Hello from central MD

Hi all. My daughter and I love to garden. In the past, we've raised tomatoes and strawberries and attempted squash. We also put in flowers a couple of times a year.

I had my interest sparked by the square foot concept when I stumbled on a 4x4 foot planting box on sale at our local Costco and decided I might be able to build one cheaper so I started looking on the internet. Lo and behold there were al lot of references to SFG by many folks who have done well at it. We're excited and anxious to get started growing all the veggies we like to eat. I think this is something we can do fairly simply and easily with great results.

I'm also in Central Maryland, and this gardening method works well here. You can learn alot from Bartholomew's books as well as this forum. I also have found that this planting calendar is good guide for our area. It's the last publication on this list:
http://www.growit.umd.edu/Food%20Gardening%20Publications.cfm

There is a very good greenhouse not far from where you live. It is on New Cut Road adjacent to 97 (across the street from Martin Spalding High School). They usually have a great selection of transplants.

Welcome MrMark and daughter from the wilds of Maine.

I think you'll both find SFG a great way to spend time together and get a wonderful harvest with a bit of start-up effort. Its marvelous.

You can build your own boxes with lumber from the lumberyard. If you go to a building supply house be sure the lumber is chemically untreated. They will cut the lumber to the size you want without extra charge.

Just jump in and do it. You'll be glad you did.
Welcome,

mrmark501 wrote:Hi all. My daughter and I love to garden. In the past, we've raised tomatoes and strawberries and attempted squash. We also put in flowers a couple of times a year.

I had my interest sparked by the square foot concept when I stumbled on a 4x4 foot planting box on sale at our local Costco and decided I might be able to build one cheaper so I started looking on the internet. Lo and behold there were al lot of references to SFG by many folks who have done well at it. We're excited and anxious to get started growing all the veggies we like to eat. I think this is something we can do fairly simply and easily with great results.

MrMark

So very glad to have you join us.

I hope you have had the opportunity to read the ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING book. Talk about making gardening easier, this really is the way. If you can't locate the book for purchase, try your local library, as they may have a copy you can borrow.

You will find you can grow lots of good spring, summer and fall veggies there in Odenton.

Please let us know how your garden progresses, and just so you know, we pictures.

Again, Welcome!

Welcome to the forum, MrMark and daughter.

This is a great place to ask questions and discuss SFG. Reading the book will answer most of your questions, but the folks here are always happy to help.

Keep us posted on how your garden grows, and remember that we love to see photos.

Hey MrMark501,

I'm in west central Maryland (eastern Frederick county) and this will be my third year gardening. Our first year wasn't so good as we started in June and didn't know what to plant and when, last year was much better with a greater crop.

Here's some pictures

Our first year with the garden with some of my siblings in the background.


I was very disappointed with the watermelons as we didn't get one



This was early spring of last year. We made the garden structure ourselves because we're on a pretty steep hill. It's served us well and was worth the effort.


and again in late spring


and again... those bushes in the background are raspberries (sorry not sfg) we love them, they give us two crops every year.

weatherkid,
Great pics of your garden. You've done well.
I think this year will be your greatest yet.
Good luck.

Greetings mrmark501 and daughter, welcome to the forum and to SFG!

Square Foot Gardening is a wonderful and truly easy method, and we are here to help. Let us know how your planning and building go (SO exciting!), and of course, we love pictures!

Also, please do check out the Mid-Atlantic forum for regional news and conversation. There are quite a few forum members in Maryland (as you're already finding!) and also in Virginia not too far from you, including me. If I can help with anything, please let me know.

Happy gardening!

Hi Neighbor. I'm just up the road from you in Glen Burnie (used to live on Ft. Meade).

Hope you enjoy the Forum.

Kim

Hi there! Another neighbor welcoming you! I'm in the Rockville area in Montgomery County, MD. Have yet to construct my first SFG, but I have all the materials, and hope to begin this weekend.

Hi from Southern Maryland (Calvert County). I am so glad to see some other Mid-A gardeners and to see how successful some of your gardens are! I am a newbie gardener doing my first SFG now and building my own boxes, trellises, etc. I am a very small woman and have had trouble gardening in the past because I couldn't move or lift the heavy bags of materials or turn over a large compost heap by myself. I'm hoping this new approach will help me overcome these obstacles. I am starting off simple with just lettuces and-stir fry greens, chard, hot peppers, eggplant, and a few herbs. Will build a 4x4 box and one 8x1 box 12" deep so I can try growing onions and carrots. We are near the Bay and our soil is very sandy, so I have high hopes that planting above the soil will give me a greater success rate. My previous two gardens were unproductive. Everything had black spot and mildew by half way thru summer.

Some of you successful SFGs, maybe you should organi:Dze a field trip so us newbies can visit your gardens and get some tips? Hint hint...

Cheers,

Laura

P.S. I planted some kiwi vines last year and wondered if anyone else has grown kiwis and had success in our Maryland weather. What do you feed them? Any special tips? The vines arrives with no instructions and I've just been feeding them all-purpose fertilizer. They have grown a lot but so far no fruit, altho' it is one male and one female vine. Maybe I need bees, dunno.

Hi Laura, welcome to SFG and to the forum!

SFG is GREAT for everyone, and it sounds like it's a great solution for you. Setting it up can be a chore, but once it's done, it's low maintenance.

Starting off simple sounds perfect. The lettuce will probably peter out when it starts getting really hot, but the chard will keep on giving until frost if you let it!

I do have a suggestion for you: If/when you start trellising, make sure you don't build your trellises any higher than you can reach, WITHOUT a ladder or stepstool. (Gardens get wet... wet stepstool=dangerous.) I planned mine to have the top bar at 6" over my head, figuring that some plants would stretch a little higher than that... and it worked out just about right; i could reach them and (with a few minor silly exceptions that were oversights on my part) didn't have to kill myself straining to reach uncomfortably high up.

You are more than welcome to visit my SFGs, though there is nothing much to show for it right now....the front yard is mostly dormant, and the back is under major construction! But please feel free to PM me. (That goes for the rest of you, too, of course.)

And, I've got nothing on kiwis, sorry. Maybe you can teach us?

That's a great tip about the trellises for us shorties. I have a large wooden arbor suitable for grapevines (and kiwis) and climbing roses and its a real chore to balance on a little wooden ladder trying to trim everything.

Re: visiting your SFG, I would love to do that sometime when I am out your way. It is a bit early tho, you're right. I guess my enthusiasm got ahead of the weather!

I will keep track of what I learn about kiwi success (or maybe kiwi failure!) and post it up for others who want to try growing them. I think getting them to fruit has something to do with how you prune them and then whether you can get them to cross-pollinate.

Good luck with Spring planting!

LauraG

Welcome to the forum, LauraG.

When mixing your Mel's Mix you might try the method our admin Middlemamma used. She used a bucket, and mixed one bucket of vermiculite, peat, and compost at a time. It took longer, but would be much easier for a small person to manage.