Hi from Acworth GA

Hello! 

I am not new to square foot gardening, but I have not been doing any gardening for about 4 years, due to a variety of reasons. Now that I have enough energy to get started again, I am going slow and steady. We are having some nice crisp sunny cold weather in Georgia lately so I have been getting things ready for when it gets warmer. 

Our yard is full of clay soil and has drainage problems, so I have been adding paver sand to one corner of our yard next to the house (it's under the green imitation grass). I am still leveling it out somewhat so the containers are tilted a little, but that will be fixed soon. 

This corner used to be a big puddle when it rained so I have filled it in with sand and put down a covering of imitation grass carpet to keep the puppy from digging in the mud. 

Any suggestions on how to grow gourds in these containers? 

I have purchased some seeds that are on the way and to my knowledge, gourds are pretty low maintenance, but I don't know if I will need a trellis or something for them to grow on. The fence in the background is a white plastic material and my home owner's association will not let me alter it but I could hang a trellis or put up sticks / strings for gourd vines to grow on.

Hi runsamok and a warm welcome to the forum from Ottawa, Canada.



It's relatively quiet on the forum at this time of the year but I expect someone will be along to address your gourd questions. I've never grown gourds myself but I think growing them vertically on a trellis will be a good idea.

Hi Runsamok. I'm AtlantaMarie, your Regional Host. Welcome to our party!

You will definitely need trellising for those gourds. I've had louffa run a good 20 feet or more...

Do you have a copy of the All New SFG Edition 2? SFG has gotten easier & easier with each new book that Mel put out.

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress and glad you're back "in the game!"

Thanks for the welcomes! 

When I originally started square foot gardening, I borrowed Mel's book from the library and kept renewing it until my garden was started. I will have to see if they have the 2nd edition there. 

I haven't decided what else I will be planting. If the gourds need a trellis, that's fine. I'll get some bamboo A-frames to grow them on. Some of the gourd plants are very small (mini gourds) so I'm not sure how much they will climb. I'm looking forward to seeing how well they do! 

Also, if you are wondering, I like to move my containers around, raise them up on cinder blocks for easy reaching, and move them to different spots if the plant needs more sun or shade. That is why I don't have the typical garden bed on the ground level. I was looking through some of the raised bed examples and I'm excited about trying to build a temporary one with my containers and cinder blocks.

I have included a grainy panorama of what the yard looked like before I started working on it recently. The dog had decimated all of the grass and basically the only greenery includes weeds, an invasive ivy, and blackberry brambles. Also some "before" pictures from this summer when the mud / drainage problems were at their height. 

Hi runsamok.  Welcome.  I am in Brooks, Ga about 30 minute drive south of the Atlanta airport.

Don't you just love that Ga clay.  That is why I started SFG when I moved to my new house.  Couldn't take the effort to improve the clay.

I have grown vining winter squash and use cattle panels to let them run up instead of all over the aisles.

I have that same bench.  The ones with the butterflies in stained glass type material.  I love it.

Hi! 

I love the bench too! It is starting to crack a bit and the butterfly glass pieces are coming out, but I still love it. 

Our puppy, Gail, loves it too! This is a typical scene when it's wet outside or muddy. 




Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Y'all might notice that I'm not shy about posting my "before" and "ugly backyard" photos. It is all the more satisfying to see a "before" and then post an "after"!

LOL! Yes, it is! And it looks like you've really got a great space...

I like your garden helper too.... :-)

Well, with all of the freezing rain we had last week, I discovered that the black planters I had purchased have no holes for drainage! They filled up completely with rainwater and then froze over in big blocks of ice. 

Today I bought a general purpose drill and will be making some holes at the bottom corners to make sure they can drain!

runsamok wrote:Y'all might notice that I'm not shy about posting my "before" and "ugly backyard" photos. It is all the more satisfying to see a "before" and then post an "after"!

I was just thinking that while reading through this thread. I was imagining that beautiful bench as the focal point of your new garden and looking forward to the "during" and "after" shots you'll be posting.

