South n East of Denver

Was recently so inspired when Dr. Mercola interviewed the Garden of Eden Guy (Quit breaking your back n wastin water guy) that I watched the movie itself and now asking tons of questions....I, like Sarah Winchester just cannot stop putting in a new bed or two each season...Want to get rid of the grass that grows up from outside instead of digging it up at end and begin each season...and thinking of cardboard followed by some lite dusting of  steer manure and followed by wood chip thick layer and another layer of chicken or horse or steer manure...I currently understand that the wood chips will tie up the nitrogen for a season or two so it will need to be amended (manure)as I indicated.for a time?  Cant wait to get my copy of the book everyone here reads...All new squarefoot space garden.........I am high altitude and short growing season and have DEER but have learned a smidge about that so far.........so much more to go....Life is too short....ARghhhhh!

Laurie,  Welcome to the SFG Forum!    I'm glad you have ordered the All New Square Foot Gardening book by Mel Bartholomew.  It is invaluable for getting started.  You will probably finish it in one or 2 days and be excited to get started on SFG. There are other members who live in your Region with it's short growing season (and deer and other critters). That's what is so great about this Forum; there is always someone who is experiencing the same problems or situations.

If I understand you correctly, you have mentioned both the SFG and the Back to Eden (BTE) gardening methods. They are different, but they both work. Some members with a lot of room for gardening do both.

Hi Laurie!  Welcome to the party!

You might also want to check out the archives on this forum.  There's a LOT of information there gathered from practical work in the garden.

Welcome Laurie. We are about 75 miles South and west from you at 5,300  ft. You all get a lot more moisture than we do but the growing season is the same. We have friends in Franktown and they use a lot of wire fencing for the deer, we just have squash  bugs and grasshoppers. Good luck and post your progress.

Hi and welcome, Laurie.

Around here, we have deer too, and anything we don't fence off from the critters, we don't get to keep.

Unfortunately, good and attractive fencing is very expensive, mostly for the support posts.