A square-foot garden bed should be between 6 and 12 inches deep to provide plants with rich nutrients and good drainage. The depth depends on the type of plants you want to grow and your preferences. For children, a three-by-three-foot bed is ideal for easy access. If you plan to place the beds alongside a fence, a four-by-four foot bed is recommended.
For square foot gardening, a depth of 6-12 inches is generally recommended, as this provides ample room for most plants to thrive and allows for proper root growth. However, traditional square foot gardens are only 6 inches deep, which is too shallow for many plants. To ensure proper root growth, it is recommended to double the depth and use lumber with a standard height of 6 inches.
The ideal raised bed depth depends on the plants you want to grow, such as herbs, lettuce, carrots, and radishes. Traditional square foot gardens require a garden bed that is only 6 inches deep, which can pose challenges for many gardeners. However, anything between 6 and 12 inches will have the depth needed for a raised bed garden.
Beddings should be deep enough for most crops and most gardeners, and six inches is deep enough for most crops. Bartholomew did not recommend using deeper beds for most plants.
Round vegetable garden beds should be at least 8 inches (20 cm) deep, with 12-18 inches (30-45 cms) deep being best for growing tomatoes. The grid is one of the most important features of raised vegetable garden beds, and the depth should be between 6 and 12 inches to support most plants.
📹 Using SQUARE FOOT Gardening Easily DOUBLED the Harvests
05:50 How to Set Up a Square Foot Garden – 06:01 Showing My Square Foot Garden Beds – 06:18 Saving Money with Square …
How deep should a raised garden bed be planted?
Seed depth is crucial for successful seed germination in dry conditions. Producers should inspect the top 6 inches of soil before tillage operations to ensure good moisture availability. If soil moisture is low, tillage should be minimized unless absolutely necessary, as each tillage pass can cause soil moisture loss of up to 0. 25 inch. The National Weather Service predicts a 60% chance of drought in the Corn Belt, with subsoil moisture deficits in northwestern and southwestern Iowa at 5 to 7 inches below optimal levels.
To compensate for limited topsoil moisture, producers should use strategies such as inspecting the top 6 inches with hand feel or gypsum blocks. Minimizing tillage can also help save soil moisture, as each tillage pass releases up to 0. 25 inch of water.
Is 12 inches deep enough for a garden bed?
To ensure crop rotation flexibility, it’s essential to build raised beds with a minimum depth of eight inches, but ideally twelve inches. The 2×8 board, when laid horizontally, measures only 7. 5 inches in height, and soil tends to settle lower than that. When selecting building materials, consider standard lumber dimensions and consider the optimal bed size. For hexagonal beds, use three eight-foot-long 2×6 boards with two-foot sides and zero waste.
For bricks or landscaping blocks, measure their actual size, including mortar joints, and design multiples of bricks to avoid cutting them. A trip to the store with a tape measure and notepad can save you frustration later on.
What is the best depth for a raised garden bed?
Raised garden beds are ideal for vegetables like carrots, radishes, and peppers, as well as medium-rooting vegetables like kale, cucumbers, and zucchini. A 2-foot bed is ideal for these plants, as well as fruits like blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. The depth of the bed depends on the surface underneath it. A minimum depth of eight inches is recommended, but additional depth can be added if drainage issues or plants are sensitive to excess moisture.
Is 12 inches deep enough for tomatoes?
Choose healthy plants 10-12 inches tall, dig a 12 inch deep hole for each plant, and add fertilizer. Add banana peel and egg shells for extra nutrients. Cut off leaves on the lower half of the main stem, allowing them to grow underground. Remove the plant from its pot and gently tease out the roots to develop a stronger root system. Center the plant in the hole while pushing in the surrounding dirt. This method ensures a healthy plant and a strong root system.
Do I need to line the bottom of my raised garden bed?
Raised garden bed lining offers several benefits, including insulation, temperature control, soil retention, weed separation, and pest control. It also helps drive away pests like gophers and moles. The Grounds Guys, a landscape and garden experts, specialize in landscape and lawn care services for commercial and residential properties. They take pride in doing the job right the first time and guarantee your satisfaction with the Neighborly Done Right Promise™.
The Grounds Guys offers free estimates, upfront pricing, experienced and licensed experts in uniform and clean vehicles, guaranteed timely responses to questions and inquiries, top-quality materials, the latest equipment, and outstanding service. They also clean up after every job to leave no mess behind. By hiring The Grounds Guys, you can enjoy your garden and spend your weekends enjoying it, rather than working on it.
