Cheers from Mesa, Arizona!! Newbie, be gentle

Hello everyone let me say thank you for taking the time to make this site and all the information available to help us sprouts get rooted. We appreciate it.

My fiance and I bought our first house in Mesa, Arizona a little more than a year ago but are both originally from rain heavy and rich soiled Kansas City, Mo. We finally constructed our first raised bed garden. It's a 4x8x14" and we are looking forward to using your site to find the best way to fill it with plants and then to efficiently water.

Thanks again,
D

Oh and how do I attach a picture for reference? Thanks

Welcome from Way Up North! It is still frozen tundra here in South Dakota, but I just KNOW spring will eventually come to us as it has for all of you down farther south. Let us know how it goes filling up that lovely sized bed and remember:

WE LOVE PICTURES!!!!!

TC

Dfizzle1
How nice to have you join us. This is such a great group of people and if you have questions, someone will try to help you out.

Since we love to see pictures, and you asked for some help, try the following link.
I have to admit, sometimes I am a little dense and kept forgetting that after I browsed for the photo on my pc, and clicked host it, I kept forgetting to copy and paste the code on to my post.


How to Post a picture

Hope this helps,

Again, Welcome

Wow, what a great start you have there. That is one sturdy looking box and I really like the flat area on top to give you a place to sit or place some of your supples while you are working.

Have you read the ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING book so that you have the information on creating Mel's Mix? I find it is wonderful for growing your plants, because it is so loose and full of the nutrients that our crops need. It also helps to avoid weeds, which are my biggest hassle.

Here's to a great season with your new SFG.

Before you fill up that wonderful box, look into your watering options and make a decision on that front. A buried system on a timer can be a huge asset in your climate. My sister's husband works in landscaping and that's what they have in their raised beds. They live in Mesa, too.

Welcome!

Hey thanks I'm glad you chimed in on that. That was a major concern and I was going to ask a friend for help. Do you have any examples you could forward on for me? I'll be searching youtube and Dr. Google for extra advice on irrigating before filling it in.
Thanks to my folks for a compost bin as a gift not long after we moved in so it got an early start. They're slow moving down here where it's dry and being that the best location for it was the opposite side of my yard I don't water the compost as much as I should. Just turned it for the last time as you see in the pic and will be using it to mix with the soil mix hopefully in the next few days. Since starting it about 14 months ago I've added sand, soil, aged cow manure, grass, and kitchen scrap then mix it or turn it every couple months. It probably took 6-8 months to fill it up since we don't have hardly any plants and I was asking my neighbor for his grass clippings. But I'm really pleased with the results.

Found something similar to this a long time ago on the internet so I figured I'd take pics along the way to share.
Went to the store and picked up:

3 -- 1/2"x10' (for it's flexibility)
1 -- 3/4"x10' sticks of PVC pipe
1- Box of outdoor screws
12- pipe fasteners
6 - pieces of 8' cedar shavings to separate my Sq. Ft. (roughly 2"x3/8"x8')


Just cut the 3/4" stick into 12" pieces, screwed them into the inner walls with the fasteners.
Then jut insert the 1/2" pipe securely into one side, slowly bend it over and push it in the other.
Makes it easy to put up and take down.

We have Tomatoes, 2 bell peppers, jalapeño, 3 cucumber, 2 stevia, playing around with spinach and lettuce and carrots but missed out on their time of season if I remember right, also have soy beans, red and white onions, carrots, and radishes.

I used those 1ft long free paint stirrers from the depot as markers for which plant is which.

Just beautiful !!

WOW! Your box looks fantastic! I'm a little jealous actually.

Keep up the great work and keep posting the pictures.

Hello. I am in Chino Valley, AZ about 2 hours north of the Valley. I grew up in Scottsdale and my parents still live down there. Good luck with your garden.
I don't know if you saw this post from a SFG'er in Glendale. Check out their garden.

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t5247-2011-garden-glendale-az-duhh-planted-2-13-2011

Another site to check out is from Dave the Garden Guy. He's in Phoenix so he has some tips about Extreme Gardening. He also has a book.

http://www.gardenguy.com/

Marc

Dfizzel1

It is amazing the difference two weeks make. Wish we could have our warm weather plants out now

Wow, you are really coming along quickly. Last year was my first SFG and I couldn't have done it without the forum. Your boxes look very nice.

Great job & so well planned out. Welcome.

Sorry I haven't commented on your post earlier, I haven't been around as much recently.
Everything is looking great! Your box is so pretty, I think I'm in love with it. Good luck and keep me posted on your progress. It's a great time to garden here in AZ!!!

Sure is and thanks! When I started looking up how to do this I was using all of your ideas from this forum. Thanks for all the kind words and posting your updates so I can learn on the go.

Dfizz your garden is beeeeautiful!!!

I'm a newbie too. Only been using sq. foot gardening a year. A lot of trial and error. I've enjoyed seeing pics of other gardens. I want to learn more and be a better gardner. One thing that was not as successful as I had hoped was transplanting my own seedlings. I was trying to get a headstart by planting seeds in my Aerogarden in January. I transplanted them in late March and now only three squash plants survived and those plants seemed stunted.

Here is what I have:
8 square container: basil, jalapeno, zuchinni, yellow squash.
8 square container: lettuce, cilantro, beans, kohlrabi, cucumbers, I just finished spinach.
12 inch Deep container: two corn plants and potatoes.
4 square container: strawberry plants
upside down container: cherry tomatoes
Rolling brown container: roma and early girl tomatoes

First time planting potatoes, they are already starting to flower and only planted them late March. I found the black upside down grower on the clearance rack at Walmart and thought I would try it. Seems to be doing well. Already picked two cherry tomatoes. I have 10 strawberry plants, some planted last fall and I've been picking off the flowers. I heard that was what you were supposed to do for the first season then the strawberry plants will have more and juicier. These strawberries survived the 20 degree weather here, so I'm hoping to keep these for awhile. A couple of the plants have runners.......I need to find out what to do with them. I thought they would find their own way or am I supposed to clip them and plant them? I got the brown tomato container from Home Depot. Planted three tomato plants about a month ago. The fertilizer strip was placed in the soil and then the soil is covered with a black plastic. I just add water to the tube every other day and they been flowering like crazy and already have little tomatoes.
One of my squares had a mushroom phase, didn't know if that was something to worry about, so I cut back on the watering and let the soil dry out and the mushrooms have gone away. I can not seem to get cilantro to grow from seed. I've only had two plants survive from the nursery.

Open to feedback or suggestions. Thanks for your sharing!

Here is the link to some pics of my garden. https://picasaweb.google.com/rkmoneypit

Dfizzle, your garden looks beautiful. How did you get the pics on your post?

Dfizz and Tired Mama - you both have beautiful garden boxes!

A couple of people on here live in dry areas and have been experimenting with watering using a wicking system. It seems so far like it uses a lot less water, and keeps the moisture level pretty constant. If you search for "wicking" in the search box at top left, you'll probably find the threads pretty easily. Fascinating stuff!

This weekend we'll be creating a way to train the tomatoes and cucumbers.



this is just one I found from before


Jalapeños

Stevia


radishes

It all looks so lush, you are making the desert bloom. It is so humid here I prune my plants heavily they are not what you would call, pretty but they are producing well. Looks like you get to have both.