Square Foot Hero Gardens

Thanks for sharing the watering cone link, Kay ~ the thing I like about the terra cotta cones is that they will not release water if the soil is already saturated, which is a great complement to the vermiculite. Plus, I like the look of wine bottles over plastic soda bottles, and I always find friends willing to donate a pretty bottle once they see the garden.

mcartin & jjohansson: Are these photos of one and the same "class garden"? Tell us more

We have three class gardens at our school. We are going through the online instructors course and were experimenting with the forum. We are getting some great ideas for future gardens here!

I am concerned about the water getting too hot in those bottles during our extreme heat. Would that be hard on the plant roots?

If not, then I would love to get some, use the 2 liter bottles but cut the bottoms out and just fill the bottle with the hose. This would help with the mildew on my squash.

I love this forum! I learn so much from everyone!

Awesome, jj ~ have fun with the online course!!

mj-I'm not sure about the bottles conducting too much heat, but I do know that Mel loves sun-warmed H2O and it seems that the terracotta cones would compensate for the temp. Also, I'd be wary of using plastic bottles with the leaching of harmful substances into the garden soil, especially when heated.

I'M BACK!! Took an extended hiatus during the holidays to welcome our newest grandson to the world ~ Lancelot (Lance) Edward Meyer is the firstborn of my firstborn, heralding the arrival of December at home with his mum and dad, and weighing in at a whopping 10 pounds!! Hope you also enjoyed the seasonal festivities surrounded by family & good friends.

What's left of the summer/fall garden was still thriving past the first cold spell (pictured,) but the second finally took its toll on the basil and the Golden Eggplant leaves (though the fruit is still going strong!)


Last week it warmed up a bit and things really livened up in a second bed planted by someone experimenting with intensive gardening (thinking it was the Square Foot Method.) There are so many different seeds coming up that it's impossible to separate what's what. This was taken after the second frost when the cold had slowed it down a bit.


The gardener's intention was to grow root crops below and a second crop above as ground cover to deter weeds. The soil is primarily mushroom compost, though I did talk them into adding at least one other variety along with peat moss and vermiculite. Anyway, no one's tending it, so this week we got out the scissors and harvested what we thought were turnip greens (or maybe beet tops?)

Someone else thought for sure they were mustard greens (which was the crop planted in the original raised beds a few years back.) That soil was covered with cardboard and the thick plastic liner to eliminate nut grass/toxins from the landscape timbers when we converted to SFG beds this summer. Highly doubt the mustard made it through all that, especially if the nut grass hasn't surfaced!

I've found at least three different types of leaves in the bunch, and as you can see, I could use some help with identification!


The squares were originally marked with plant names on rocks, such as "Broc," which seems straightforward enough, but "Rob" has me stumped. You can also see Kale, Turnips (marker is tucked under one of the grids, and I think the "10" means ten rows,) Red Leaf Lettuce, Okra, and Beets in "6" corners [sic], just to name a few. I believe there are also Pole Beans near the gates. It's a crazy quilt of plantings, to which I added marigolds for color, just to make it look like it belonged in our SFG array!


Getting bigger...


We added a pepper plant and tomato tree after the initial planting, as well as some flowers, which didn't germinate.

There's no stopping the Rainbow Swiss Chard (which the local critters ignored, though they seemed to adore the brussel sprouts, also planted in the third bed to the right of the photo.) The lettuces were part of the free-for-all in the beginning, but managed to make a comeback undisturbed. Waiting till spring to replant the squares since we don't have covers.

Correction: The Okra was planted in "6 corners" [sic] and Beets next to that. Also, the biggest single leaf (far left of trio) has slightly prickly spines. Grew up in the South, but avoided greens like the plague when I was a kid ;-) so thanks in advance for the ID assistance!

luckypenne wrote:Someone else thought for sure they were mustard greens (which was the crop planted in the original raised beds a few years back.) ....

I've found at least three different types of leaves in the bunch, and as you can see, I could use some help with identification!

Broccoli rabe or kale.

the three leaves all look a bit differnt from one another.....

i say they are

collard greens, cauliflower, kale

happy gardening
rose

Thanks for the replies, y'all ~ I did a google search for images only and from what I've read, the one on left is definitely turnip greens (in the mustard family) and the other two are broccoli "rabe" (rapini) which may be what the rock marker says ("rab" vs. "rob.") Mystery solved!

Meant to add one last snapshot of the Rainbow Swiss Chard to the latest Gratitude Garden update -- think it will work perfectly for this month's avatar theme

Btw, does anyone know how to activate our personal photo albums? Still learning my way around the new forum format after the migration Cheers ~

luckypenne wrote:

Btw, does anyone know how to activate our personal photo albums? Still learning my way around the new forum format after the migration Cheers ~

Go to the gallery tab at the top of the page, the albums are there. Please keep in mind space in the gallery is limited and costly.

camprn wrote:

luckypenne wrote:

Btw, does anyone know how to activate our personal photo albums? Still learning my way around the new forum format after the migration Cheers ~

Go to the gallery tab at the top of the page, the albums are there. Please keep in mind space in the gallery is limited and costly.

Thanks ~ I see the upload button now on the personal and public albums, but get the following message: "You cannot upload any photos to the gallery because the storage limit has been reached." Since I haven't uploaded any photos to either space, this must be referring to the entire forum? Thanks for the advice on limitations and cost, just the same. Perhaps we should consider migrating to Facebook Groups on the next move.

P.S. Love your new avi!

luckypenne wrote:

camprn wrote:

luckypenne wrote:

Btw, does anyone know how to activate our personal photo albums? Still learning my way around the new forum format after the migration Cheers ~

Go to the gallery tab at the top of the page, the albums are there. Please keep in mind space in the gallery is limited and costly.

Thanks ~ I see the upload button now on the personal and public albums, but get the following message: "You cannot upload any photos to the gallery because the storage limit has been reached." Since I haven't uploaded any photos to either space, this must be referring to the entire forum? Thanks for the advice on limitations and cost, just the same. Perhaps we should consider migrating to Facebook Groups on the next move.

P.S. Love your new avi!

You can continue your hero garden thread as your gallery. My guess is the gallery server is full and the SFG Foundation is not buying more space at this time.