How deep should soil be for square foot garden?
The text recommends the implementation of a grid system with one-foot squares, each dedicated to a specific crop, to facilitate optimal root growth within a six-inch bed. The text suggests that a depth of one foot is optimal for success, although a depth of six inches may also prove effective.
How deep does a raised bed need to be for tomatoes?
Tomatoes should be grown in a raised bed at least 15 to 18 inches deep. While some clients in Houston have successfully grown tomatoes in 12-inch deep raised garden beds, their plants tend to be stunted. The root structure needed for cucumbers, squash, and zucchini, like tomatoes, requires 15 to 18 inches of soil to push into. Cucumbers, like tomatoes, require a strong root structure to support their heavy fruit. In terms of cucumbers, the root structure needed for a plant to produce fruit is similar to the size of a large cucumber.
How many cm is a square foot garden?
Square foot gardening is a method of growing plants by dividing a garden bed into squares, usually 30cm x 30cm, and planting within the resulting grid. This method allows for a diverse selection of crops, with different vegetables, herbs, or flowers grown in neighboring grids. The key to success is planning and spacing crops to maximize yield. Square foot gardening produces more crops in less space, with less water, seeds, and labor compared to traditional row gardening.
How deep should soil be in a bed?
Raised beds necessitate a minimum depth of 20 centimetres (8 inches), with select plants requiring a depth of 45 to 60 centimetres (18 to 24 inches). Root vegetables necessitate a depth of approximately 60 cm (24 in) to facilitate deep rooting. In the event that the construction is taking place on a solid surface, it is recommended that a depth of at least 40 cm (16 in) be allowed.
What size is a square garden bed?
Raised bed garden sizes range from 1. 5 to 4 feet wide and 4 to 10 feet long. Common garden sizes include 4′ x 4′, 2′ X 8′, 4′ X 6′, 4′ X 8′, 2′ X 6′, 4′ x 10′, and 2′ x 10′. A popular DIY raised bed, a 4′ x 4′ x 1′ wooden garden bed, provides 16 square feet of growing space. Other sizes include 2′ X 8′ X 1′, 4′ X 4′ X 6″, 4′ X 6′ x 1′, 4′ X 8′ X 1′, and 2′ X 6′ x 1′.
How deep do raised beds need to be for tomatoes?
Tomatoes should be grown in a raised bed at least 15 to 18 inches deep. While some clients in Houston have successfully grown tomatoes in 12-inch deep raised garden beds, their plants tend to be stunted. The root structure needed for cucumbers, squash, and zucchini, like tomatoes, requires 15 to 18 inches of soil to push into. Cucumbers, like tomatoes, require a strong root structure to support their heavy fruit. In terms of cucumbers, the root structure needed for a plant to produce fruit is similar to the size of a large cucumber.
📹 SQUARE FOOT Gardening, How to Grow MORE FOOD in LESS SPACE!
Square Foot Gardening will take your production to the next level. Today I will show you how to get a square foot garden going, …
I just discovered SFG and am so excited to begin. I quit gardening many years ago due to lack of time. I’m retired now and am ready to begin again. I am a planner and my DR table is covered with grid paper and charts. I have access to good aged manure from my son’s farm. Now I will pray for good rains!
James and Tuck….. out of ALL of the gardening articles on YouTube, YOU have helped and inspired me the most!!! When others have tried to give me advice or correct me on how to care for my garden, I refer them to your methods. Your enthusiasm, expertise, joy of gardening and, of course, Tuck’s 💚example of how good your vegetables are, 😉make such a difference. Thank you so much! Utah Gramy 🧑🏼🌾
I have gardened for years, but this year, I redesigned my garden with 4×4 square foot beds. Then, in May, I looked up square foot gardening and found your article. I am growing plants vertically more than in the past. I followed your advice about pulling unproductive late summer veggies and planting fall crops. All I can say is, the garden is yielding SO MUCH food. I had so many cucumbers (and a few more coming yet, and maybe another crop), and the tomatoes have done so well. I have large cabbages out there too. We had big delicious cantaloupes. I had to learn how to can, and my freezer is stuffed. Square foot gardening is a game changer.
