WARNING: this article contains information only in feet and inches and the author wishes to apologize to any metric gardeners who may be offended.
Who isn’t interested in a vegetable garden that requires less work? Square foot gardening is not a new movement but was introduced by Mel Bartholomew in his 1981 book, ‘Square Foot Gardening’.
The principle is to intensively grow vegetables in a small area using organic gardening methods. The square foot garden is a raised bed, contained by a wooden frame, filled with organic soil, divided and planted into one foot square units.
Square foot gardening is ideal for those of us who are cursed with poor soil conditions and little time on our hands. The square foot garden proposes to use less water and less labour weeding.
The basic garden is a square of 4-ft by 4-ft. First a barrier layer of cardboard or landscape fabric is placed on the ground to discourage weeds and grass growing through. A wooden square frame is built using 2x6’s, 2x4’s or 2x10’s; recycled wood is even better. Be sure not to use pressure treated or creosoted wood as the chemicals will leach into the soil. A depth of at least one foot will allow you to grow onions and potatoes plus the soil won’t dry out so quickly.
The frame can now be filled with well-drained organic soil. The box is then divided into 16 one square foot squares using twine.
The idea is that each square will grow a different plant variety. For example, in one square foot: one broccoli plant. In other squares, one tomato, 16 radishes, 4 herbs, four strawberries, nine spinach etc. The rational is that thinning and overcrowding is eliminated and the plants will eventually choke out the weeds. Tall plants such as corn and pole beans should be grown on the north side so not to shade the other crops.
I suggest using Remay fabric after planting. It not only gives a few degrees of frost protection but will speed up the growth as it keeps the soil warm. Water easily penetrates through it and it has the bonus of keeping pests away. Remove it once the plants begin to flower so they can be pollinated by insects. The Remay fabric can be used for many seasons.
If you don’t have the ground space, consider a square foot garden using containers. Everyone usually has a few odd pots and window boxes laying about; put them to use. Find a sunny corner and get planting. Salad mix, herbs, radishes, dwarf carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and don’t forget some edible flowers like the pretty viola ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’.
Jean Atkinson is a horticulturist with Richbar Golf and Garden and a regular Observer columnist.
