Square Foot Garden

I am so happy to report that my square foot garden is coming along nicely. The absolute BEST part is NO WEED PULLING. I planted the squares about 3 weeks ago ~ mostly seeds except for the tomato and pepper plants. As you can see in the pictures the lettuce, spinach, cilantro, basil, parsley & leeks are all coming up !! SO happy that I will not have to be forced to sell a kidney on the black market to have fresh herbs & peppers this season.

The secret to square foot gardening is soil-less mixture and screening the bottom of your box.
Typically, most SFG are 4 x 4. We used 2 x 6's to make our boxes - I chose NOT to use pressure treated lumber because I didn't want the chemicals seeping into my vegetables. I realize the boxes won't last as long but I think the trade off is worth it. So to make the boxes cut 4 four foot sections of lumber, screw or nail them together. Line the bottom of box with weed screen, and staple in place.
I only stapled my finger once, see if you can do better. Actually, if you do more than one, as my daddy always said "if you're gonna be stupid, you better be tough".

For the soil-less mixture: 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 compost.  If you don't make/create your own compost, I read to try to use a variety of poop. A little cow, a little chicken, a little horse, a little goat, etc. Think of a 15 bean soup, but not.  OK now mix your 1/3's together and fill boxes to top.  It is best to till the area of grass b4 you set your box. Now run string to section out your bed ( see pics ). You are now ready to plant !!

Try Square foot gardening if you are tired of wining and dining your big over-grown garden, whispering sweet nothings into to their little leaves, and getting NOTHING but weeds and bugs for all your wooing.