Raised Bed Square Ft Gardening Layout Info Needed

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Really getting interested in putting in a raised bed bordered with some cinder blocks that were left over from a former construction project. I am considering the 3' wide idea by 6-10' long (depending on my mood during construction time). [grin]

Is there a rule of thumb or a layout guide I should follow on what & where plants should be placed within the bed so everything grows as it should??

I think I will try using 5 gallon buckets for tomatoes and I will try staggering the plant cycle by planting a week or two apart in hopes that my tomato "crop" will not all come in at once.

We are in Zone 6B located in upper eastern portion of Tennessee at the VA border. TIA!!

-- BRENT in 10-uh-C (bterry@chartertn.net), February 04, 2002

Answers

Brent, I know there is a book by the original "square foot gardener" available. The title is "Square Foot Gardening", forgot his name but I believe he might still be on HGTV if you get that channel? Great tips in the book and on HGTV. Good luck, LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 04, 2002.

Go to:

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/ and click on how to section.

-- TomK(mich) (tjk@cac.net), February 04, 2002.


OK thanks for the site info and here is a picture of what I am wanting to build. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Now my main question is really, in what area of the "cell" do you (or I) put what .... and how much of "what" plant??? Do I follow the recomendations on the seed packet or ????

Thanks everyone!!
BRENT in 10-uh-C



-- BRENT in 10-uh-C (bterry@chartertn.net), February 04, 2002.

Brent, LOVE your farmer man. Do you have a farmer woman icon?

-- Susan in Northern Michigan (cobwoman@yahoo.com), February 05, 2002.

I make my raised square foot beds as wide as I can reach, to work them from each side, and as long as there is room for.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), February 05, 2002.


Brent... read seed packets. Cut their recommended spacing about in 2/3. Maybe even half. Mulch. Plants tolerate being MUCH closer than they recommend. Put tall stuff in the middle. Short stuff around the edges. ENJOY!!!!!!!!

-- Rose with raised beds (open_rose@hotmail.com), February 05, 2002.

Keep in mind that the tall things need to be at the back of the area so as to not block the sunshine of the shorter items.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), February 05, 2002.

Brent

The book is Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. In it he gives the recommendations of how much of what to put where. Also, very good ideas on vertical growing. Be sure to check your library for the book and the video by the same name. Good luck on your ventures.

-- Lisa (wv2xmommy@aol.com), February 05, 2002.


Brent, here are some spacings that I use in my SFG. For this purpose, please consider a "square" to be one square foot, or an area 12" x 12" in the bed.

4 squares (2' x 2') - Tomatoes, staked or caged; zucchini (some say needs 3' x 3' - I just put close to the edge so it can hang over a bit); Brussels Sprouts (can plant smaller stuff around the edges)

1 square (centered in square) - Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Eggplant, Okra, Peppers

4 per square (6" spacing) - Lettuce, Swiss Chard

9 per square (4" spacing) - Bush Beans, Bush Peas (not recommended for squares), Spinach

16 per square (3" spacing) - Beets, Carrots, Onions (sets), Radishes

Vining crops such as Pole Beans and Peas, Cucumbers and Melons should be trellised. Tomatoes can also be trellised to save space. With a trellis at the back of your bed, you can plant 8 pole beans or peas per square; 2 cucumbers per square; 1 melon or tomato per square.

Mel Bartholomew wrote the original "Square Foot Gardening" book - half.com had a (as in one) copy for about $7 the last time I looked. Jeff Ball also has some books about the concept and his run a bit cheaper at the same source. If you do a google search on square+foot+garden, you will get a lot of hits - and a lot of information.

Pinetree Seed Co. does have the spacing for square foot gardens on the packet; their seeds also come in smaller packets - very useful for SFG as you don't use as many seeds as you would by conventional sowing. You can also use the in the row spacing from other seed packets - but be sure to pay attention if they add "thin to ..." apart in the row after sprouting" - why throw away plants?! Use the "thin to" spacing to begin with!

Jay Blair, from this forum and others, posted an idea that I tried last year with excellent results. Basically, you take a sheet of newspaper cut the size of your square ( I use 11" x 11" cheapo paper towels - occasionally taped together for larger squares) and use a washable glue such as Elmer's School Glue to glue the seeds to their proper spacing. At planting time, you plant the newspaper or towel square. This is an absolutely wonderful idea, as you can help keep your sanity in the winter by making up these pre-spaced squares, and they make planting time go soooo much faster in the spring, when one might tend to get a tiny bit impatient with poking 16 tiny seeds in a sqaure in the garden. THANKS AGAIN, JAY!!

Using these pre-spaced squares, I can plant a 3' x 3' square in less than 10 minutes - I park my wheelbarrow with some compost and sand (I have clay soil) next to the bed to be planted. I use a spading fork to turn the soil in the bed, tossing the large clods and maybe a shovel or two full off dirt onto a hardware cloth grater that sits over the wheelbarrow. I rake the soil in the bed smooth and water it. I then lay down my pre-spaced squares and cover them with soil/compost/sand mix from the barrow. I then tack a square of chicken wire to the bed frame to keep the cats from digging up the squares; removing it when the plants reach the wire. (You can also cut the towels into narrower strips - or use toilet paper to make row plantings the same way.)

As Mitch said, make sure you keep your taller plants to the north side of your bed - unless you plan to use the taller plants to shade some cooler weather loving plants - such as tucking some lettuce or spinach in under the okra, to extend your season a bit. Square foot gardening lends itself very well to succession planting; especially when you have the pre-spaced squares on hand. If you start early in the season, it's really amazing how much you can grow in a tiny space. Don't forget to tuck some strawberry plants or marigolds in the holes in your blocks - you'll have to watch the soil level as it will drop a bit, and you'll also have to keep them well watered - but hey - in a bed approximately 3' x 10' (18 concrete blocks, each 8" x 16") - that's an extra 36 plants!! Petunias would also be nice, as they would cascade down and hide your blocks a bit.

Re: your tomatoes. If you purchase or grow indeterminate tomatoes, your harvest will be spread out a bit more than if you plant determinate ones. Only bad thing with indeterminates is that they almost require cages or trellising, or they will sprawl all over. Determinates are a better choice for containers. What variety of tomatoes were you thinking of growing? If you plant an early, a midseason and a late, you will also extend your harvest. Look for the days to harvest on the packet or plant label. I noted last year that Wal-Mart had single tomatoes for sale (they were in yogurt type cups) which would make planting varied varieties simpler.

Good luck with your new garden!



-- Polly >^..^< (tigger@moultrie.com), February 05, 2002.


I stick to the 4X4 foot dimensions, with the exception of the walkways. I make mine 20 inches wide instead of the suggested 8 inch plank width so that I can take a chair and sun umbrella with weighted stand to my garden should I choose. Bartholemew also has a SFG for profit book out, a great addition to the original SFG for 'steaders.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), February 05, 2002.


Polly knows her stuff! I was just getting ready to reply - but she answered all the questions. I will try Jay's 'glue to the napkin' trick! I've been trying to convince hubby to snow-blow the garden for me to make spring come faster, but no luck yet! There's only about 20" of the white stuff - don't know what his probem is....

-- Bernie from Northern Ontario (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), February 06, 2002.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