About grids, etc.

While viewing the photos of the great looking SFG beds, I see beds made from many varied materials and shapes and sizes which is okay to do. Then I read that the grids must be made either of wood or vinyl or else it's not a Square Foot Garden. Why is this so important? It seems to me that as long the beds are marked off in 1ft x 1ft squares it would still be a Square Foot Garden. Thanks for any forthcoming opinions.

Wood or vinyl??? Hmm...makes no sense to me. Originally Mel scraped lines in the dirt to show the grids. I've also seen string & yarn. I use whatever is handy - bamboo, twigs, anything semi straight.



Woops...I took this photo before finding a middle stick straight enuff to use. But it's in there now.

CC

ramblinjerry wrote:While viewing the photos of the great looking SFG beds, I see beds made from many varied materials and shapes and sizes which is okay to do. Then I read that the grids must be made either of wood or vinyl or else it's not a Square Foot Garden. Why is this so important? It seems to me that as long the beds are marked off in 1ft x 1ft squares it would still be a Square Foot Garden. Thanks for any forthcoming opinions.

Oh dear... I am afraid you have been misled somewhere along the way...It's not a SFG unless it has a grid.

The grid can be made from what ever works for you. The wooden ones look great in the book, but are not required.

camprn wrote:

ramblinjerry wrote:While viewing the photos of the great looking SFG beds, I see beds made from many varied materials and shapes and sizes which is okay to do. Then I read that the grids must be made either of wood or vinyl or else it's not a Square Foot Garden. Why is this so important? It seems to me that as long the beds are marked off in 1ft x 1ft squares it would still be a Square Foot Garden. Thanks for any forthcoming opinions.

Oh dear... I am afraid you have been misled somewhere along the way...It's not a SFG unless it has a grid.

The grid can be made from what ever works for you. The wooden ones look great in the book, but are not required.

For your home SFG anything goes for grids. I do believe for the SFG contests there are guidelines as to what can be used for the grids tho'. If you are not entering your garden in one of the contests, you can even just scratch your grid in the MM as your guide before putting in your seeds. That's what I did this year - used the nails in the wood from holding my yarn grid from last year as the marking points and pulled a stick from one side to the other until I had all my boxes 'carved' into squares. Then I planted away!

GG

PS - Truth is I was just too lazy to pull out the yarn and strap up 7 boxes! I think next year I will use a living grid of lettuce, radishes, and some flowers.

Goosegirl wrote: I do believe for the SFG contests there are guidelines as to what can be used for the grids tho'.

GG

There are SFG Contests? really?

camprn wrote:

Goosegirl wrote: I do believe for the SFG contests there are guidelines as to what can be used for the grids tho'.

GG

There are SFG Contests? really?

Yes'm. The foundation has several going on and there are some grid guidelines.

For your reading pleasure
http://www.melbartholomew.com/sfg-contests/

I find the grids a pain in the booty when I am preparing the beds, putting them to bed in the fall, etc. Last year I went by the book and used thin slats to mark off my beds. They were very difficult to weed under and yes I had weeds despite using MM and using weed barriers. I have bermuda grass that is a constant problem. I then took up the slats and used mason string. That worked okay but was still in the way when i needed to add compost, mulch etc.

This year I marked my beds from the edges and layed down straight edges to plant properly and then picked them up after planting. My beds are still very much a SFG, just without visible grids. I dare to be different .

Heidi

most of our beds are 8x2. We have "scored" 2 foot increments into the boards, so we can visually see the squares since the beds are narrow. I found the slugs and sow bugs lived under the grids laying on the soil.

ramblinjerry wrote:While viewing the photos of the great looking SFG beds, I see beds made from many varied materials and shapes and sizes which is okay to do. Then I read that the grids must be made either of wood or vinyl or else it's not a Square Foot Garden. Why is this so important? It seems to me that as long the beds are marked off in 1ft x 1ft squares it would still be a Square Foot Garden. Thanks for any forthcoming opinions.

There has been and will continue to be debate over the use of grids. Mel says to have a true SFg you must have a grid, yet many people use string and other material to mark out a 1x1 foot area in ones garden.

Last year I used screws in the edges of the boards around my garden and just used string. it worked and the upside is if you want to add more material to all your squares you just cut the string or twine and amend your garden, but dealing with twines can be troublesome as well. Last year I was harvesting and inadvertantly cut a line and had to install a new one; also when the crops mature it is difficult to see your 1x1 squares.

This year I built a wooden grid and and considering putting dowels in the 2x4s so I can removed it if needed; this is my fall project.

southern gardener wrote:most of our beds are 8x2. We have "scored" 2 foot increments into the boards, so we can visually see the squares since the beds are narrow. I found the slugs and sow bugs lived under the grids laying on the soil.

I never thought about the slugs and sow bugs. Thanks for bringing that up. I find them all the time is I pick up old lumber from a pile in my yard.

the obvious reason not to use screws and nails wrapped with string is a matter of safety. if you going to run string you need to use screw eylets since they are safer with no sharp edges and snagging hazards. I learned this hard way before i took the seminar.
Also string comes off if just rapped around screws and nails.
As for not using nails and screws they said that in square foot seminar and it came straight from mel or so the teacher said.

thegreatcob wrote:the obvious reason not to use screws and nails wrapped with string is a matter of safety. if you going to run string you need to use screw eylets since they are safer with no sharp edges and snagging hazards. I learned this hard way before i took the seminar.
Also string comes off if just rapped around screws and nails.
As for not using nails and screws they said that in square foot seminar and it came straight from mel or so the teacher said.

