New Old Nashville SFG

Hello Squares.  This is when it is better to be a square, LOL.

I am one of the few Nashvillians in the "it" city that actually was born here.  I worked on farms in summers and eventually became educated in healthy eating when I met the Barefoot Farmer, Jeff Poppen, around 1980 at the hippie hangout known as Sunshine Grocery.

He motivated me to begin following his biodynamic farming philosophies, and it was then that I transitioned to almost 100% organic eating and what would eventually become Paleo lifestyle, where I gave up everything except healthy meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and spring water with no grain.

I volunteered every year at our local PBS TV station during that time, and it was then that I first saw the original Square Foot Garden shows with Mel.  He made it look too easy not to succeed, so I gave up traditional farming for the original SFG methods.  When I bought my house in what used to be way out in the sticks but has now become overpopulated urban suburbs, I went totally SFG with 14 4x4 squares with some of the best compost around.

When the newer methods came out with the raised beds, I couldn't resist, so I taught my children and grandchildren how to make their own raised bed SFG's in their home, while my wife decided to start her own kitchen window raised bed herbs SFG.

Now that I am retired, I have made my garden hobby like my job.  I try to work at it for at least 2 to 3 hours a day and this time of year, I am outside up to 5 to 6 hours a day or until my knees, hips, or elbows say it is time to quit.  Thanks to Miranda Esmonde-White and Essentrics, also a PBS program, I am now more limber than I was at 50 or even 40.

Thank you for having a forum like this where there is no politics, no silly sports fanaticism, and no profanity.

TNG!
I love PBS! I, too, 'met' Mel thru his PBS show but it was on cassettes from the library. I also have a couple of Miranda's cassettes but need to wait to get my hip replaced to start up again. It just became too painful.

Do you have any photos of your SFG set up? Would love to see it.

CC

At the moment, there is nothing to see but soil, some stakes and cages, and a 6 x 6 x 3 foot compost pile.  This year, I did not have the time to start seeds indoors or get early season seeds planted. We had record heat with temperatures in the upper 80s in February, so we chose not to risk the bolting.  Our neighbors planted broccoli at the end of January and first week of February, and it started going to flower this week.

We are going to attempt to do the three sisters thing--corn, pole beans, and squash, and we might give some of the exotic heat-tolerant greens a try.  We will also go with sweet potatoes, potatoes, watermelon, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers.  My wife wants to try these exotic Chinese long beans she saw in the Baker Creek catalog.  They look yummy in the picture, but then so does everything in the catalogs.

Hi TNGeezer. Welcome from Atlanta, GA. Not TOO far from you... And welcome to the greatest forum I know of! Lots of friendly, gabby folks who like to laugh & help each other.

Good for you! I'm looking forward to seeing your garden.

Welcome fellow (former) Nashvillian!  I lived there and worked at Vandy Med Center in the 80s-early 90s.  Craighead neighborhood not far from the hospital.  Great times, fun city.  

My son is living and working there now, trying to "show me up", LOL!  I say go for it!  He is on Murfreesboro Road, not far from downtown in an apartment complex, loving it.  

Glad you found us, I too "met" Mel on PBS....did the old school version very successfully, and now have the ANSFG in process!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Welcome fellow (former) Nashvillian!  I lived there and worked at Vandy Med Center in the 80s-early 90s.  Craighead neighborhood not far from the hospital.  Great times, fun city.  

My son is living and working there now, trying to "show me up", LOL!  I say go for it!  He is on Murfreesboro Road, not far from downtown in an apartment complex, loving it.  

Glad you found us, I too "met" Mel on PBS....did the old school version very successfully, and now have the ANSFG in process!

I am a Vandy grad and lived in the Richland-Central area--went to high school at Peabody Dem/University School during the transition.  We now live farther out off Highway 70 up in the hills with all the wildlife.

The city is gaining about 128 per day in population, and your son can tell you how bad the traffic has become.  I don't have the patience and tend to stay out in the 'burbs.

I don't think I said it in your other threads, so: Welcome!

I love your owl - I've got a robin pair that nests under my deck, but they are more inclined to barely tolerate me than see me as a provider of caterpillars and unearthed worms. I've got deer, too, apparently quite a few based on the footprints they left in the snow, but they haven't jumped my garden fence yet.

I look forward to seeing how your three sisters planting turns out. I'd love to try one, but there's so much else I want to grow... Corn is low on the list because I'm practically surrounded by corn farmers. I will have pole beans and small winter squash varieties, though. I tried the Asian long beans last year, but won't be growing them this year. They didn't do well for me due to a convergence of not quite having enough light, getting shaded out by the faster/taller other pole beans, and I think my climate being a bit cool for them. I'll eventually give them another go... just not this year - too many other things to try!

Hi Geezer, Welcome to the Forum from California! We love photos so don't be shy about sharing your garden as it progresses. Many of us buy from Baker Creek. Their free catalog is to die for.

Regarding the Forum, it is family-friendly, always has been, always will be.

Thank you so much to all the kind gardening enthusiasts here.  You guys mean a lot to me, as this has been a very difficult winter in our family due to deaths of two close loved ones and my wife's losing one of her two jobs.

I must tell you lovely people something(s) that has/have become therapy for me.  Number one is connecting with people that know tons more about SFG than me, especially the newer version.  Secondly, there is no beating working in real dirt (+ finished compost) and getting it on your feet. 

The raised bed incarnation is very simple and not all that tasking on the muscles, so we consider these squares to be like extra dessert at family dinner.  Our old squares from the original book are what keep me sane.  Somebody I loved very much helped me make these squares in the early 1980's, and he left this world just after Thanksgiving on his birthday.  Every time my feet are placed in that dirt, it is my chance to re-connect with him.

Aw...so glad you found us, Geezer.

Aw, these warm greetings and smiley hugs are making me feel very happy and gleeful.  

What I am trying to say is 1,000 Thank Yous.

TNG, I know I've commented on another of your threads, but I wanted to include my welcome too...Welcome from Coastal NC.