Mel's Mix at Lowes and Home Depot

camprn wrote:Congrats Skip and welcome to the SFG Forum. I urge you to add at least one bag of compost o your Store bought Mel's mix. Some folks have found that the pre made mix is a little light on the compost.

I have been reading a LOT and had already decided to do that, and it won't be just a bag (though I have several after my shopping trips last week).  It'll be a wheelbarrow full.  I started my compost about two years ago, done the lazy way, have chickens, have poop, through in a pile, put used pallets around and water once every couple of weeks, let chickens stir it up, now it smells wonderful and I can hardly wait to use it.  No kitchen scraps in the pile, the chickens fight over those.

Skip

Phottoman, Welcome to the Forum!   

Nice score on MM and thanks for sharing. I urge you to get a copy of All New Square Foot Gardening, 2nd Edition preferably, by Mel Bartholomew. It's invaluable for the SFGer. I also recommend that you start a journal and take photos of your journey.

sanderson wrote:Phottoman,  Welcome to the Forum!    

Nice score on MM and thanks for sharing.  I urge you to get a copy of All New Square Foot Gardening, 2nd Edition preferably, by Mel Bartholomew.  It's invaluable for the SFGer.  I also recommend that you start a journal and take photos of your journey.

I have my original book (from the 1980's), can't seem to find it RIGHT NOW (It's here someplace) and the copy of the All New Square Foot Gardening.  It is "First Printing Revised Edition 2006."  Is there something newer than that?  Do I REALLY need to go out and but a second edition?

Well, in any case, I am all ready to start building my garden, except ... it's RAINING today (in Arizona???) and I only have two days off this week, and work a grueling schedule.

We finally agreed on where to locate the main garden, it'll be inside the fenced area around the front door, right outside the window from the kitchen, picket fence, AND chicken wire all around the yard, 60' X 20' and it faces East, so there will be plenty of morning sun up until around 1:00 or so, then the house will shade the garden during the hottest part of the day, so I don't think I'll need much shade cloth.  I have to be careful where I place the garden in any other part of the yard with the chickens, plus the wild rabbits that run around the yard all day and all year round.

Yes, I'll be taking pictures, any you might just regret telling me to do that (big smile).  I am a professional photographer (well, I WAS in another life) so pictures come natural to me.

I have 12 bags of the 1.2cf Mel's Mix (enough for two 4 sq ft plots) plus tons of manure, bags and bags of vermiculite, and plenty of peat moss, so maybe five plots?  And don't forget, I also said I have a compost bin (actually three) that the chickens keep stirred up for me.  OH, I may have forgotten to add, 18 chickens, all free range, and a great pleasure to be around. 

That many plots won't all fit in the yard, so I will have to build a fenced off area out back to keep the chickens and rabbits out.

OK, I am off to see what I can do in this rain, have a wonderful day every one.

Skip

Skip,  The ANSFG, 1st Ed. is fine.  You don't NEED the 2nd. Ed.  The 2nd Ed, 2013, has some newer topics, but not enough to worry about as you start your SFG.  I only bought the 2nd Ed. because I took the Certified Instructor's class and thought I should read it.

In my humble opinion, the 1st Ed. and being active on this Forum is all you need.  Use the search box for all kinds of topics.

On another subject, if you only get the Eastern sun, I would consider putting the trellises on the Western side of the boxes. What do other folks think?

Phottoman I have both the new and old SFG books. The MM recipe is my first book is very different from the recipe in the 2nd book. Personally, we haven't had good luck with the 2nd recipe. That would be one main difference in the two books. As far as all of the spacings etc, they are pretty easy to figure out on your own.

good luck!!

That All New Square foot Gardening 1st edition is all you need. Also, please see on the main page of the forum the hover button. Place your cursor near the hover button and a Pop out menu will appear. These threads will give you vital information. Mel's mix works great if you take your time and find at least 5 different composts. Cutting corners will in the end provide less than ideal results in the garden.

sanderson wrote:Skip,  The ANSFG, 1st Ed. is fine.  You don't NEED the 2nd. Ed.  The 2nd Ed, 2013, has some newer topics, but not enough to worry about as you start your SFG.  I only bought the 2nd Ed. because I took the Certified Instructor's class and thought I should read it.

In my humble opinion, the 1st Ed. and being active on this Forum is all you need.  Use the search box for all kinds of topics.

On another subject, if you only get the Eastern sun, I would consider putting the trellises on the Western side of the boxes.  What do other folks think?

I'll agree to this one, even tho I picked  up 2nd edition, I'll probably get a 3rd when it's available..just makes for good reading at  the mall while waiting for my shopping mate...

I picked up the ANSFG 2nd edition for my son but used it while getting my certification because I was at his house at the time.  I still use my 2006 version.

Kay

sanderson wrote:Skip,  The ANSFG, 1st Ed. is fine.  You don't NEED the 2nd. Ed.  The 2nd Ed, 2013, has some newer topics, but not enough to worry about as you start your SFG.  I only bought the 2nd Ed. because I took the Certified Instructor's class and thought I should read it.

In my humble opinion, the 1st Ed. and being active on this Forum is all you need.  Use the search box for all kinds of topics.

On another subject, if you only get the Eastern sun, I would consider putting the trellises on the Western side of the boxes.  What do other folks think?

Thank you Sanderson, I didn't think there would be a GREAT difference between a first and second printing, or it would have been published under a different name.

It's funny how much we forget when we don't use education we have.  I had forgotten all I learned about SFG from back in the 80's and had some pretty good plants growing about two years ago in this same area, but I know now what happened to all my plants, I over watered them all, and even though my tomatoes were starting to pop out, they eventually died also from overwatering.  This wasn't done as a SFG, it was potting soil bought from HD and nothing else. Instead of a cup full of warmed water, it was soaking everything daily with a hose.

Yesterday I was "in town," so I stopped by HD and bought some 1" X 2" lumber, all 8" long. I bought 9 of them, and they were all cut in the store to 4 feet long, so I could fit them into my car.  When I got home I took six of the 4 foot long pieces, clamped them together and made some measurements, and using a skill saw I cut them all in three places, half the thickness of the 2" depth.

Now as anyone with any knowledge of wood knows, 1" X 2" actually means 3/4" X 1 3/4" so I started shallow and just kept cutting until two pieces put together with these slots would fix exactly so that the tops all aligned perfectly.

I'm going to start a new topic on this today (or tomorrow morning) and show pictures of what I am talking about, as this is getting way off topic.  Anyway, the bottom line is ... I have STARTED on my new SFGs.

Skip