Now that Northern California is officially drought-free, I will be expanding my garden with containers on cinder blocks, also, so we can compare notes on that subject. Most of the year, our weather is similar to yours. We part company in July, Aug, & Sep, when it gets brutally hot and dry, here.

runsamok wrote:Well, with all of the freezing rain we had last week, I discovered that the black planters I had purchased have no holes for drainage! They filled up completely with rainwater and then froze over in big blocks of ice. 

Today I bought a general purpose drill and will be making some holes at the bottom corners to make sure they can drain!

Been there, done that.

Welcome, runsamok!  Who sells planters without holes in the bottom?!  Walmart!  I bought 4 huge planters last year and had to drill drainage holes in them....

Glad you found us, I am up in Ohio.  You have a cute pup!  Lots of possibilities in your back yard.  I to would see if you can get a hold of the All New SFG 2nd Ed.  Lots of simplifications.  

Other than the gourds, what do you like to eat/plant?

I purchased the 2nd edition book for my Kindle and just finished reading through it. There are definitely some simplifications from the first version! 

I have seeds for the following which I would also like to grow: 

Cilantro/Coriander
Oregano
Chives
Basil
Oregon Sugar Pea Pods
Lettuce (Little Gem)
Onion (Sweet Spanish Yellow)
Green Onions 
Broccoli
Bush Snap Beans
Cucumber

I will be buying starter plants for tomatoes and strawberries later this spring. 

The drill I purchased worked fine and I was able to make some drainage holes in the bottom. 

Here are some updated photos of the planters I prepared today. These have paver sand in the bottom and six inches of Mel's Mix on top of that. I did not have the energy to drag out the concrete blocks today to set them on top. 

After reading through the section on how to grow heavy pls, I decided to move the planters away from the plastic fencing, which may not be strong enough to support the gourds. I'm planning to buy the pieces to make heavy duty supports (and netting) from the instructions in the Mel's book. 

Woo-hoo! You're on your way to a new & improved sfg!

I stopped by Home Depot to get some paver sand and saw these wall blocks that can be used with 2' x 6' boards to create square foot garden beds. You can even stack them to make a deeper bed. I bought a few and tried to decide where to put the 4 by 4 bed, but looking at my yard, it would be difficult to place it in view of the sliding glass door and also have 3 feet around it. I have decided to go back to Home Depot and get some 2' x 6' boards cut to 2' length and get 4 more wall blocks, so I can have 2' x 4' garden beds instead of the typical 4' x 4'. That way I can have enough space to work on them. 

Here are the grow lamps I bought at Home Depot and my green onion and sweet onion seedlings. 




Here I have put together the boards and wall blocks to see how this would fit in my garden. 

Here is how I set up my Wall Block planter.  

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t20590-home-depot-planter-wall-block?highlight=wall+block

It worked out well for me.  I used two high to get about 12 inch depth.  The only problem I had was getting it all level since I also used one block in the middle of each side.  I can't remember why I did that maybe because it is 6 feet long.

and here is the finished product.

Beautiful, Yolos. 

Runsamok,  The corner block beds could work out real nice in your yard.  I saw these photos and thought of you, but I couldn't remember your name to find your thread.  Yes, 3' isles are great and Mel recommended them.  Depending on your layout, 2' - 2 1/2' isles here and there could work.  Just make sure you can work in comfort.  

Thanks for the pictures and the wall block planter example! Are the boards on top of the blocks secured together in any way or do they just rest on the blocks? 

Yolo's planter looks so handsome. I have tried setting up a garden bed with only 2 feet on a side for me to move around in. It's much too small and cramped when I try to weed or water.

runsamok wrote:Thanks for the pictures and the wall block planter example! Are the boards on top of the blocks secured together in any way or do they just rest on the blocks? 

Yolo's planter looks so handsome. I have tried setting up a garden bed with only 2 feet on a side for me to move around in. It's much too small and cramped when I try to weed or water.

The directions for making the planter came with how to attach the top boards but mine are not attached.  I wasn't sure how much the ground under the bed would settle so I decided not to attach them.