Hello from Coastal Georgia.

Glad I found you! I am fairly new to gardening and haven't tried the square foot method at all but love what I am seeing.

I feel like my head is swimming with information about Ph, soil, pollenation, good bugs, bad bugs and everything else that one might find in a gardening book. The books are great but they are not as helpful as I think this group will be!

I am looking forward to being able to see everyone's posts and advice and (maybe??) find some that actually garden in my "not so fertile and very challenging" Coastal South zone.

I'm in Savannah Georgia with terrible soil. That's the great thing about this method. You use Mel's Mix and you cannot go wrong.

  if you don't already have it, get a copy of ALL NEW SQUAREFOOT GARDENING, 2nd ed.  That's the latest version out there.  With SFG a lot of the garden book mumbo jumbo disappears and you are left with an easy method.  The bugs are a different matter but there are a lot of suggestions on the forum to help with that.  You can go as organically as you want or not as much.  I personally try organic first and if all else fails will resort to some of the not quite as organic solutions.  My neighbor on the other hand is highly sensitive to some of the herbicides and pesticides so has to be more careful.  I introduced her to SFG tabletop style and she has been able to improve her eating.

Kay

Garden Gals,  Welcome to the Forum.   

I'm a first year SFG-er and I swear by it.  As Walshevak stated, get the book.  I got mine used on eBay.  But even if you have to buy it new, it is imperative that you know the contained information.

Don't forget to take photos to share and chronicle your journey.

Welcome! Like Walshevak says, the SFG method makes a lot of the mumbo jumbo disappear. pH, for instance, can make my head spin, what with all the different ways to amend it, and the way one attempt to fix it can throw off something else in the garden. The more you fix, the more you might fail, and the more you learn, sometimes it feels like, the less you know! Mel says that mixing vermiculite, peat, and 5-way blended compost the way he recommends leaves you with pretty neutral pH that's well-suited for most vegetables. Worry over, problem solved.

It's also a very nutritious soil that is nice and loose to help roots penetrate readily, and it also holds both air and water nicely and in good balance.

For what it's worth, I'm liking Mel's advice to start seeds in vermiculite, too. It makes my peas very easy to keep moist but not wet, and is loose enough that their tiny leaves can pop right up. Plus it's sterile, so no disease/bacteria worries.

The more I read here, the more I realize that it will be a bit of a road for me to convert what I have no to square foot. Good thing I love hanging out in my garden! I am inspired by all the cool photos here and excited to have all this great advice. As soon as I figure out how to post a photo, I will show you where my 'beginning' is.

Click this link to read about how to do things on the forum.

Hi garden gals!   to the forum. This is my first year gardening and I love my SFG raised beds. I started out with two 2'x10'x10" beds with trellis on the north 10' sides and I love them...they are so easy to work with. I already have plans for more beds and all kinds of neat things I want to add to my garden area. I agree about the head swimming, there is a lot of info to take in on SFG and gardening in general but it is fun  too. Just hang in there and don't worry to much. You can figure it out as you go. Gardening is an ongoing learning experience so don't be afraid to just jump in and get started. There are plenty of people here ready to help you out when you hit a roadblock. Good luck and can't wait to see your garden.

Welcome to the forum! We're glad you found us! If you ever have a question about anything the comes up there are lots of friendly people here that are happy to help! Have fun and happy gardening!

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the welcome and the advice and it is really great to have found a forum with such nice folks. I have been reading over the past couple of weeks and haven't found any ugliness, which you see on so many of these types of forums. I just got the "ALL NEW" book today and am hoping to find a little time to read it tomorrow. In the meantime, I just came in on a rainy night with my head lamp after finding the culprits of my bean seedling destruction in one (only one!) of my beds (and it isn't a raised one). I am a little early to plant and I kind of expected this problem would happen after talking to locals who told me I was a little early. But, the seedling destruction/pill bugs are a follow on to another topic that I have already posted, so I will take it up there. I am starting to think that the size and shape of the beds that I already have may work okay in terms of the square foot method and it turns out that my soil base was not that far off from Mel's mix, so with some amendments I think I can probably move them along over the course of the next couple of seasons. I will post a pic of what I currently have tomorrow. Thanks again for the welcome!

Welcome garden_gals!  I would recommend that you get a compost pile started as soon as you can, if you are able.  If it were me, I would also move the soil that you have in your bed now and use it somewhere else and make your own MM in your bed.  You will be starting off the right way and will be amazed at how great it is to work with and grow in.  If you have any problems with growing in MM, it is much easier for people on this forum to help you figure out what the problem is than if you fix up the soil you already have.

We do have a good group on this forum and are happy you joined us!

Thanks, Triciasgarden. I do have a small compost pile but am not effectively working it so it doesn't produce much. It is hard to find a good source of dry stuff for it here. Our live oak leaves and magnolia leaves take forever to break down! I was thinking of using shredded paper from my office, but then there is the whole ink/dioxin problem (or chemicals, maybe they quit using dioxin?). Anyway, I have purchased all my compost or, at least, most of it for the raised beds. I have a friend with chickens, so that helps. Right now I have about 500 square feet in 9 beds which I built over the last 4 years. The bed in question with the pill bugs is the only one that isn't a raised bed, other than a small herb garden around a lemon tree about 10 feet away from this one. Definitely a work in progress, especially if I need to think about moving that soil. Yikes! I may have to exercise a lot of patience with this bed. On the other hand, my squash plants have started out super strong!

Gardening here is savannah ga. First year with my veggie sfg. Excited to see how things turn out. Glad I found this group specific to my area ~ going to need to Check back often for advice. Thanks in advance

Michelle, Check in daily, if you can, to see the latest topics. Some really neat ideas pop up all the time.