I really enjoyed this article. I am a new Gardner, last year was my first year growing anything ever. I was a hot mess. We had a huge flood that ruined everything except my green beans and a few tomatoes I had in pots. I didn’t give up, I had some seeds in trays and started over. It was later in the season, but I got so many tomatoes, a few peppers and about 2 meals worth of greenbeans. This year I moved all my raised beds to higher ground. Buy this article has helped me figure out what I need to do as far as planting. I love the square foot method of gardening I will be using this in all my beds. Thanks for always having great content.
Lots of great tips James and crew! – Wood and space is a premium. We reused our old patio “Crazy paving” slabs to build out main bed. Sometimes to build a box you have to think outside of it. – Google sheets is a great free planner to record planting times and tabs allow you to record notes like weather, etc, which can help you the following year. – Free printable graph paper also allows you to draw you garden to scale to plan your space for your specific areas – Find a branch and mark measurements to eye ball you spacings – Branches on their own also make great stakes for plants. Branch cuttings are great for pre filling taller raised beds. – There is always something that can be reused before recycling – When a weed becomes a weed. Dandelions are early bloomers to attract wildlife. Remove the head when the flower dies to prevent spreading. Over wintered turnips wanted to be a plant, so they were another early bloom. Don’t ignore hedges for birds. Reberis flowers in May so not only attracts pollinators but later on is alt food for birds.
James, I highly recommend that you try the Whole Foods recipe for Red Lentils & Spinach Soup. It calls for 2 cups of spinach but I used 4 cups. Uses up my spinach so I don’t waste any as I follow the Charles Dowding method of harvesting the outer leaves. My homegrown Olympia spinach leaves are tender even when they are larger. Even my non vegetarian friends love this soup! Really enjoy your website. Thanks for all the joy you & Tuck bring to me.
Funny thing, I was perusal another article of yours when my attention was caught by those strings, and I started wondering what those are for. Then I kinda shrugged it off and went back to searching articles about cheap raised beds… and guess what, this was suggested! As if the universe knew what I really needed! Thank you for sharing. I’m starting mine very soon!
So glad to get your articles and so glad that Tuck is doing well. I have 2 Tucks who are 14 and 15 years and in great health. If there is 1 piece of advice that I give you is to start giving Tuck Colostrum. Its amazing!! You can research it for yourself because a conventional vet wil not tell you about it.
I have been using square foot gardening for close to 20 years, so glad to hear you talk about it! I am always learning. When I plant a new plant in a square, I just put a shovel full of compost as Mel advocated. I look forward to hearing more tips about the Square Foot Garden. Yours look absolutely beautiful!!😀
James, I love your website and I LOVE Tuck! I am praying for that little guy to be healed. Have you considered..that maybe although raw vegetables are very healthy for humans…maybe not so much for a dog..? I believe the best dog diet is a raw meat type diet..you can read and research some holistic vets…. Maybe you could try that and give him a break from eating raw vegetables and see if his esophagus shows some kind of improvement..?? It might be worth a try, …holistic methods often work. .I am a testament to that. You are such a good dad to Tuck and I want you to have him for many more years, you are a good team!
I love square foot gardening! I have been doing it for a number of years. It looks pretty and the plants are happy, healthy, not wasted space also means not many weeds! If you combine this with succession planting and wow you can grow lots in a small space! Vertical is definitely the way to go too! It is such a fun way to plant.
I love perusal you show your garden and of course your little dog🥰. Maybe you could answer a question I have and can not find help on. I have had Black Eyed Susan for about ten years around my bird bath. They end up being around five feet tall during the summer and beautiful. My son sprayed weed killer to close to them and they are wilted. Are they gone for good, will they come back anything I can do. Thank you for any help you can tell me.🙋♀️
I moved to New Jersey last year and finally have a garden bed ready to start planting. I’ve always loved flower beds and do well with them, but this will be my first veggie/herb/fruit garden. Thank you for the articles. They are really helpful. I would love a article showing your garden journal. How you have it laid out and how you track everything.
This is a great delve into square foot gardening. I”ve been gardening for most of my long adult life, but have only just begun a bed using this method. During one of your garden tours I saw how well your square foot beds were doing and so thought i”d try it out. Lots of good tips in this article to help me take it to other garden beds. Thanks James and Tuck!!
