New from Boise, Idaho

Hello All! My name is Angela and I’m in Boise. I am so excited to have found this forum! I have read Mel’s new book and also got the Q&A book which has been so helpful! We finished constructing our 8’x4’ SFG this weekend and now to get the Mel’s mix and start planting by next weekend. Just trying to decide what to plant in the 8 squares on the north side. I guess I am trying to do my best with the companion plants and flowers because I will be sooo sad if the bugs and critters get to my yummy veggies. I am new to gardening in general but I guess Mel’s way seems the easiest to understand.

ASlatzer
Take it easy for the first year and learn from your mistakes like most of us have done.
Have you got your materials for mixing MM?
Most important is compost so read the threads that relate to that subject. Go to the Home Page, green bar at the top, at left find the Hover button then scroll down to topic #2. You will learn a lot from that.
You will really enjoy any homegrown veggies you produce. Keep us in the loop about you are doing and don't be afraid to ask questions. We all rush to give you answers.

Thank you so much! I'm getting supplies for MM this week... a mix of different types of compost, coarse vermiculite, and Peat Moss. I am having trouble with planning which veggies I want where... I attempted to start some from seed but learning that many will probably not transplant well and/or I am too late to start from seed. I will likely buy many starters at the garden store for this year and try seeds next year. The north side of my SFG only has 4 squares so I am starting with peas, cucumber, tomato, and zucchini....SOOO MUCH to learn, I keep psyching myself out : (

Hey Angela! I'm New to SFG in Boise too! It's my first year and I'm only a few weeks ahead of you. Let's PM if we can be of any help to each other.

I did one 4x4 and one 2x2 high hat box. It's been fun so far. I call it my "Training Garden" as I expect to learn a lot. I sprouted my first parsnips this week. Who knew that would make me so happy. Like you, I decided to start many squares with transplants this year, and only some from seed. I've only planted 7 of my squares so far, will do 2 more this weekend, and then another wave of planting in a couple of weeks. Next year, I'll do more seeds, maybe even a few indoors.

Let me know if you need any help tracking down items for Mel's Mix this week. I can let you know where I found my ingredients.

Oh my gosh that's awesome! I would LOVE to know where you got your supplies for MM here in Boise... I have the Peet Moss already, but that's it! I am so excited to get everything going and will hopefully have everything planted this weekend!

Let's see if I can remember this. I got vermiculite at HD and Lowes. I got different composts from Zamzows (Federal), HD(Federal) and Lowes (Overland). Also from Fred Meyer (Federal) and Wal-Mart (Overland). After a few stores, the composts to repeat themselves. I got a chicken one, a stear manure, HD had a large bag with a good mix of things too. Start at those stores and work your way out!

Sounds good! Thank you, I will start there. I was having trouble finding the course vermiculite... only found Medium at Lowes... I will try HD and Fred Meyer!

Also read the ingredients in your bagged compost. Some have peat moss already and if that is the case, you will need to reduce the amount of peat moss you add separately. A lot of people still buy transplants and there is nothing wrong with it, and I love how makes your garden look so full so fast! I keep a drawing of what I plant in each square and the date. You can also keep notes on if you needed to add any supplements and how the plants did and the date of harvest, etc. Have fun both of you!

Tricia - I started a Garden Journal that I love. I keep drawings, sketches, notes, and print out cool ideas I come across, then tape them in. I'm discovering I love the journal as much as the garden.

Hi Boise gals, I'm in Boise also. I'm new to SFG and just bought the wood to make my first 4x4 box. I looked for the MM ingredients today but wasn't sure about the quantity of the Peat because the cubic feet listed on the bag says "compressed". Also I wasn't sure if the Home Depot vermiculite is coarse or not. I think I'll check out Edward's Nursery and see what they have.

Hey Sommer! Welcome to the forum! Maybe we need a Boise SFG Club!

I bought my vermiculite at HD and Lowe's. The bad didn't say coarse specifically, but it didn't say fine or medium either. My best guess is that it's mediumish to coarsish. Regardless, I made up my MM, put it in my box, and my plants are doing well. Mel says it's OK to use medium, if you have to. But if you do find the coarse, let me know where!

Once you open the peat moss, and pull it out (it can take some effort), it will sorta fluff up on its own. I used a bucket to make my MM. I filled the buck with the peat moss, dumped it on a tarp. Then did the same with vermiculite, then the same for the compost. That way, I knew I had equal parts of each without having to measure. One big bag of compressed peat moss will be more than enough for peat for one 4x4 box. I had one big bag ( i think it was 3cuft compressed) from HD and it was enough for one 4x4, one 2x2 (12" deep), and a couple of herb pots.

Good luck! Enjoy making your box and mix.

Hi Gardenertaylor,

A friend built my 4x4 box for me yesterday. It looks great. Tomorrow I'll get my Mel's mix going. Thanks for the tips on where to buy the ingredients and how to measure the peat moss. I'm not far from Federal way so I'll probably get everything at HD, Zamzow, and Fred Meyer. Also I love the idea of a garden journal. I'm going to do that too.

Any ideas about supporting tomatoes in one square foot without building a big tall metal support thingy like Mel shows in his book?

Thanks!

Sommer

Hey Sommer - The big, tall, metal thingy Mel shows in the book is actually very easy to build. I built the frame in literally 3 mins, all by myself. Not one bit of help from the hubs! The netting is easy to put on also, but takes about 15-20 minutes to tie up all the little knots to secure it to the frame. Wah-lah! It makes you look like a pro. And it was easy to find all the pieces at HD, and they happily cut the pieces I needed.

If you're not in to the big, tall, metal thingy, then I guess you need to buy a more bushing type of tomato plant and maybe use a support cage. I don't know if tomatoes come in a bushing variety, but I suspect they do. Seems like lots of plants are vining or bushing.

Gardenertaylor,

If the big tall metal support thingy is that easy to build, I think I can do it. Did you hammer rebar into the ground and then put hollow metal pipes over the rebar?

Sommer

I used a rubber mallet for the rebar. But you could use a hammer banging on a piece of wood on top of the rebar too. Banged it about 25 times so that it was half in the ground (two foot piece), then just slipped the electrical conduit right over it. EZ! PZ!

Thanks, Gardenertaylor. Sounds easy. I'll get the parts at Home Depot tomorrow when I buy MM ingredients. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sommer

Hi... Just wanted to add my 2 cents about vermiculite. There is an SFG vermiculite database that you can access from the home page of this forum's site.

For vermiculite, the database mentions Zamzows in various ID areas. The price seems to be about 29.99 for 4 cubic feet.

Hope that helps a bit.