Hi the greatcob to the SFG Forum!

I have to disagree with you... I use finish nails and string just fine. The string doesn't come off before it rots and I use cut wine corks to prevent having the nail head jab into my knee.

in the ANSFG book mel does state, equivocally and in bold font, "Without a grid, your garden is not a Square Foot Garden" (in my edition this is found at the bottom of page 36). however, he doesn't insist that the grid be made with a specific material. he strongly recommends that the grid be very visible and be made of something sturdy and rigid, that it be prominent, and that it be permanent.

having said all that: in my demonstration gardens i always use a lattice grid, but in my personal gardens i do as goosegirl suggests and use a living grid--in the tomato boxes i use onions, in the bean boxes i use radishes, etc.

The first year I did not have a grid in place and used twine but this year I made up a grid and like it. Still will put dowel rods in and drill holes in the end of my grids so I can remove them to add compost of other ingredients; so I agree with rowena....

I used roofing nails to hold string for my grid. Works very well as they lay flat on board so no danger of ends sticking up but green plastic 'washer' holds string down. Very easy for me to wind string around and take down at end of season.

I've used plastic coated clothesline - which eventually stretches and looks sloppy. Then used wood shims - stick it into M Mix on the skinny side - until this year the packaging changed and became more expensive. So this year I'm using free wooden paint can stirrers. Last time I was allowed to have 50, or enough for 2 sfg boxes. Free is so nice and no hardware needed.

I've used venetian blind slats (wind blows those away even when weighted with rocks or soil), green garden twine (it rotted and broke) and nylon tomato twine (this lasts thru the season so I like it best). I don't want to harbor slugs so won't put slats directly on the soil itself. I find grid lines can be a problem if weeding with hardware but now I put my screws in the top of my beds to run my twine to keep it higher and a bit more out of the way. My weeder fits beneath much easier now. Marking the squares makes planting my numbers easier so I use the twine.

Went to home depot and bought wood lath. They were about .35 each. Had to look through them because some were warped, too skinny, etc. Im not very handy with a drill. So I tied each on 12 inch centers (well actually 14, bed is 3.5'). When working with this wood, wear gloves, they have alot of splinters. I thought about painting them, I had even bought a couple of brushes, but I had painted some wood that I was going to make cages with and its still tacky (probably cause it was old paint that had been sitting out in the garage).

My H.D. doesn't carry lath and the guy looked at me like I was speaking martian. Maybe he didn't expect a lady to know about lath or else my native NY accent threw him off.

llama momma wrote:My H.D. doesn't carry lath and the guy looked at me like I was speaking martian. Maybe he didn't expect a lady to know about lath or else my native NY accent threw him off.

Yeah, he kinda looked at me like what???? lath, L.A.T.H. lath oooh. lol

My guidelines are trendy and chic in "hot pink" garden twine ;-)
They are also off the top of the boxes so that it's easy to work around them. So far they've worked just fine.

EDIT: oops! the image is upside down, sorry!

[img][/img]Setting up my first SFG and after reading the book and forums, I decided to make a deeper box (less bending) and used a sturdy green plastic coated wire from Lowes that i could bend and secure around screw eyes. The additional benefit was I am able to hang my 6" drip irrigation lines from the grid with green garden wire twists. I hopefully attached a photo, but I dont seem to have the hang of hosting an image.[img][/img]

snip The additional benefit was I am able to hang my 6" drip irrigation lines from the grid with green garden wire twists. /snip

Ive been looking into getting drip irrigation for my garden beds/containers. Ive even went to some sites to see designs, but its like they all talk a different language. We are in the midst of a severe drought here and I want my gardens to be water wise. The front of our house is xeriscape and out in the back yard is where I have a sprinkler system for the lawn. I have a hell strip next to the driveway that I originally planted with daylilies and daffodils. The daylilies are hanging in there, but the daffodils are long gone (probably those nasty squirrels). But I definately want drip irrigation. That is a must have.

I use a heavy white string with large loops on the end and attach it to the boxes using roofing nails. I have 12" deep beds and can sit on the edges of my beds safely due to the large size of the nail heads. The string is elevated off the soil and I have drip irrigation running under it. In order to amend a large area of the bed or when we installed the drip irrigation, we just pull the string tighter, unloop it from the nail on one side and throw it across the bed into the aisle on the other side, still leaving it attached on that side. Works great! I tried dowel rods but my son's 1 year old puppy took care of those for us.



Here's a photo of one of my cucumbers that I started from seed inside this year. You can see the string and nails with the larger loops. Not sure what is going on with the lighter area on the cucumber leaf. This year was my first year starting my own seeds, and only my second year with a SFG, so I'm still learning a lot!!

Judi

johnsonjlj wrote:



Here's a photo of one of my cucumbers that I started from seed inside this year. You can see the string and nails with the larger loops. Not sure what is going on with the lighter area on the cucumber leaf. This year was my first year starting my own seeds, and only my second year with a SFG, so I'm still learning a lot!!

Judi

Yellowing of the leaf is often chlorosis, usually a nutrient deficiency. But the way the leaf is spotted It almost looks like a burn form watering above. Or perhaps just a result of being set out of door into the garden.

If the newer leaves show similar symptoms you may want to test your growing mix.