Square Foot Gardening (SFG) is a great way to convert that boring suburbia grass lawn into a sustainable produce isle. Don’t have a lawn? That’s cool- SFG can be done practically anywhere. Mel was kind enough to send me this DVD which gives a quick intro into SFG. This method is great for the absolute beginner who might be a little overwhelmed by starting that first organic garden.
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44 Comments
I first got interested in gardening by reading Square Foot Gardening. By the time I got my first garden, I had moved on to Bio-intensive gardening. Certain things Mel teaches I still use: I use as few seeds as I can to reduce thinning, and I water using a plastic cup. I like the emphasis the Bio-intensive method puts on creating a healthy soil through making and using compost. Hey, Mel Bartholomew and John Jeavons both have beards! I guess I need one too!
You go, Mel! Thanks!
@megalodonNL Citation needed. I've seen many updates from Americans doing SFGs on YouTube. Please give me one example where super powers are preventing someone from gardening.
@megalodonNL
The bill you cited, S510, is not codified as law. I looked up the bill on FedSys and the latest action, which was over a year ago, is indicated as "engrossed in Senate" meaning that version of the bill did not get passed by the house in identical form. It was intended to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. So I looked this up in the statutes and looked for recent amendments to this act (to see if anything resembling S.510 had become enrolled and passed.)
@megalodonNL @megalodonNL cont'd from previous message. The latest amendment to pass was on January 4th, 2011. It is known as the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. I read the Act almost in its entirety, and while I did find scary mentioning of Department of Homeland Security taking control over some regulations, there was no mention of the prohibited act of saving seeds. A text search for "seed" yielded zero results in the Act.
@megalodonNL In fact, the section on "Standards for Produce Safety" stated that nothing in the section will apply to individuals growing produce for personal use. The Act also appears to be quite lenient to CSA's and farms selling direct to consumers. There is no mention of prohibiting or regulating gardening at home, or even having a farm for your own production of food. Rest easy, nothing you have mentioned is actually law. Its codified as Public Law 111-353 if you would like to read.
@megalodonNL SB 510 is a dead bill.
Sorry to hear. Bartholomew's perfect soil mix is IMPORTANT. Prep work worth it. Newspaper photographed ours in huge community garden as it had the lushest growth. Once the sfg is established, just watering, picking produce and loving it are left to do. Twice produce and half the space and less than half the work and no weeding–16 squares took 5 to 15 early AM minutes– what's not to love? Could be soil was nutrient deficient or plants neglected if this fabulous method didn't work for you.
Your heirlooms were once hybrids 🙂
Look up the definition of GMO and then you'll realize why your conclusion is wrong.
i am impressed and would like to shake this mans hand.
what can be done about fire ants they are in my zucchini
Garden-ville makes a product called anti-fuego treatment or make your own drench with orange oil, molasses & compost tea. GreenLight makes Fire Ant Control with Conserve. Both are organic / natural products free of toxic chemicals (to you anyway (-: ) Apply beneficial nematodes. When dry, put down some diatomaceous earth (NOT the swimming pool variety). This should help control your fire ants.
GMO is NOT anywhere near hybrid, either. At one time, your heirlooms were once hybrids.
Wow. It's cool that Mel is still around.
He seems to have gone Hollywood, though. Back when his book came out, and he had a show on PBS, seemed like an Amish gentleman. Very old school.
Don't be so sure they are not toxic to us.
Don't be so sure they are not toxic to us.
Chalk also works. Ants really won't walk on it.
Do yourself a favor and read the new book – it should be available from the library if you don't want to spend the cash.
The new one really is that much of an improvement over the original – it is SO much simpler, less work, and less expensive!!!
Get Rid of Ants Solution
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons boric acid
3 cups warm water
Directions:
1. Mix the sugar and boric acid well.
2. Add the warm water slowly, mixing all the while so it won't be too lumpy.
3. Store in a jar until ready to use.
4. When ready to use, put cotton into the top of a jar lid to fill it and then saturate the cotton to the top.
5. Place it in the location where it is needed.
Dude, just get some boric acid bait traps for the ants.
