new adept from france

Hi,
First of all forgive me for my poor english, it's well knowed that french people doesn't speek very well, but it seems we have a good accent
Well, I've discovered the potential of the Square Foot Gardening and I would like to know if someone have taste it in a farm.
Actually I will create a, how do you say, a farm because I love this job, It's I think one of the most thing which have sense... It will conduct in an organic way of course and the selling will be direct.
I will exploit the land of an association cultual, and I would make something like in the old monastery with the garden who produce for the association.
I will cultivate 20000 meters
One more time sorry for my english and thank you if you have some informations about this method apply at a big scale
thank you
alex

Welcome to the forum......Mel B. wrote a book called Cash from Square Foot Gardening which is probably out of print......this would be very helpful in getting started.....it sounds like you would have many hands to make lighter work to make a success of this idea.....
Hopefully some one will be helpful in finding the book for you....
Good Luck......Ruth

Amazon.com has 14 used books for sale.

Kay, Broadcasting from Vienna

hi,
thank you jay and ruht to take time to answer me.
I will try to buy this book.
When I see on the website that they intent to apply the SFG in africa or they want to educate people at this method, I ask myself if someone try it in his job who consist to produce and sell vegetables. I'm sorry to insist, but if someone read this and know it's possible at this scale, tell me please.
and for sure the first step is to buy the book, but I feel me more enthousiast if I know it's possible.
Thank's for your attention
Alex

Hi, welcome to the forum. Your accent is great!

We have two members that use SFG for commercial purposes, but they each have less than 1000 square feet.

If I read correctly, you have 20,000 square meters to work with, which is 4.9 acres. Mel says you can grow the same amount of product in 20% of the space using SFG. So you would have 1¼ acres (54,000 square feet) covered in SFG boxes. Wow! That's a lot of labor.

I suggest that SFG isn't the best method for all people all the time. It's on a small scale, in our back yards, that row gardening techniques actually become an impediment, and SFG shines. On a big scale, row gardening works fine. Do you intend to grow a large quantity of a few crops? I think that row gardening with the appropriate equipment would be much more efficient, and then have some SFG boxes for your own kitchen garden. You would need a FEL (tractor with a bucket, backhoe, bobcat, etc) and a trommel screener just to create the necessary 5 way compost mix in sufficient volumes, not to mention finding reliable sources of individual products.

Best of luck in your endeavors.

I just wanted to jump in quickly and say my welcome, too. You will have a lot of fun here.

As for everyone commenting on the accent, they are dead wrong. It isn't a good accent. From either gender, it's a SEXY accent!

Welcome aboard.

bobbex from France.

It is my feeling that to set up the large area you have with the SFG method would be very, very expensive. I have no doubt it could be done.

I would be interested in the set-up of the raised beds. I envisage long rows of three-metre-wide beds. Is your land flat?

Kelejan (from Canada)

Hi and welcome!
I have to say that your English is way ahead of my French
There is a website here:
http://www.frogchorusfarm.com/squarefootgardening.html
These people are farming 7 acres (28000 sq meters) and say that the squarefoot method is helpful even at that scale. They seem to have started sqfoot gardening as a hobby and then gone professional but used what they learned to help in planning planting. So I don't think they actually plant everything in square feet now but rather have whole beds of carrots at a similar spacing and so on.

PS
You might like this comedy sketch about how the French speak other languages. I think it is so funny I can watch it over and over again! (But then, I am English ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUm-2x-2dM

HI,
Thanks you very much to everyone for your attention and reply.
I will study on this base to see what's possible.
When I'll see better on this I'll tell you, in my point of view of course, what seems able to do.
Thanks for yours welcome
and Icemaiden the video is really really funny
I promise I will work my english hihihi
Alex

Hi and welcome Alex! I took 3 years of French in high school and can't remember any thing. I suppose if you don't practice it, you lose it. I appreciate a person that takes the time to learn a new language. Anyway, have you tried putting a box or two together? If not, you might do that just to get an idea of what is involved physically and how much it does cost. It's the best thing for me, but I have a small garden. Very happy to meet you