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My SFG is still covered in snow, but I can see almost half of the of the 2' surround I put around it to keep the neighborhood cats from using it as a litter box. Spring is coming! Once I can see the ground again, I was hoping to do a few more boxes for this year - one more for veggies, one just for salad makings, and one narrow one for tomatoes. I was quite pleased with the return I got from my trial one this past summer. It was easy to care for and once I put up a surround, was easy to keep critters out. Also found the birds would perch on the surround, helping to keep down the insect populations.
one of my biggest problems is not picking things when theyre ripe. i keep letting them grow, hoping to get more food from each plant. words of advice, dont ever let okra get huge. it tastes terrible and is impossible to chew. and just because theyre free, doesnt mean you must peel and can the cherry tomatoes your father gives you.
LOL ccornewell! I learned long ago that smaller veggies tend to have more flavor, maybe it's the newness of them. Huge zucchini or eggplant are all seedy and dull in flavor too. Never had huge okra though, actually never had okra. I'd rather harvest the small ones and plant something else in that space if that's all I'll get. I like variety.
I had so many cherry tomatoes last year I couldn't find people to give them away to. Of course that memory never stops me from buying the same amount of plants (or more) the following season! LOL! I made tomato gravy (sauce to the non-Italians out there) from some of them, but didn't freeze it as I would have from plum tomatoes. Just seemed to fragile a taste to freeze well. Though I found it was easy to cook them down and then just skim off the skins. Yeah, you lose a little of the gravy that way - but since I had buckets more of 'em, I didn't mind.
were planning on trying square foot gardening this year, we were already planning on doing 2 4x8 raised beds, but im liking what im hearing about the square foot method, will have to see if my local libruary has books on it...
i cant wait for everything to thaw, im so sick of seeing that grey once white stuff on the ground...still a couple foot on the drifts but not as much before we see the lawn again.
were planning on trying square foot gardening this year, we were already planning on doing 2 4x8 raised beds, but im liking what im hearing about the square foot method, will have to see if my local libruary has books on it...
i cant wait for everything to thaw, im so sick of seeing that grey once white stuff on the ground...still a couple foot on the drifts but not as much before we see the lawn again.
Library should certainly have the book - or should be able to get it through interlibrary loan. I'd try to get it now though, before garden season - gives you time to read and dream too!
I was skeptical of the method, but gave it a try last year and was quite pleased with the results. Plan to expand this year.
its nothing like conventional row gardening. you dont spend an entire weekend working your fingers to the bone, or hours and hours weeding. you spend around 15 min every 1-3 days working in it, depending on how big you make it. last year was our first run. we had 2 4x4 boxes and even with terrible neglect we had good results. tomatoes and jalapenos till october! weve even decided on sfg potatoes in a box that will go up to 5 ft tall!
We raised the height on one of the beds yesterday and I layered some newspaper and then added soilless mix. Tomorrow I will plant napa cabbage, radishes, and maybe some lettuce. We also put in a new double high Greenland gardener bed. We bought more last year from Sam's club. I still have one more Greenlander bed to put in. That will give me 5 42"X42" Greenland gardener beds and 1 2'X5' bed. Despite the subzero temps here the strawberries still have green(and red) leaves. I bought some more to add to it because last year I didn't get any runners.
Last year our garden was a creative, modified sq ft garden - interesting, but produced well (including weeds!). I hope to do without the weeds this year, and will do the beds "by the book". We'll try to start some of our own veggies from seed in the two cold frames we bought. Hopefully, I can start some heirloom tomatoes too!
I love all the ideas and photos here. Thanks to everyone for the helpful hints and advice! Are we all ready to get our hands into the dirt? It sure sounds like it!
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