eBook - ePub
The Square Foot Gardening Answer Book
New Information from the Creator of Square Foot Gardening - the Revolutionary Method Used by 2 Milli
This is a test
- 192 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Square Foot Gardening Answer Book
New Information from the Creator of Square Foot Gardening - the Revolutionary Method Used by 2 Milli
Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations
About This Book
Calling all Square Foot Gardeners, the solutions you've been looking for are here in the form of the Square Foot Gardening Answer Book! You know the SFG method that has taken the US by storm, now see how toget more from your gardening efforts. Using proven techniques, appliances, and approaches, this book will put more harvest on your table, with no additional garden beds. For more than 30 years Mel Bartholomew has been answering questions from Square Foot Gardeners, and this book presents the very best of that information. Real solutions to real problems, directly from the inventor of the Square Foot Gardening method. It's your link to all the best secrets of growing produce.
Frequently asked questions
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlegoâs features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan youâll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weâve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes, you can access The Square Foot Gardening Answer Book by Mel Bartholomew in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Horticulture. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
CHAPTER ONE
PLANNING & LOCATING YOUR SQUARE FOOT GARDEN
Real estate agents like to say that the three most important things affecting a homeâs value are âlocation, location, and location.â Same is true of an SFG. If you were growing an old-fashioned row garden, chances are youâd just stick it out at the far edge of your backyard and not worry if part of it was too shaded to grow. Long rows usually only fit in one part of your yard, which means the type of gardening you do is dictated by the location.
Not so with an SFG. Because your SFG boxes take up so much less square footage than a row garden (and produce just as much in that area, I might add!), the issue of location is pretty wide open. You do, however, need to make sure the entire box will get at least six to eight hours of sunlight each day, and that itâs properly shaded from strong winds and harsh weather.
Locating SFG boxes was actually one of the big changes I made to the method when I was working on the ALL NEW Square Foot Gardening book. It had become crystal clear to me that the closer SFG boxes were to the gardenerâs back door, or right below the kitchen window, the more likely the gardener was to work on them and enjoy them.
As soon as that book came out, though, you can bet that a bunch of questions followed. Most started with, âYeah, but what if. . . .â Every yard is unique and everybodyâs situation is going to be different. Some people might have a deck or patio out their back door, and they just donât want to put an SFG box on the surface (although I sure wish they wouldâan SFG is a wonderful addition to any deck or patio).
âWhen I sold my house, the buyer said, âI bought your house for your garden.â SFG of course.â
âMichelle from El Cesjon
Finding just the right location makes for a lot of questions, and Iâve included them all in this chapter. When youâre planning what youâll plant and where, however, youâll need to consider the location of the boxes, as well as the individual squares inside the boxes. Position taller plants in squares where they wonât shade out lower-growing types. Also, separating the plants of the same type will help alleviate pests and diseases.
Creating the perfect mix of plants and positioning them in just the right squares of your box takes a bit of thinking. A lot of questions are bound to come up and Iâll answer the most common ones here. Once youâve arrived at the answers, youâre sure to find the perfect place for your boxes, and the perfect place within your boxes for your plants.
In a desert environment, wind can be as much a concern as the sun. Weâve had a lot of success making wind screens from the floating cover type of cloth material sold at nurseries and large garden centers. Stick a steel fence post outside each corner of the 4 Ă 4 square and then wrap the cloth around the stakes and the box sides, just like you see them do around a tennis court.
You should always keep in mind to treat your plants like people and make them as comfortable as possible wherever your SFG happens to be. In that case you might even put up some sort of shade for the extreme noontime sun. Iâm sure the plants would appreciate that, as well as a little extra water as necessary. You can also look into a drip irrigation system.
If you donât mind the appearance, one of the best ways to optimize your sunlight is to line the ground around your plants with white Styrofoam panels. Not only will the panels bounce a lot of sunlight back up on your plants, they will also serve as a moisture-evaporating barrier and can even work to repel insects! (The light bouncing up under the plant leaves confuses insects that expect that area to be darker and concealing.)
If youâre willing to go a bit further with the idea, and your garden is against the fence or house, you can even line a fence along the northeast or west side of the garden with Styrofoam panels. Or better yet, tie them to the fence. That way, you can take them down whenever youâre having company or just donât feel like looking at a bright white surface. It may sound like a bit much, but itâs one way to make the most of a shady location. If Styrofoam isnât to your taste, you can always limit your plants to those that do better in shade, such as beets, carrots, cauliflower, Swiss chard, lettuce, onions, parsley, radishes, spinach, hosta, coleus, and many herbs (just check your seed catalog or packages). Although itâs not the ideal garden, these can all make do with as little as four to six hours of sun a day.
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Planning & Locating Your Square Foot Garden
- Chapter 2: Building Your SFG Boxes
- Chapter 3: Planting & Harvesting Your SFG
- Chapter 4: Working with Melâs Mix
- Chapter 5: Dealing with Pests, Pets, and Problems in Your SFG
- Chapter 6: End-of-Season & Out-of-Season Practices
- Chapter 7: Making a Difference with SFG
- Resources
- Index
- Acknowledgments
- Dedication
- Copyright Page