My SFG Garden gift for birthday and Father's Day

sfgbeginner 6/8/2014, 12:36 pm

Attached is a picture of my new raised beds (they are ALL 2 x 8 x 8 so I can reach everything easily. The two against the shed are in shade ALL of the time and the rest gets sufficient Sun (the picture shows them shaded by the house). The two beds in the middle of the configuration are going to be dismantled. The pallet in the front is going to the garbage heap ... all rotten. I'm thinking of putting cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and lettuces in the two near the shed, but I'm a little confused by the sfg method that says you can put ONE cabbage per square foot. Seems like an awful lot to me. I would like to see some of your sfg's from previous years all growed up that will show me it's ok to do this. Thank you.

My SFG Garden gift for birthday and Father's Day 102_0413

boffer 6/8/2014, 12:53 pm

Hey, your family came through on your presents! My SFG Garden gift for birthday and Father's Day 3170584802

This years cabbages at 1 per 1.5 ft². I've already harvested several 8-9 inch heads.

My SFG Garden gift for birthday and Father's Day Dscn4311

My SFG Garden gift for birthday and Father's Day Dscn4312

My SFG Garden gift for birthday and Father's Day Dscn4412

sfgbeginner 6/8/2014, 1:14 pm

Thanks, Boffer .... that looks fantastic !!!! I think I would put a maximum of 8 in an 8 foot long bed. Very Happy

**AtlantaMarie** 6/8/2014, 1:31 pm

TRUST me! Don't put more than 1/sq...! Can you guess how I can tell you that with such certainty? Wink

sfgbeginner 6/8/2014, 1:47 pm

Atlanta Marie ... I think I can guess. So SFGardening confuses me. I just read where you can put 9 spinach plants per 1 sq foot. This makes NO sense to me. I planted spinach 1 per a square foot and it took up the whole square foot. I had some that bolted and grew tall. I am confused.
Sad

**sanderson** 6/8/2014, 2:58 pm

I think spinach at 9/sq is for cut and grow. ?? Like I can ever get spinach to germinate . .

nurzemjd 6/8/2014, 3:54 pm

Boffer, do you have red cabbage in there too? I have harvested my 45 day green cabbage already with 1/sq, they did quite nicely. The reds I did 1/ft also and they are enormous, but no head forming, they do take longer so I'm still hoping.

boffer 6/8/2014, 4:51 pm

I answered in the current PNW thread so I can side-track the topic.

sfgbeginner 6/8/2014, 5:13 pm

Noticed a design flaw in my new raised beds (my fault) .... they are only 20 inches wide inside, not 24 inches, and because of the 2x4 cap i had put on the outside, the opening width is about 16-17 inches. Guess what? They are still functional and are going to STAY that way. I don't think that should make too much of a difference for anything. Very Happy

**AtlantaMarie** 6/8/2014, 5:16 pm

SFGBeginner - what kind of spinach was that??? I'd like to get some!

I'm trying it at 9/sq, but not having any luck so far... And I really like raw spinach...!

I think it will really come down to the variety. i.e. ANSFG2 says 1 okra/sq. I've got 2 or 3 in each square. We'll see. I've grown it before. It's tall but pretty skinny. At least those were.

Have a neighbor who grew small cabbage several years ago - she called it a softball cabbage. Those you could probably put 2/sq. But haven't been able to find anything like that since.

boffer 6/8/2014, 5:20 pm

sfgbeginner wrote:... So SFGardening confuses me. I just read where you can put 9 spinach plants per 1 sq foot. This makes NO sense to me. I planted spinach 1 per a square foot and it took up the whole square foot. I had some that bolted and grew tall. I am confused.

Most of SFG spacing is based on the 'thin to' spacing on the seed packages, using this formula:
Divide 12 by the 'thin to' number, then square that number.

I just looked at the packages of three different spinach cultivars. All three listed the 'thin to' spacing as 4-6 inches

At 4 inches: 12/4=3 3²= 9 per square
At 6 inches: 12/6=2 2²= 4 per square

I usually plant at 9 per square. Sometimes a few seeds won't germinate; if they all germinate I can always thin a few and eat them. But usually I'll let them all grow and harvest them 'cut and come again'. The few plants that I've let get big enough to fill a square weren't good eating.

sfgbeginner 6/8/2014, 5:28 pm

Atlanta Marie .... I have no idea what kind of spinach I planted. I bought the plants from a garden store and threw away the tags. Boffer .... that makes more sense to me now. This entire SFG adventure for me is one big experiment (and will become even bigger once I plant the new beds I have). I always have really good luck with leaf lettuces and tomatoes (I think even people with a black thumb could grow those). Thanks both of you for your input. Very Happy

nurzemjd 6/8/2014, 8:01 pm

Thanks Boffer. Smile

You are so right SFGBeginner! Let it be, it is all one big experiment and you will know better for next time. I made some pretty big oopses myself last year (my 1st year), this year is going much better. Keep on experimenting!!

sfgbeginner 6/8/2014, 8:49 pm

Since the actual opening on my new raised beds is 16-17 inches and not 24 inches like I thought it was going to be, I don't actually have 16 1-foot squares per 8 foot bed. I have 20 inches of width underneath the top edge. I wonder if it would be ok if I planted the back row of the bed with the stem of the plant close to the edge and I planted the front row of the bed with the stem of the plant close to the edge to make up for the design flaw in my beds? Rolling Eyes

boffer 6/8/2014, 11:59 pm

It should be OK; precision is not a requirement of SFG! Hopefully the overhang won't become a cozy shelter for bugs.

**AtlantaMarie** 6/9/2014, 7:35 am

sfgbeginner wrote:Since the actual opening on my new raised beds is 16-17 inches and not 24 inches like I thought it was going to be, I don't actually have 16 1-foot squares per 8 foot bed. I have 20 inches of width underneath the top edge. I wonder if it would be ok if I planted the back row of the bed with the stem of the plant close to the edge and I planted the front row of the bed with the stem of the plant close to the edge to make up for the design flaw in my beds?

That's what I do. On some things (like the okra), I plant one in a back corner and another one catty-corner to it. And I plant my tomatoes laying down towards the back edge to increase root development and ease of staking to the fence.

sfgbeginner 6/9/2014, 8:38 am

Boffer .... I followed a video on youtube.com from OneYardRevolution, and in the video he states that you have to fill the bed with soil all the way to the top, specifically to prevent that from happening. Well .... the soil is being delivered around 3:30 or 4:00 PM today and the big experiment will begin. I will post pictures of the progress. Thanks for your help. Very Happy

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My SFG Garden gift for birthday and Father's Day

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OOPS !!!!!!

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Spinach

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I would appreciate your suggestions

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