Definitely great! This video will show us the unique methods of gardening. It is true that square foot gardening is the practice of planning and creating small but intensively planted gardens. Thanks for this video! It is highly recommendable!
sharing on facebook with all my friends!!!
I think everyone is going to find variations in how they work their square foot garden. I have developed three bed sizes in mine. 2×2, 2×4, and 4×4. Instead of laying down wood lattice, I use construction twine. Its inexpensive, and the plants can get around it if they need to. I find that I can target the beds that are not doing well a little better versus the row gardening method. Initial setup is a pain, but once they are set up, it is great. I have one 2×2 that has a weed problem, but that is the only one out of 22 beds I have constructed. That's right 22 of various sizes in cluster in my back yard. Love this method.
How about raised/table version of square foot gardening? For those who cannot bend a lot?
pretty dank video but no mountain dew 2/3
This is the horticulture that only an engineer could dream up, lol! Its a grid and grids aren't natural. I find them ugly and flee them culturally, aesthetically, and so as a gardener as well. We are not bees, we're primates with too many tools and too many control issues. The human eye wants to see curves, variations, microcosms and macrocosms, subtle and not-so-subtle change, fluid margins, it does not want to see grids, however many abundant, colorful, and novel 'crops' are grown there. Or am I wrong? Do people just give up freedom and aesthetics, as well as any hope of communion with wild animals such as birds, butterflies, field mice, etc for a sense of security and some carrots and tomatoes grown inside of products you buy? Plants want the earth we are standing on, not some simulacrum of nature. We don't need gardening to be crudely 'mathematized', we need to look deeper into the forms in nature, where the true 'math' lies. There lies abundance, and also beauty…. But the garden shown in the video will no doubt keep away most animal pests, as well as most hippies, because of its disturbing anti-aesthetic cubism which runs so contrary to natural form and the pleasures of the human eye, which matter at least as much as the pleasures of the gullet…
I am trying this program this season for the first time, in fact I am taking it one step further and using 1 ft. milk crates.Wish me luck……..
Doing my part . RIP friend
As a disabled person with limited income, this method has been a godsend. With them 18" high, I can easily tend them by sitting in a lawn chair or on a 5 gallon bucket.
I am trying to find innovative ways for a village of 3000 people in Guatemala to grow at least a little bit of sustainable food. They live in the mountains and have very little space or water. The dirt is awful (I would have to bring in new dirt) and there are pigs and dogs that would likely eat unprotected crops. The climate is very hot and fairly humid too . They have a rainy season and a dry season. I've got about a half dozen ideas regarding the structure that the plants would grow in, including hanging baskets of tomatoes made out of 2 or 3 liter bottles and of course, square foot gardening. My main question is, what are some crops that generate many calories per square foot, are nutritious, tolerate heat, use little water, and are fairly easy to grow. I'm thinking tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, and corn. Possibly potatoes and squash as well. Any ideas??? These people are in a really bad situation and your help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks.
Well I'll say is a hell of a lot neater..
I had the book and used to watch it on Tv a great show
So newbie gardener here. I made my.box, and have gophers and rabbits, so I am making a bottom and a wire cage. But how do I water this? I wanted to use a drip system but can't figure out how that will work
Helped
I think he morphed into the pillow guy.
Just got your book rest in peace sir job well done we will pass it on and your work will live on forever
Very Nice! I have read Mel's book in one of the Public libraries in Singapore. Very amazing! I want to try it now in my starter garden or may be in our food garden/food forest also! Enjoy gardening!
Looking forward to an Urban Pilot Project to increase food security in Southern Georgia. From Children to seniors gardening where you live!
My Hero back in the 1980s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You made my Life Complete!!!! Thank you
Thank you for the recommendation Christopher Baker
Mel and his cronies are toxic people. Please don’t subscribe
the whole point of planting crops in rows is to accommodate a horse or a tractor between the rows. Well, a typical home gardener is not going to guide a horse or a tractor through his or her garden! What I'm saying is that a home gardener has no need to plant their crops in rows. Square foot gardening is a MUCH more efficient use of space and resources than row gardening.