How Many Square Feet Do You Have?

This year, first year, I have 1 box 4x8. I have another 4x8 box that may or may not get established this year!! "Edit" Ok, so if I wanted to actually answer the question it would be 32 sq. ft.

52 SF Three 4x4s and my daughter's 2x2

This is my first SFG year, but I've used raised beds for a long time. This year I augmented the soil I have and divided my two original gardens into SFG, then added a brand new SFG bed complete with Mel's Mix. I am very interested in seeing the difference between plants grown in traditional soil and the one's grown in Mel's Mix.

All total I'm working with 245 square feet on my 0.17 acre city lot. Much of the property is house and garage, but along with my vegetable gardens I do have 3 mature grape vines, 2 dwarf apple trees, a dwarf peach tree, some rhubarb, and a nice little raspberry patch. The lawn becomes more garden, less grass each year. The front yard has some perennial flower beds and an old sour cherry tree.

I bought many of my plants this year and they are in the beds already. I did start a few indoors this year, but I'm not all that happy with them compared to past years. I put a few seeds in the new SFG over the week end and the Turnip and Beet seeds have sprouted already.

We are finally getting some rain, our first really good Spring rain this year. It has been very dry here in Western Massachusets and I'm so glad to see the rain. The gardens are really soaking it in and the plants have all grown noticably since yesterday. I just love spring and am obsessed with my gardens.

6 4x4 beds = 96

downs wrote:6 4x4 beds = 96

downs
With 96 squares you must have been SFGing it for a little while, unless you are like a few of us who go into it hell for leather?

(3) 4x4 beds, so 48sqft.

Thinking of doing more next spring, in the front yard.

holy cow....never added all the squares up before!
6 4x8= 192
8 4x4=128
8 1x4= 32
1 2x8=16
= 368 squares of raised bed
1 2x24=48 sq ft raised (no grid) for corn
10 1/2 barrels for fruit trees + greens
perennial bed 16'x24' which has flowers, runner beans, and herbs
tea/medicinal herb bed 4x8 (no grid)
I'm also trying some tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets this year so I have 12 of those too.

hmmmm....that's seems like a lot when I put it on 'paper'.

Downs! What do you have planted in your boxes?

I am now up to 194 sq ft since I redid my walking onion bed and made it a box as well.

GG

to you too, Kerriewill! That's some SERIOUS sq footage! Where are you in Sonoma Co.? I moved out here to SD from Santa Rosa.

GG

I have 2 4x4 boxes plus tomatoes in a separate bed and zucchini/sqaush in pots.

By my calculations-

Six beds, 3'X9'-------------226sq. feet

Four beds, 4'X 4'-----------64sq. feet

Four 3' planters,- approx. --28sq. feet

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So I guess that I have 318 sq. feet of planted beds. Don't even ask me how much mix: six of the beds are 18" deep, and four are 1' deep, and four planters are 20" deep....lots of mix for sure

Why?

Most plants require only 6" of Mel's Mix. If you need more height because of back or agility problems, you can fill deeper boxes with sand, straw, etc., then just add your MM at the top.

donnainzone10 wrote:Why?

Most plants require only 6" of Mel's Mix. If you need more height because of back or agility problems, you can fill deeper boxes with sand, straw, etc., then just add your MM at the top.

+ 1 or a tabletop.

Last time I posted in this thread I had 24 squares on the ground. Now I have only 18 squares. But they are tabletops so it's an UPgrade in one sense anyway!

I'm a newbie. I have a 4X6 box and a 3X5 box w/ about 28 open squares. I have zucchini, tomatillos, bell peppers, chiles, rosemary and a cucumber plant. I have some seedlings that are starting to sprout - carrots, red onions, green onions. They'll fill a few of more squares but I've gotta decide on what else to plan. None of my plants have veggies big enough to harvest yet. I'm so excited and can't wait!!!! I've seen pics of so many great SFG!!!

I have beefsteak tomato and cherry tomato in their own planter.

I'm building some big 2X2X2 feet planter boxes with trellis for watermelon and later Japanese Daikon radish in the fall.

goosegirl....I live in petaluma. I have transformed my track house backyard into a mini farm. I think I only have a few squares left that I can plant right now. And I also have chickens on my side yard that I turned into a chicken run. That is also where I house my compost and my rainwater collection tank.

I just did a quick tally of my garden beds and I have about 400 square feet of beds.  That does not include the areas that I still plant traditionally.  What size is your garden?

Milaneyjane, Have you posted photos? I would love to see your 400!

132 sq. ft. plus one of the compost heaps is growing a riot of volunteer pumpkins. And one whiskey barrel holds one of the two ground cherry plants.

116 - adding two more boxes this fall

Bill

Kerri,  Have you posted photos of your back yard?  If not, please do.  Everyone likes to see photos.  I especially like to see smaller back yard gardens.

Thanks. Sanderson - A first year SFGer

PS I only have 39 square feet in boxes and 30-ish pots using Mel's Mix, since the back yard is small and landscaped.

With the free wood we got last week, plus some new 8" cedar fencing, husband built one 2 x 4, four 1 x 3.  That's 20 more squares for a new total of 59 sf.  Small for many folks, but pretty good for a small suburban back yard and neighbor trees.  Let's see, where else can I . . .

Never thought of it this way -- 116 sq ft. 6 4x4 plots, my 3 x 5 herb garden and 5 sq foot pots on my deck. If I added in the space from my sunflowers, that would be another 14 sq ft for a total of 130 sq ft.

(Click on the chart to increase to full size and scroll at the chart bottom to see

I probably haven't planted enough SF if I have time to go back through all the posts in this thread to learn how our gardens have "grown" over the last 3 years.  I only counted SF in production, not any aspirations to add more, which most of us have.  The size that appears most often (the mode) is 64 SF with an average garden size of 170 SF.  As you can see, gardens over 200 SF are the exception, not the rule, and we have a goodly number under 24 SF, so "little guys" have plenty of company.

Among the 12 members who posted in multiple periods, the average garden has grown from 113 SF in Dec 2011 when the thread started, to 132 SF, as of today, August 16, 2013.  What is really cool about this "Dirty Dozen," is that all of them are still active posters sharing their wisdom with us, most on a daily basis. (Since folks can be weird about privacy and appearing on lists, I won't name them publicly, unless they request being named.)  Their individual and collective value to this forum can be measured in the growing number of SFGers and the number of SF under cultivation.



Thank you to everyone who participates in this Forum.