James, you really should write a book starting with how to lay the foundation for a food forest, and all the methods you use and recommend. Lots of pics including Tuck of course!🧡💜❤ Rather than going back and searching your library for a specific article I’m looking for (which can take a lot of time and/or can be hit or miss, article titles can be misleading.) I would like a book where everything can be referenced immediately. (Sometimes a physical tool, like a book, can be faster than via computer eh.?) I want it, and I would buy it, and I bet you would be happy you did.😆💙‼‼
reasons why i love your articles – the phrases: “WHATS GOING ON GROWERS!!” (i watch this opening at least three times lol “…coming to ya LIVE. FROM. JERSEY.” “hope you got. something. out of it.” “WE OUT!” and i always say them along with you. ( obvs the gardening lessons are wonderful, too 😉 ) 🎉🙏🙏🙌🌺🌎🐶
❤❤❤❤Tuck!! James, we just love perusal your articles and appreciate all your teachings and energy! We are trying square foot gardening this time. We just have plants disappearing already! Something keeps clipping off tomatoe plants and carrying them off. Lost 3 pepper plants the same way. We need to borrow Tuck for a bit so he can run them boogers out! …lol
James, good presentation of square-foot gardening. One question for you regarding watering. I notice you don’t have any automatic watering system in place for your beds. So I assume you water by hand. Are you concerned at all with getting the leaves of plants wet with hand watering? Have you had any issues with that? Thanks for this website. Always great info and always nice seeing Tuck guarding against those pesky squirrels. 😀❤❤❤
Do you ever have trouble with plants shading each other out using this method? For example, I saw that you had cabbage in 1 square foot, but the leaves were into the surrounding areas. So did you plant something like lettuce next to it because that would shade the lettuce and keep it cool? I’m asking because my 1st year I planted tomatoes next to peppers and it worked great because the peppers got some shade in the hotter months, but the next time I tried that, the peppers got shaded out and barely grew!
How do we arrange succession planting? Do we use days until harvest as a guide? Can someone put down an example? TIA ❤ this will be my second year gardening and I’m going to Challange myself to plant and grow much more vegetables (Radishes, Carrots, Beets, Kale, Spinach) I had great success with peppers and tomatoes last year. I’m going to look into vertical gardening for those now 🙂
Always love your articles and the enthusiasm you bring! We are also dog lovers and think Tuck is ridiculously cute! A question – we’ve got cucumbers that are already starting to fruit – they aren’t super tall yet. I’m thinking we need to pull the young fruits off before they get too big (like eating size) to keep the plant in production. This is our first year with serious gardening and doing everything from seed with the square foot method. We also built THREE raised beds using your pallet article as inspiration! We had some pallets a bit worse for wear, so we did have to supplement with some wood from the toy store, but they look GREAT and our neighbors love them (they are in the front yard – we don’t have much sunlight in the back yard!). We’ve got cattle fencing up for the squash and cucumbers, and a line system using the tomato hooks that you did in a article for the tomatoes. We had so many tomatoes germinate, that we actually have some in pots as well in the back and they are doing AMAZING!!! So – back to my question – any tips on the cukes? I have the pickling and eating varieties. The picking is a Monika cuke (does not require pollination – which is kind of cool) and the eating is an Ancash Market. The Monika cuke is the one setting the fruit super quickly. And yes, we use Mel’s mix for EVERYTHING – that stuff is MAGIC!!! TIA! – DJ Barnes
Hey there, Phil from jersey here (now in DC). Love your website. What materials would you suggest for affordable diy vertical structure (base + uprights/ trellis) for organic gardening? Trying to create extra space in our 17’x25’ community garden plot. I assume treated wood is a no-go because chemicals, untreated pine or old pallets maybe would just decay, and cedar is too expensive — so not sure what to do. Thank you so much just in case.
James thank you so much for another excellant article packed with so much information you need to watch it a dozen times. LOL I do have a ?’s, do you plant direct seeds for your squash, pumpkin and cucumbers. Or do you raise them in pots first. There is so many different opinions on this, from how they don’t like to be in pots to they won’t grow if you direct sow, I would really value your opinion on this. Thank you, Love Tuck he is so handsome
Hello James (and Tuck!). I am in PA and would love to implement this system, but I have a groundhog problem. Well, my neighbors have the groundhogs, but they eat in my yard. Anyway, do you have any articles about getting rid of groundhogs? I can’t use onion or garlic, because there are cats who roam the yard. Thank you.
Do you consider companion planting at all when following this method? I had to move to an apartment with a community garden for the next 2 years, and I have one 3’x7′ raised bed to work with (not counting my balcony). I have loosely followed this in the past but kept companion planting in mind bc I had the space. Now, I don’t. Help!
