Thank you from Central Ontario Canada

Looking forward to learning lots. I have gardened for over 30 years but always looking for new ways and ideas. The last 3 summers I have worked full time and my garden gets ahead of me. Looking for shortcuts and methods to keep weeds at bay and still get bumper crops...not asking for much LOL

Hi there and   

I too have about as many years as you in the garden. The SFG is a terrific time and back saver.

sufficient4us wrote:Looking forward to learning lots. I have gardened for over 30 years but always looking for new ways and ideas. The last 3 summers I have worked full time and my garden gets ahead of me. Looking for shortcuts and methods to keep weeds at bay and still get bumper crops...not asking for much LOL

Welcome to the site S4U,

MIL & FIL lived about 300 yards from the St Catherin's lock number one on the shipping canal.

It was Eric who got me interested in the square foot gardening concept back in 1996 ( ish ) using the old set up of mother earth and manures instead of the new move over to a soil less growth medium .

 He also had an amazing open tube ( made from a food grade 50 gallon barrels with top & bottom cut off ) two barrel system for his compost .. every kitchen scrap and bit of garden waste went in it , he used a " claw to rotate the top six inches of the contents after he'd " FED THE BEAST "


 There is a massive improvement in using the soil less mix we call Mel's mix or MM for short.
The home made compost is how we feed and replenish spent nutrients in the beds ..so do get you composting up and running asap if you can .

 He grew crops almost right from the first warm sunny day of the thaw out right through to the second day of winter in his beds .
Which were constructed in a big "L " shape on a south west, south east alignment six foot wide by 16 foot each way and two hollow construction concrete bricks high .
 He successfully grew all sorts of crops despite having a 20 or so foot tall King Maple on the end of the SW leg .

We now have a new superseding book to work from which brings in the new soil less growth medium concept ..the details are in my strap lines.

Sufficient4us, Welcome to the Forum!   

"Looking for shortcuts and methods to keep weeds at bay and still get bumper crops...not asking for much LOL"

You have come to the right place for your wishes. I've been gardening shy of 1 year and I swear by this method. Just follow the book and read the Forum. You will learn so many little things about SFG and general gardening on this site. After 30 years of traditional gardening, it may take a little getting used to this method. But it works!!

Hi there
Welcome from the left side of Canada.   Is it cold there, because we are having VERY cold weather here. Just planning summer garden for now.
Stay warm