{"id":12616,"date":"2011-06-08T15:27:55","date_gmt":"2011-06-08T21:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sustainablog.org\/?p=12616"},"modified":"2017-09-19T20:18:56","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T00:18:56","slug":"square-foot-gardening-plans-layouts-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/square-foot-gardening-plans-layouts-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Square Foot Gardening Plans, Layouts, & Tips: a Metaguide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I started vegetable gardening<\/a> in earnest two years ago, and given my tiny little urban yard, square foot gardening<\/strong> made a ton of sense. If you’re not familiar with the method, it’s basically what it sounds like: rather than arranging plants in rows, you divide your gardening space into square feet, and plant specific edibles and ornamentals in each square.<\/p>\n

It is a simple method of getting started as a gardener, or simply making more efficient use of small yard space. But, as with any form of gardening, it also presents a gardener with a number of decisions to make. \u00a0And if you’re new to raising some of your own food, even a simple system like the square foot garden can feel a bit overwhelming.<\/p>\n

Of course, reading Mel Bartholomew’s All New Square Foot Gardening<\/a><\/em> (affiliate link) is a must for anyone wanting to try out the method… but because it’s become so popular since Bartholomew introduced it in the 1970s, an open source movement of sorts has sprung up around the square foot garden. Many have published tips, tricks, plans, layouts… and even created online and mobile tools to help a newbie or an older hand make his or her way through the planning and implementation of their garden.<\/p>\n

I keep Mel’s book close at hand… but have also found lots of really valuable information online from other square foot gardeners. And, of course, I’ve learned a bit in my own three growing seasons of trial and error. Here’s some of the best of that information. But I don’t view this guide as complete… let’s keep the open source mentality going. If you know of better resources, share them… and I’ll add them.<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>… building your raised beds and marking off your squares (click on the page link below)<\/p>\n

Image credit:<\/strong> andypad at Flickr<\/a> under a Creative Commons license<\/a>
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Building a Raised Bed for Square Foot Gardening<\/h3>\n

One of the beauties of the system: no digging! The “new” version of square foot gardening uses raised beds, and a soil mix placed in that bed (which we’ll get to). Yes, you can buy raised bed systems, but they’re also pretty easy to put together yourself. Most plans (including those in the book itself) use lumber (untreated redwood or ceder is recommended), but a number of other materials (that you may have on hand) can work just as well.<\/p>\n