New SFG in Kailua (Oahu)

I've  been creating a 4' x4' SFG since the end of December 2014.  My visiting son decided that I needed a garden and built the box for a raised bed.  I found a place to put in my yard and have been slowly filling it with a custom mix that he recommended.  Thank you to the person who mentioned where I could get vermiculite at a good place on Oahu.     I was able to buy 3 bags for the same price that I paid at a retail nursery.

I would be interested in knowing where to buy the asparagus plants.  Any suggestions on where to buy organic seeds?  Any on Oahu or do I need to order from the Mainland?

At the rate that I am going, perhaps I'll be ready to plant by the end of April.

Welcome NanSFG from Kailua Oahu.   Well my SFG friends have basically said "build it and they will come."..So I started adding to the Hawaii Section and lo and behold we now have at least two new sets of island SFG, one from Anahola here on Kauai and one from Kailua.   We Hawaii folks have such different situations from the rest of the world so it will be great to converse.

I bought my asparagus plants, male purple Knights, from a grower, Itzy Bitzy Farm (don't know the exact spelling) in North Carolina.  She got cold feet and didn't want to send them a one point.  Said we are in the wrong USDA zone.  I sent her articles of our folks growing asparagus on Kauai.  She consented to send them but said she was going to keep all my emails in case I sued her!!  The asparagus is thriving.   Good thick stems and tasty.  I stopped harvesting sooner than I needed to but live and learn.  I understand we can actually grow them year round.

We buy all our organic seeds through mainland catalogs, High Mowing, Seeds of Change, Territory Ahead, Bountiful Gardens.   Postage is pretty cheap and we get nice fresh seeds.

Hi NanSFG.  Welcome from Atlanta, GA!  Glad you've joined us. 

Looking forward to seeing pics of your garden as it grows!

Hi, Nan,  Welcome to the Forum from California!    We are happy to see more Hawaii folks use SFG.  Rosina has been the lone voice for the Islands until recently.

Thank you to everyone who has made me feel so welcome.  In just a few days I have learned so much - worms, asparagus, strawberries, etc.  So much more to learn.

NanSFG from here in British Columbia, Canada.

My sister-in-law and her husband used to visit the Islands most year, they loved it there and had visions of perhaps living there.

Kelejan

kauairosina wrote:Welcome NanSFG from Kailua Oahu.   Well my SFG friends have basically said "build it and they will come."..So I started adding to the Hawaii Section and lo and behold we now have at least two new sets of island SFG, one from Anahola here on Kauai and one from Kailua.   We Hawaii folks have such different situations from the rest of the world so it will be great to converse.

Rosina, so glad you stuck with being the Hawai'i Regional Host. Now you are no longer talking to yourself.

PS Just looked up to see how to spell H etc and find you are not listed as Host. I thought you were?

I know nothing about being a host.  I just have done what you guys told me to do.  Activate the Hawaii group and they will come.  Glory be!  So it is.  We have two islanders so far and so many friends across the world.

Welcome to the forum NanSFG!

Welcome from the Florida Treasure coast. I have read many interesting vegetable & tropical fruit growing articles from The University Of Hawaii Cooperative Extension office. You have some real good support from them. Looks like we have a couple of things in common, weather & nematodes.
Looking forward to hearing about your gardening successes.
Craig

Thanks for the reminder TG from Florida.It is easy to forget our best sources.   Unfortunately, there is little new from Hawaii Extension because the University has been bought out by GMO money. Darn them~

What a bummer that is! I would not have thought that would happen in a university.
So do you also grow any tropical fruits?
 I have a Baily's Marvel Mango, a loquat tree, Florida Prince Peach tree and 2 Papaya trees. My peach tree is not doing too well.

We grow apple bananas, papayas, lilikoi (passion fruit),  mangoes, cherimoya, pomegranate (not fruiting yet however) Suriname cherries, and nursing along a mulberry from a stick start.  I killed the first one by neglect.  It is the closest to a real berry here.  Oh yes, and citrus, lemons, limes, oranges, tangerines, grapefruit.

There are wild blackberries in our hills (Koke`e) where we spend a lot of time and a native raspberry, also wild, that is not as delicious as our usual raspberries.  We sure do appreciate Costco bringing that stuff in.

Have you tried either Blue Grapes (relative of jaboticaba) or Sirnam Cherry?  Is the taste similar to grapes or sweet cherries?  My yard is too small for any more fruit trees, but I found a place in Waimanalo that sells container fruit trees.  (I would like to grow some Mainland Fruits).  I already have two sour tangerine trees, and one sour sap tree in the front yard.

By the way I passed on the info about SFG to two others at a "yard renovation" talk last weekend.  Hopefully one of them joins the forum.

I know nothing of an edible blue grape type that grows in Hawaii although some have started wine grapes here on Kauai and we have lovely grape arbors in Koke`e.  The grapes mostly go to the birds.  Is that Surinane cherry the one I'm calling Surinim? I sure don't know the right name.  I got black surinam cherry seeds from somewhere and the bushes are thriving.  We have them growing wild along some of our streets where we walk.  

Only problem with mainland trees is they usually need a different micro climate.  Let us know what succeeds.  Are you on the windward or leeward side of Oahu?  I'm sure those climates are also different.  We also can grow apples in Koke`e at 3500 feet but that is not our usual venue.  Kiwi and plums also grow well at that altitude.

I'm am on the Windward side.  The yard has about 6" of top soil over packed fill.  We had delicious grapefruit, rough skinned lemon, and tangerine tree that seemed to die below the ground before the upper part died.  So when I buy a container tree, I will let you know how it goes.

I mix about 2 cu Ft of mix at a time, so the SFG is not progressing very fast.  It looks like it still needs at least another 2 cu ft.  In the meantime I'm learning how to use the garden planner and which seeds I want to plant.

Does anyone else have trouble with cats using the SFG as their private litter box? I am keeping a net around my SFG to keep them away.

Definitely, my cats think it the very best place to poop and pee.  I have had to become philosophical about it.  In the way distant past I used to do all sorts of things to keep them out. 

However, we do use fencing,about 2 feet high around some vulnerable beds, both for cats and wild chickens.  We have found that we could remove this at some point as the creatures got discouraged and moved elsewhere.

Sounds like we can grow many of the same plants. Our Citrus is under  from Citrus Greening. Nasty disease that is killing entire groves.
 I am not familiar with the Blur Grape or Apple Banana. Gotta look them up.
 Also forgot to mention the Pineapple & Guava plants.
Really interesting to compare what we can grow.
 Craig

Aloha Nan!!  TT does indeed mean table tops.  I assume you have Mel's latest book.

No, I have the original book.  I thought I would buy the answer book first.

As long as it is All New Square Foot Gardening, 1st or 2nd Edition, by Mel Bartholomew.

The  book that I have is "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew, copywriter 2005.  Do you recommend that I purchase a newer version?

Nan,  If the copy right is 2005, it should be ALL NEW Square Foot Gardening, 1st Edition.  The key words are ALL NEW. Please double check.

My library shows that "Square Foot Gardening" was last printed in 2005


and that "All New Square Foot Gardening" came out in 2006.

CC, Thank you for taking the time to post these photos. You are correct that ANSFG was first published in 2006. When I quickly peaked at the book, I only focused on the copyright date of 2005. Good catch. My error.