You Know You're a Square Foot Gardener When...

if you take your salad spinner out to the garden and happily clip salad 'fixins' til it's full and then bring it right in to rinse and serve on table. . . .

You tell your husband you'd like something shiny for your birthday that glitters, and he immediately assumes you want a bag of vermiculite.

(And he's right!)

If you challenge your "traditional garden" neighbor to a weeding contest...just for the laugh!

You burn your husband's oatmeal to a crisp while catching up on the latest news in the forum!!

robbinscabin wrote:If you challenge your "traditional garden" neighbor to a weeding contest...just for the laugh!

Now that's just funny right there!

you take pics of new crop sprouts/blossoms you've discovered on you cell phone as your on your way to the car to go to work so you can show your co-workers, they politely look at your pics but you know they think you are a little off your rocker!

you take your new SFG book to work with you and refer to it as your Garden Bible and use it to witness and give your personal testimony in hopes to help someone else see the light!!! I am a chemotherapy nurse and have a lot of patients who love to garden but are not up to the physical tasks of traditional gardening. I let them look at my book while they are receiving their chemo and encourage them to try SFG, while I wish there was a way to provide them with a box of their own to get started. They could continue to do what they love and provide them with an outlet away from their cancer.

Totally off topic, but argardener, what about drilling holes in the bottom of one of those hospital pans that every patient takes home? They are 6 inches deep. Or start a container garden as a SFG? Or drill holes in a bucket?

You might be a SFG if...
You laugh out loud at the pre-fab box prices in your nurseries because yours was free/nearly free.

You look in everyone's yard to see if anyone esle is a SFG.

You dream about planting seeds in neat little grids.

You get back out of bed to go turn your hot compost in your bathrobe because you forgot to earlier.

ARgardener -- there's a section in the book about a medical facility letting someone use an old gurney that wasn't usable for patient transport any more...they put a SFG box on the gurney so that it could be wheeled to the patients. There might be a wheeled cart somewhere that would do the same on a smaller scale...then each patient could grow their own square?

I love the idea of the bedpans...and it's a nice Pppppbbbbt! to the whole concept of hospital, etc., to have something living in there.

...you get out of bed at 11 pm to cover the plants b/c the newscaster said "frost" or "very low temps"!!

...you follow the dog outside when doing her "business" to make sure she doesn't get in the garden.

...you drink your first morning coffee while smiling over your new SFG!!

Thanks for the ideas. I work in an EXTREMELY chaotic clinic, it would not be possible for me to do anything with them at the clinic, it would have to be something I could send home with them. I think it would be an excellent distraction for them by giving them something to care for and nurture. Most of these patients are on fixed incomes. They would not be
physically able to construct a box or go out and buy the items
necessary to fill it and plant it.

I would need materials that would allow me to provide them with an assembled box ready to plant, like a 2' x 2'. I would like to offer them a choice of seeds or plants for the box with instructions on spacing. I was thinking about contacting our local Habitat for Humanity and maybe some local contractors to see if they could donate any supplies to construct the box. Maybe some local nurseries would donate some compost, peat moss, vermiculite, plants or seeds.

you just might be a SFG'r if you go out every morning and talk to each square in your 4x12' box...whispering how sweet the peas are and how snazzy the spinach is....and my oh my those wala walas are just out of sight....and of course the slower folks get the pep talk "come on little seedy you can do it"....but of course this is just hypothetically speaking

when you complete all your boxes and then spot Therese's Strawberry Tree and suddenly feel the urge to start building again!

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/gallery/Personal-album-of-SFG_Friend/strawberry-tree-growing-pic_113.htm

If I'm not in the garden, I'm at the lumber store.

You take your truck to the city-wide cleanup dump site, not to dump anything, but to pick up materials for your SFG. Last Saturday in less than 2 hours I snagged 3 3/4" pieces of plywood, used but still usable, 5 4x4" x 6' untreated posts (slightly warped), a wonderful white metal baby bed with high head and footboards (can you say "trellis"?), two 6' high metal shelvings units for the future greenhouse, 30 bags of leaves and grass clippings, and 4 loads of wood chips (couldn't believe no one but me wanted the chips). What a haul! Of course, I also got the reputation for being a scavenger -- and the ribbing that went along with it.

timwardell wrote:...love the smell of Mel's Mix in the morning.

It smells like.........Victory.

...If you can't sleep at night because you are so excited to build some boxes, mix some soils and figure out what you are going to plant in every little square! (true story, for the last week, I need to get some boxes built already so I can get some sleep!)

. . . . have over 75 different seed packets and ALL of the varieties in the packets are in the garden growing!

You know the prices and locations of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite in a 60 mile radius.

.....If you have a collection of all the SFG books from day one.


.....If you remember Mel had a beard when you first started your SFG.

......If your whole yard is covered by SFG frames and there is hardly a place to walk.

If you are rolling on the floor laughing because each and every one of these is TRUE!
If you forgot where your hoe was because you don't need it any more.
You are having to give away lettuce because it is more than you can eat.
You are secretly keeping an eye on your father in laws garden. "Traditional" to see when he has tomatos. Hoping I will win!
Telling hubby to bring home power tools from work to make "just one more" box.
Trying out new veggies to fill all the squares.
Telling yourself not to panic when you run out of peat moss and vermiculite.
Scouring the roadside trash piles for SFG treasures before pick up day.
Walking by your SFG and.. oh my a weed. Stop and weed all squares in 10 minutes.
Going off for the weekend and worrying about your plant babies.

Take a 'sick' day off work to make and plant one more garden....

and realize then have to take another day to build another garden because you forgot to leave enough room to plant "insert favorite seed pack that hasn't arrived in the mail yet"

lol = this thread is the greatest

I am doubled over laughing at these. You guys are seriously awesome!

OK....Who said gardening wasn't fun. It makes the hobby more pleasurable.


(Do I sense another book in the works for Mel)??

...if you plan an entire meal around 8 tiny new broccoli florets.

...if you take artful pictures of radishes (and your daughter thinks you've gone bonkers).



Patti

watch the weather radar from your work computer and worry if the rain will damage your plants