Square Foot Gardening

 

Square Foot Gardening is one of those ideas that suddenly sprang up from nowhere and went on to become  a total hit, never to look back. A book, authored by Mel Bartholomew, named Square Foot Gardening was first released in 1981. The book detailed a method of gardening wherein you divide a piece of land into several pieces of one square foot each. You put in one plant in each square foot and thus you have a small area on which you can give total bio-intensive attention. This Square Foot Gardening method went on to gain a large following and sparked off a popular television series, a dedicated website and several coaching classes. This method is said to be especially suited for places with poor soil and for beginner gardeners who can focus their attention on a small place and can then go on for bigger areas.

 

The Square Foot Gardening method puts a lot of emphasis on the use of compost and organic farming methods. Growing a different variety of plant in every square foot would ensure that there is no diminishing supply of a particular nutrient in the soil. The common practice in Square Foot Gardening is to first make a raised bed of soil of a 4' x 4' area and then divide this raised bed into several 1' x 1' areas using twine or some sticks. This enables a gardener to further divide his crops. But the biggest advantage is that the gardener can reach all portions of a particular raised bed and can thus attend to each square foot area without stepping on the soil or affecting the other plants. Several such raised beds all over the garden, separated by some aisle space through which the gardener can walk, makes the entire 'square foot garden' easily accessible.

 

In each square are planted different seeds. The number of plants to be planted in each square depends on the size of the plant. Square foot gardening advocates not to cause overcrowding of plants which would only be detrimental to the group. Normal convention is to grow one plant in a square if it is a large plant such as broccoli etc, four in a square for medium sized plants like lettuce and for smaller plants such as tomatoes, onions etc., as many as nine plants are grown in a square foot. For vegetables that grow underground such as potatoes, it must be ensured that the bed is deep enough.

 

 

 

Weeding and watering of the beds of the beds also becomes easy due to the easy accessibility. New soil is normally used whenever it is time for a new harvest which ensures the soil's perennial richness. The square foot gardening method has enjoyed a lot of success and is appreciated by many people for the many advantages it offers. Square foot gardening has been successfully employed in a variety of environments including deserts, crowded slums etc. A proven method, there are many who firmly stand by this form of gardening.








 

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