solar powered electric fence keeps most other offenders away from big garden. Not planting much this year. My other gardens will have peppers, tomatoes, onions, squash, lettuce, radishes, and herbs.

cheyannarach, I'm afraid you have me at a loss. You'll have to dumb it down and tell me what you mean, not having bought the book. As far as pics, I'm kinda low tech. No digital camera. My son has a phone that takes pics but, they're not very good. And, I wouldn't have the first clue how to post them. Not that I couldn't learn, but you have to understand, your talking to a "two finger" typist. You know?

Okay, MM = Mel's mix which is a combination 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/2 compost (a blend of 5 different types, unless you make your own then you can just use that.) A 4x4 is a raised 16 square foot box. Mel's mix is for intensive gardening you would plant it with what ever you want for example:

Radish beets carrots marigold

lettuce spinach Broccoli lettuce

cabbage onion marigold chard

tomato tomato beans beans

Each veggie is a square foot. It is great for succession planting. The tomatoes and beens would be on a trellis on the North side so not to shade out the other veggies! It is very fun and would be an excellent addition to your garden. The MM is very loose and friable and high in nutrients and the peat and vermiculite help retain water. It is all the enjoyment of gardening with less watering, weeding, and work.

Welcome.

The ALL NEW SQUAREFOOT GARDENING book is the how to manual used and promoted by members of this forum. If you are interested, stop in at your local library and see if they have a copy. I first saw the book at my local Lowes and sat right in the store leafing through until I decided it looked like something I wanted to try. I bought the book, found out about this forum and haven't looked back. At my age and with my bad knees, I needed something other than the traditional type of gardening. All of my growing beds are raised up on cinderblocks to about hip or waist height, what we affectionally call tabletops or TTs.

Who knows, we might be able to teach an experienced gardener a few new tricks.
And learn some from you.
Kay

Walshevak; Great suggestion, Kay. As it happens, I went to the library earlier and got them to borrow a copy. Should be digesting it in a few days. From what I've learned so far, there's valuable info there. I think I'll find myself being informed from this site more than I'll be informing. Thanks!

Karl

sustainabilly wrote:Walshevak; Great suggestion, Kay. As it happens, I went to the library earlier and got them to borrow a copy. Should be digesting it in a few days. From what I've learned so far, there's valuable info there. I think I'll find myself being informed from this site more than I'll be informing. Thanks!

Karl

Hi Karl,

Welcome to the site may your time here be happy , amusing , enlightened and enlightening .

There are two Square foot gardening books by Mel Bartholomew

The edition you need is the " All New Square Foot Gardening " book 2006 edition as shown at the top of the home page , it has movred on up wards considerably since the first book was printed , for we now use a soil less growth mediumn instead of mother earth soil .

It has many advantages and can be applied almost anywhere in the world that will support growth of plants .

Going back to the home page .....on the right hand side at the top is a brief for experienced gardeners ( I class myself in those words ) click on the link at the bottom of the paragraph .. I've found it very helpful and have learnt far more than about certain aspects of growing things and spacings than I ever did whilst slogging my guts out digging rotovating and ploughing soil for crops . But it did take a paradigm shift in my thinking and learning how to be open minded on my part.