Greetings from Missouri

Hi! I'm a newbie living in south/central Missouri. We live on a 1/4 acre in-town lot, so efficient use of space is a must. I've been reading the book- very excited bout getting started. So far, we have amended our existing raised beds (1@5x5 and 2@6x6) with Mel's Mix and planted tomatoes and zucchini according to spacing recommendations. We are planning to do 2-4 new beds strictly by the book.
I was reading a thread about newbie mistakes and I want to make sure I understand this. A 3 cubic foot bag of compressed peat moss is actually 6 cubic feet in my mix? I'm sure it won't matter in existing beds we've already monkeyed with, but I want my new ones to be perfect!
I've been enjoying reading posts the last several days and look forward to sharing this experience with all of you. Thanks!

Greetings Missmarie and to the SFG Forum.
when you open your bale of peat, make sure to dump some of it out into a wheelbarrow or onto a tarp and fluff it up BEFORE you measure for your Mel's mix. This is the way you will get optimum MM.

Good to have ya!

Yes, a 3 cubic foot COMPRESSED bale of peat is 6 cu.ft. once it is fluffed up. Also, remember to moisten the peat BEFORE you put it in your bed. It will make keeping your bed watered much much easier.

I hope you make yourself at home here, and please do ask any questions you might have about your SFG or gardening in general. We are always happy to lend a hand where we can.

Also, if you have any pictures of your SFG please do post them. We love to see pictures. Even though we are all following the same method it is amazing to see how different our SFGs are from each others. I know I learn a lot just from looking at the pictures!

You might also want to stop by the regional forums here. The regional forums are a great place to get region specific information, ask regional questions, and just get to know other SFGers near you.

Take care and happy gardening!

Yeehawww!! More Midwesterners!! Welcome aboard, missmarie, it's great to have you posting. You know the drill, I'm sure. Pics are worth 1000 words, and we love to brag about our gardens as much as we love to help people here.

How close to Springfield are you? My family drives through there on the way down I-44 to SE Kansas a couple of times per year.

Yes, SFG seems perfect for you with that lot size. I'm so glad you are trying to adhere as closely as possible to the book, too. You won't be disappointed because when you have questions, you can get a lot of them answered here on the forums.

I would love to see how the two gardens compare once you get the made from scratch SFG going. Please don't shy away from telling us both the good and the bad from either.

I hope to see more of you around here and in the regional forum, as well. Happy Gardening!!

Thanks all!

BBG, I'm actually about halfway between you and Springfield, in Rolla.

I will absolutely post pictures as soon as we make some progress. Keeping my fingers crossed to have boxes built by the end of the week. I'm so glad I found the forum. I'm learning so much just browsing through old postings. Very cool!

missmarie wrote:BBG, I'm actually about halfway between you and Springfield, in Rolla.

Thanks for answering. Hour and a half down 44.....how'd that snow hit ya this winter? LOL. Bet it was forever melting.

Hi missmarie, I just wanted to add my welcome to the forum! I am a new sfgardener myself. There are so many friendly and knowledgeable folks on here who just love helping newbies with their sfg questions. I think you'll enjoy it much! Do keep posting to let us know how things are going.