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I am new to gardening and I have followed the sq ft gardening method in attempting to establish a perfect vegetable garden. However I have taken it to a couple of levels higher when I built a 28" high 5 ft wide by 16 ft long raised cinder block bed and am presently building a hoop house over it to protect my investment from hail, wind, rain, sun, deer, rabbits and wees. I have posted how to videos on YouTube about how I did what I did if helps anyone else. You may watch the videos at the following YouTube links. This is ongoing until I am completely finished with my large project.
I'm planning my garden for 2011 - has anyone grown butternut squash in a SF garden? If so, how many squares? Do you grow it vertically or just let it trail out of the garden bed?
Thanks!
Butternut squash is quite the rambler, I'm not sure you'd be able to grow it in a SFG. My friend grew some last year in a raised bed and it spilled over the sides and rambled across her lawn about 15' or more. Maybe there are varieties better suited to being contained, but if you tried it in a SFG, you'd have to go vertical with it, and would probably need to cradle the growing fruits in old pantyhose or something attached to the vertical supports. I saw something like this done in a greenhouse for muskmelon, I believe it was at Longwood Gardens in PA - but not positive.
my wife and i did sfg last year. i had just changed jobs and some other things went on so it didnt turn out so great. looking back, our location was a little off. that was a huge problem. out of sight, out of mind. this next year will be different, i hope. im new to this whole forum so ill be watching this thread from now on. heck, i may even post here off and on.
my wife and i did sfg last year. i had just changed jobs and some other things went on so it didnt turn out so great. looking back, our location was a little off. that was a huge problem. out of sight, out of mind. this next year will be different, i hope. im new to this whole forum so ill be watching this thread from now on. heck, i may even post here off and on.
Welcome aboard. One thing you need to keep in mind when it comes to gardening is that gardens do require some almost constant attention. If you let things go for very long, the garden will suffer. Like you, I've found that my garden doesn't do well if I don't pay attention to it. Hopefully this year will be much better for you.
mjmamma in terms of the squash youd want to go vertically, i dont know what the sqftage woudl be per plant as im new to this particular method, but i have grown butternut in raised planters (and even large containers) as well as watermellon, honeydew and canteloupe...
you will need a very sturdy quite tall frame and some pantyhose.
grow the vines up the frame as you would any climbing plant keeping it trained/neat and tidy (squash and mellon have minds of their own) when fruit starts to develop take the legs off the pantyhose and tie to the frame, under the fruits like a hammock...as the fruit grows make sure its cradled and supported by the stockings.
Thanks for the butternut advice! I might just move it out of my garden and into a container as I have so many things I want to grow this year. I'm going to try Jack Be Little pumpkins vertically too and am so excited to give them a try.
This winter has been dreadful here in NY! I can't even see any sign of my SFG anymore and it has (or had) a 2' fence around it! I'm trying to keep my spirits up perusing the seed catalogs, but I miss the dirt! I was hoping to build a few more beds over the winter, but the ground has been covered with a foot or more of snow since the day after Christmas. What gardening things is everyone else finding to do to help get through the winter?
I feel your pain. Here it is Feb. 2nd and its 68 degrees here in Raleigh, NC. However, this has not been the case. It has been cold gloomy rainy of and on constantly. It is depressing. I am trying to work outside and it is very difficult getting motivated. I am trying to finish my hoop house for the spring planting and its taking forever. To get through the day when I am not in the yard, I spend time on researching of things that I should know as a gardner. I call it my education.
I am getting so excited for spring to get here in Maine. Reading these posts and looking at the photos are helping me make it through a tough winter here! I just can't wait to start my garden. Looks like there's a lot of helpful information here. We sold our home with several acres last summer, and our new home has about 3/4 of an acre, so I have to figure out a different method of gardening this year! I do want to make relishes, pickles, freeze some stuff, so I am hoping I can figure out a way to have a big enough garden to do so!
its almost time! we're building 2 or 3 more 4x4 boxes this spring. we may even add a 1x8 box for corn. we may try garlic too. yes, i know most people plant it on 21dec but i wanna try it and im willing to be different. i need to get some more sheet plastic to make ours into greenhouses for some early planting!
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