Hello from Coastal NC

kkking972 9/15/2013, 7:26 am

Hello,
I am not new to gardening as I have tried to grow vegetables in the past with absolutely zero success.

This season my husband built me two above ground garden boxes 4' x 6' x 18" deep out of cedar. Cost = expensive

We got soil delivered and was told how great it was - all the local planters used it.
It was terrible. Nothing grew. I put cow manure in it and that has helped.
Cost = expensive

I have grown some cucumbers (got a few:D ), tomatoes (got a couple:D ), beans (got 0:( ), jalapino (got a lot Very Happy

), green peppers (got a lot:D ),squash and zucinni (got 1:D ) PRICELESS. as this is the BEST I have ever done!

I did not want to use chemicals, but I have alot of bugs on my squash, spots on my tomatoes and cukes so have used seven dust and some fertilizer.

All is about done for the season, but I am excited and ready to get better. WITH YOUR HELP I CAN!

K

Goosegirl 9/15/2013, 8:53 am

kkking972 wrote: I put cow manure in it and that has helped.
K

K! The improvement you noticed by adding the manure is because it added nutrients to your soil. That will be multiplied GREATLY when you make a proper Mel's Mix to put on the top of your boxes. Do you have the book ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING, 2nd Edition, yet? If not, get it as soon as you can, whether by purchase or at the library. Since you only need 6 inches of Mel's Mix to grow in, you can easily just replace the top 6 inches in each of your boxes with Mel's Mix and you will be ready to go for your next plantings. The recipe, 1/3 peat, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost (from at least 5 different sources) is fairly simple to locate ingredients for. If you are short on either the peat or the vermiculite, just go heavier on the compost, since that is your 'food' for the plants anyway.

We look forward to your future success and remember, we LOVE pictures!

GG

**sanderson** 9/15/2013, 4:16 pm

Welcome to the Forum! $glad you\'re here$

Two thoughts for now. When you remove the dirt down to 8" from the top of the boxes (room for 6" for Mel's Mix and 2" for mulch), place a layer of weed fabric on the dirt before you add the new MM.

Second, you can click on "Home," go to the far left under the Hover button and read all of the drop-down topics. These are important concepts and ideas for successful Square Foot Gardening. But you must have the All New Square Foot Gardening book, 2nd edition preferably, even a good used one off eBay.

I'm a first year gardener and it's all SFG with a few pots filled with Mel's Mix. I am 110% sold on it!! Very Happy

**walshevak** 9/16/2013, 7:04 pm

Welcome to another coastal gardener. Where along the NC coast are you located. I have sources for the Elizabeth City area and the Wilmington area.

Kay

Marc Iverson 9/16/2013, 11:17 pm

Welcome!

Like goosegirl says, you can just replace the top six inches of your soil. Once SFG gets in your blood, you may find yourself wanting to build another box, so perhaps you'll find another use for that soil soon, as the bottom layer to another box.

I think you'll find that once you get your Mel's Mix "soil" built up according to the book, your veggies will do much better. It holds water really well, without drowning the plants, which really stabilizes their growing environment. And it has plenty of nutrients built-in.

Then the pest part is up to you. But having good soil grows stronger plants, better able to withstand or outgrow damage. Good luck getting started!

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Hello from Coastal NC

Hello from Coastal NC

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	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.