This post will be the first in a series that breaks down the steps to setting up your square foot garden to the absolute basics. I'l also give you an update on how our garden is doing!
Step 1: Determine the size of your garden
The beauty of using the square foot gardening method is that it takes up soooooo much less room than a traditional garden planted in rows. To grow the same amount of produce in a square foot garden that you would in a traditional row garden, you need only 1/5 the space! Wow!
As the name implies, your square foot garden should be laid out in square or rectangles. Keep in mind that you will need an aisle about 3 feet wide between each box to give you room to work. Also, you want to keep your boxes no more than 4 feet wide if all sides of the box are exposed and no more than 2 feet wide if the box is placed against a fence so you can easily reach in to tend the produced planted in the center of the box.
Don't go overboard with the number of boxes you want to build. You will be able to grown a substancial amount of produce from one 4x4 box. You could potentially grow 16 different types of vegies from that one box! One in each square foot!
Don't go overboard with the number of boxes you want to build. You will be able to grown a substancial amount of produce from one 4x4 box. You could potentially grow 16 different types of vegies from that one box! One in each square foot!
Step 2: Determine the location of your garden
Duh, in your yard, right? Well, it's not quite that simple as there are a few things you need to consider.
First, you want your garden to be close to the house. Pick a location that will not only be convenient to tend but also look out the window frequently and enjoy.
Second, you need a location that gets the right amount of sunlight. Generally, most crops need a good amount of sunlight: about 8 hours a day (or "full sun"). If you are growing a crop that specifically needs less sunlight daily, you can easily build a 1x1 or 1x2 box that you can move in and out of the sunlight as you need to.
Next, the location for your garden needs to be well drained. This means don't put your square foot garden in a place where water tends to puddle because this will drown your plants roots. One way to avoid this problem is to elevate your garden on risers like cinder blocks or something similar (see the picture of my garden at the end of this post). Not only will elevating your garden on risers keep the plants roots safe from excess water, it will also make your garden easier to tend because you won't have to bend over all the way to the ground. Our garden is the perfect height to put a folding chair next to so I can easily tend it. This is great for my back that was injured last year in a car wreck.
Helpful hints:
1. Be sure to consider trees or other structures that may shade your garden at some point during the day. To avoid this, go out side at several points during the day while you are determining the location for your garden and note which areas are sunny all day and what areas may be sunny in the morning but get shaded in the afternoon (or vice versa).
First, you want your garden to be close to the house. Pick a location that will not only be convenient to tend but also look out the window frequently and enjoy.
Second, you need a location that gets the right amount of sunlight. Generally, most crops need a good amount of sunlight: about 8 hours a day (or "full sun"). If you are growing a crop that specifically needs less sunlight daily, you can easily build a 1x1 or 1x2 box that you can move in and out of the sunlight as you need to.
Next, the location for your garden needs to be well drained. This means don't put your square foot garden in a place where water tends to puddle because this will drown your plants roots. One way to avoid this problem is to elevate your garden on risers like cinder blocks or something similar (see the picture of my garden at the end of this post). Not only will elevating your garden on risers keep the plants roots safe from excess water, it will also make your garden easier to tend because you won't have to bend over all the way to the ground. Our garden is the perfect height to put a folding chair next to so I can easily tend it. This is great for my back that was injured last year in a car wreck.
Helpful hints:
1. Be sure to consider trees or other structures that may shade your garden at some point during the day. To avoid this, go out side at several points during the day while you are determining the location for your garden and note which areas are sunny all day and what areas may be sunny in the morning but get shaded in the afternoon (or vice versa).
Step 3: Sketch it out
Now that you have decided how many boxes you want, what size they will be, and the location for all of them, sketch out your garden design. Play around with the design to make it beautiful and easy to take care of. Get your design layout perfect so you'll be ready to start building your boxes!
Apartment gardening:
The square foot gardening method can be used for apartment balconies, too! You'll just need to make your boxes smaller and choose crops that are appropriate for the amount of sunlight you receive each day!
An update on my square foot garden:
Everything is doing great! My garlic and peas have grown the most over the last week, and it's so exciting to look at all my little seedling every day and see how much they've grown since planting it all a month ago. I feel like a proud parent :).
My garlic:
My peas:
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| Red leaf lettuce seedlings |
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| Here you can see my red onion, green onion seedlings, and carrot seedlings |
This illustrates how to elevate your square foot garden on risers. We just used cinder blocks (they're cheap and sturdy).
I hope you enjoyed!
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