Square Foot Gardening

Having noticed that everything in our garden grows like stink for most of the year, we've decided to try growing some herbs and vegetables.

Iain did some online research, and discovered a method called Square Foot Gardening (SFG), invented by American gardener Mel Bartholomew in the late 1970s. We'd never heard of it before, but his original book was the best-selling gardening book ever in the USA. He brought out a new, improved edition last year. We've bought a copy, and it's very informative.

The principles of the square foot gardening method are pretty simple. Here's a rundown, taken from the official SFG website:

The Ten Basics Of
Square Foot Gardening

1 - LAYOUT
Arrange you garden in squares, not rows.
Lay it out in 4’ by 4’ areas.

2 - BOXES
Build boxes to hold a new soil mix above ground.

3 - AISLES
Space boxes 3’ apart to form walking aisles.

4 - SOIL
Fill boxes with Mel’s special soil mix:
1/3 compost. 1/3 peat moss,
and 1/3 coarse vermiculite.

5 - GRID
Make a square foot grid for the top of each box.
A MUST!

6 - CARE
NEVER WALK ON YOUR GROWING SOIL.
Tend your garden from the aisles.

7 - SELECT
Plant a different flower, vegetable, or herb crop in each square foot, using 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants per square foot.

8 - PLANT
Conserve seeds. Plant only a pinch (2 or 3 seeds) per hole.

9 - WATER
Water by hand from a bucket of sun-warmed water.

10 - HARVEST
When you finish harvesting a square foot, add compost and replant it with a new and different crop.

Last weekend we constructed a couple of bottomless 4' by 2' boxes from rough, untreated wood planks, screwed together with decking screws.


We rubbed the finished boxes inside and out with linseed oil to give them some protection from the rain.


We lined the boxes with weed matting to stop weeds coming up from below, and to help prevent the soil creeping out from the gaps underneath the boxes caused by the wonkiness of our patio.


We made 300 litres of 'Mel's Mix' by mixing 1 part peat moss with 1 part vermiculite and 1 part mixed organic compost, and plenty of water to damp down the dust.


We put the 'Mel's Mix' in the boxes and added a square foot grid by threading plastic washing line through eye screws.

Finally, we planted our seeds, a different type in each square foot.
We've got 1 square foot each of broccoli, leeks, chives, basil, beetroot, sage, parsley and spinach, and 2 square feet (one in each container) of peas, carrots, lettuce and marigold (which is supposed to repel insect pests).


Yesterday, just four days after planting, the broccoli and marigold shoots were showing, and this morning they were joined by the peas and lettuce.

It's exciting to think that in a couple of months' time we should be sitting down to eat what we've grown (unless the slugs, caterpillars and birds get to it first of course!)

Helen