My SQF: A Progress Report.

Here is the beginnings of my new Sqf. I will try to keep it updated on the progress I make. If nothing else, for my own sake so I can come back and look at what I started with and hopefully smile For now, its just the basic layout with a few frames. I am only going to fill one frame now for the winter, and that is only to plant garlic. I do have a strawberry plant I might throw in there too that needs a home actually.
Anyway, at some point, next spring, I hope to have the whole area filled with boxes. I am also setting everything up to allow 3' walkways all the way around each planter:

I am using all recycled resources, except for the weed barrier. The lumber is true rough cut lumber. It is big, beefy, and hard like rock.



I love the wood. It is a little over 40 years old and the inside when I cut the boards is still solid and nice. The outside to me has tons of character, and just looks cool. Plus, its free! I have old feed bunkers and a couple of old structures that we are tearing down on our farm, so why purchase when I have these materials. I guarantee, if I bought new wood, it would rot before this stuff does. Plus, I know for a fact, this wood has never been treated. I actually know where this wood came from

Anyways. I like the wood and the rusticnuss, ness??? of it.

Here is my compost area and bins:

I made the blue barrel tumbler from a food grade barrel from work. And the other I made from...again, recycled material. An old snow type fence I found discarded in a heap of junk in one of the structures we are tearing down. It had "use me" written all over it. I think it was just a couple days ago in Homedepot, I saw the same type of fence (and not much of it) for $49. I consider myself blessed lol
Here is the compost inside:

I really wish I would have started it just a few weeks earlier cause it did really well quickly and then we started getting really cool weather at night and the progress has slowed BIG time.
Anyway, carry on. I got work to do...

Mixing...


...and dumping.


Box filled and watered.


Did the grid with string.



Had some chicken wire, and 2x4's layin around and our barn kittens have decided the garden area is one huge cat box. So I went ahead and made a cage.
And planted the garlic.

Looks Good!!

I love looking at progression pictures.

Wow! All that s p a c e !

I have a camera now and looking forward to taking some pictures and posting them.

looking great I wish I had the space you do. I realy like the rough cut timber look. If you have mice, moles, voles, woodchucks ect in your area you might consider putting hardwear cloth under the weed barrier of the other boxes. I have a TT garden so it has not been a problem for me, but I have read enough posts on the subject to know it has been a huge problem with others.

We do have voles...I stapled on 2 layers of weed barrier, and layed out cardboard under that. I will do the same for the others in the spring when I am ready to fill those boxes.
Thanks for the heads up!

nKedrOoStEr wrote:We do have voles...I stapled on 2 layers of weed barrier, and layed out cardboard under that. I will do the same for the others in the spring when I am ready to fill those boxes.
Thanks for the heads up!

Before filling any more look at this thread and the links included for info on voles:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t6089-moles-voles-and-holes

I have gohpers and could not have a garden without wire on the bottom of the boxes.

I should be clear. We do have voles in the area. In all the years we have lived here, I have never had a problem with them in the garden. We do have bind weed though that I swear is connected to the earths core:evil:

HEY! Where's all your helpers?! Anybody can stand around with their blue ribbons and show clothes and get their picture taken. Where are they when there's work to be done?

boffer wrote:HEY! Where's all your helpers?! Anybody can stand around with their blue ribbons and show clothes and get their picture taken. Where are they when there's work to be done?

Hahaha! True, true!
Actually, my kids work and do lots of chores. They are soooo abused! My daughter mistakenly bragged to one of her friends a few weeks back that I let her sleep in that Saturday till 7 a.m. I also think at least one of them is going to do a garden project this year as part of one of their 4-h projects too!

So here are a couple of pictures I just stumbled upon of my garden before SQF:

I am really looking forward to your next season's results. I bet you get at least twice as much produce with half the work. After set-up, of course. The following will be even easier.

Looks great !!! Oh... you are going to have sooo much fun next spring.

I can hardly wait! I wish I had stumbled upon SQF sooner.