 |
 |
|
|
|
| Latest Improvements |
|
|
|
THE LATEST IMPROVEMENTS IN SQUARE FOOT GARDENING (Condensed Version) INTRODUCTION Since I wrote the book "Square Foot Gardening" twenty-five years ago, there have been just four "improvements" to the Square Foot Gardening method. Although all four of these "improvements" were mentioned in the original book, I emphasize them much more now. Over the years, I've found they make the system even more gardener-friendly, especially for beginners. THE OLD METHOD - Single Row Gardening A backyard garden has traditionally been a large area (usually way out back) where you have to loosen and improve all of the existing soil every single year before laying out row after row of crops. THE NEW METHOD - Square Foot Gardening Now all that is TOTALLY UNNECESSARY with Square Foot Gardening.
|
|
IMPROVEMENT # 1: UP, NOT DOWN! Square Foot Gardening allows you to grow 100% of your harvest in only 20% of the space.
BUILD UP, RATHER THAN DIG DOWN It’s really that simple: If you no longer have to dig down to improve your existing soil, you no longer need rototillers, heavy tools, soil testing or the time to do all that work! BE INDEPENDENT! START YOUR OWN SQUARE FOOT GARDEN If you only need 20% of the normal space, think how that simplifies your garden. Location, weeding, watering, equipment, and protection -the list goes on and on. Whatever you do, you’ll only be doing 20% of what you did before, but still getting 100% of your harvest! In the original book, I explained how to improve your existing soil by digging down and adding lots of good stuff. But that only produced a slightly improved soil, and it was a lot of work. Now we eliminate all that hard work by building up...no more digging down. For the full text of this improvement click here |
|
The Golden Rule of Square Foot Gardening is: "NEVER WALK ON YOUR GROWING SOIL!" To accomplish that, you walk around your garden boxes and reach in to garden. If you do that, you'll never have to do any heavy digging, and your soil will stay loose and friable forever.
If you notice the garden on the original cover of my first book, “Square Foot Gardening,” the aisles were 1" x 12" boards separating the 4’ x 4’ planting areas. But the 12" boards were difficult to maneuver on, and too narrow to be comfortable. THE IDEAL WIDTH For accessibility, ease of walking around, kneeling, working and harvesting, the ideal width is three feet between boxes. But it can be more. DRESS IT UP, DRESS IT DOWN The space between your boxes can be left in grass, plain soil, or covered with any attractive ground cover. In our TV show, we laid down brick in between the boxes in one area and made it into a patio garden. "SQUARE FOOT" LANDSCAPE DESIGN Your boxes can be located at different places around the yard, even close to the house, in interesting patterns that fit in with your landscaping or emphasize a sitting area, the pool, or a patio. Your garden doesn’t have to be way out back any more. For the full text of this improvement click here |
|
Forget about trying to improve your existing soil! START WITH A PERFECT SOIL, AND YOU'LL HAVE A PERFECT GARDEN! We don't even care what kind of soil you have! Hard work and digging up your garden every year are a thing of the past when you switch to the Square Foot Gardening system.
...and it never needs replacing. WHAT’S IN IT? The three ingredients originally recommended in the book, “Square Foot Gardening,” still make the perfect mix:
For the full text of this improvement click here |
|||||
|
Thoreau wrote: Simplify Simplify Simplify Realtors chant: Location Location Location Mel says: Grid Grid Grid When I wrote the book, “Square Foot Gardening” over 20 years ago, I always advocated laying out 12" x 12" grids for the garden. But I wasn't explicit enough about how visible and important they were. Then, in my travels around the country, I heard a lot of people say, "Oh, I do Square Foot Gardening," or "I have a Square Foot Garden," but when I went to see them, they had no grid! WITHOUT A GRID... ...those gardeners weren't following the true Square Foot Gardening system. They didn’t realize all the advantages they were missing: they were not utilizing the space as efficiently as possible; they couldn't replant each square foot with a new crop as the old one matured; they planted too much of each crop, resulting in the "all-at-once" harvest that we used to have in single row gardening; and their gardens looked plain and ordinary. TRUE GRID
STEP UP TO A SPECTACULAR GARDEN With a very visible grid, your garden takes on a unique character. It will not only look stunning, but you’ll be able to visualize your planting squares. For the full text of this improvement click here |
|
SUMMARY To summarize, there have been just four improvements to Square Foot Gardening in the 20 years since I wrote the first book. The good news is, they don't make the book obsolete; they just simplify the system and make it even more user-friendly, especially for beginners. IMPROVEMENT # 1: BUILD UP - DON'T DIG DOWN.
IMPROVEMENT # 2: AISLE WIDTH.
IMPROVEMENT # 3: MEL'S MIX.
IMPROVEMENT # 4: GRIDS.
That's how important a grid is. All four of these "improvements" were in the original book, “Square Foot Gardening.” They just weren't emphasized as much as they are now. Follow these four improvements and you'll have the most sensational gardening experience of your life I DOUBLE GUARANTEE IT ! |
Start
with bottomless boxes laid on top of your existing soil, remove grass
or weeds first , then fill the boxes in with a perfect soil mix.
Forget all about your existing soil we don’t care how bad it is.
STRAIGHT
AND NARROW
If
you fill those boxes with a perfect soil mix, you don’t have to be concerned
about your existing soil. This can save you an awful lot of time
and money. You won't have to buy heavy-duty tools, and you won't
have to do any hard work. Go mow the lawn if you want some exercise!
When
you have no grid, your garden has no character. If you’re showing your
plain-bed garden to a visitor, they will probably say, "That’s
nice, when do we eat?" But show them your Square Foot Garden
with a very prominent grid, (even if it’s unplanted) and they’ll say,
"Wow, what’s that?" 
You
no longer have to improve your existing soil, and there’s no more hard
work! You merely build bottomless boxes, lay them down on your existing
soil, remove grass or weeds and fill the boxes with a perfect soil mix. 
There
should be a minimum of 3 feet between your boxes just for comfort and
ease of gardening.
Forget
all about trying to improve your existing soil. Fill your boxes
with the most perfect soil your plants could have . Use Mel's Mix, 1/3
each: peat moss, vermiculite and compost.
With
bold, prominent grids, your garden takes on a unique character. Without
a grid, it’s just a plain bed garden.