I don’t get it. How do you have radishes already in May? I planted radishes March 21 under greenhouse covers this year and the daikons STILL don’t have full size root, same problem I had last spring. They only grew nice when planted in August for fall harvest. 😢 and I’m in same 7a zone as you James!
Am a first timer help me to get started you won’t have to wotk fast with me because am parylized from the waist down, and want to tryabove ground gardening so be patient with me and hope that you will take me under your wing and coach me along and thank you for posting on above ground gardening thanks again.
About 10 years ago i started layering wood chips like you because my soil was a solid clay pan, and the wood chips I could get all I wanted free locally delivered, they just wanted to get rid of them. Over the years I still go through about 6-8 loads of chips, I have a 1/4acre garden. But about 6 years ago, I was able to get a ton of 2×8 lumber for free and built raised beds on top of my wood chips garden. Over the years they of course decompose and i just chip the paths between beds, but I keep another two piles of wood chips that I treat as compost piles, which that is the mostly decomposed material I use every season to top of my beds. Probably over the past 3 years, my yields has been exponential. Not only are we feeding our entire house but about a dozen families on our street, its really quite insane. We are able to squeeze in more crops, harvest is super easy and space/efficiency has been maximized. Thanks for doing these articles.
Thanks James! You’ve breathed life back into my vegie garden! Seriously, I gave up on it two years ago. There was a LOT of effort to keep up with the weeds only to have deer and birds devour the vegies, grapes, etc. it was overwhelming and I decided to not plant again….until I found your website!:) Now I have a new plan, going to try things I have never tried before, and all thanks to you! I am excited to get started. Thanks! Happy Gardening:) Sending little Tuck lots of love and Happy Birthday wishes!
I have been doing this from the start of my veggie patch, but I cut food grade bottles into tubes and plant inside the “grow tubes” that are sunk into the soil about 1 inch, great for water retention as well as giving the various plants different amounts of water inside the grow tubes, also cuts down on weeds.
First a big ❤ for tuck! Love the little guy 😍 Secondly I’ve been using this method for most of my gardening life. What I love about it is I never put two of the same crops in adjoining squares, one it helps in natural pest reduction by not concentrating the plants and two it makes the garden look incredibly pretty. Enjoy your beautiful garden, from new Zealand!
I have organic farm in south India with Sugarcane, peanuts, some veggies and rice paddy. I recently moved to New Jersey and I’ve following your YouTube article and quite impressed and you are great inspiration. I decided a grow my own in my garden and following your advice and also built this and another one today . Thank you
I am sneaking onions and other veggies in amongst veggies I already planted, to make better use if my space. Bought a Birdies BED with Tuck’s discount and it arrived today. I am SO excited!! Also am planting table grapes along a southern facing fence, when I can find some vines. Am testing the soil and staining the fence before I attach a grate for the vines to grow along.
James, good to see you again! I did the same thing today with the help of my grandson. It was his idea to use all my planters that were the same height and width. They all measured 14 inches tall, 12 inches wide. He put a 10 inch layer of wood chips over very large pieces of cardboard. Then we filled each planter with compost and lined them up on the wood chips. He told me no weeds for me to worry about. We did 4 planters wide and 10 planters long. It looks like a raised garden. My grandson told me he wanted me to garden easier this year. I had surgery and I’m getting back into the garden slower than usual. But he’s going to help me this year. My great grand daughters will be helping this year too. They wish a fabulous birthday to your dog!!!! Love from south Texas and many Blessings too.
James! Hallo from NorCal, Sonoma county (wine country, land of the remarkable bud). I have been perusal you for a while now, but today I want to thank you for your website; I have been gardening since 1960 and I’m still learning…. I put a square foot garden in one of my raised beds Looking forward to the result. Your enthusiasm is infectious and the transformation of your HUGE NJ backyard, remarkable. I’m a tiny bit jealous. And let me comment on your fine doggie friend! When I was young we had a golden retriever who would pick oranges and eat them…. I don’t usually comment, but you stated that comments are helpful. Thanks James!!
Brings me back. Square Foot Gardening was the first gardening book I purchased when I bought my first house in the ’90s. I still use a lot of the methods, especially the spacings, but no longer use the grid. That said, your grid makes me wonder if I shouldn’t bring it back. It just looks so neat. Thanks for the vid.
A long time ago, our square foot garden was filled with one of several different vegetables. The next square foot was planted a little later. with the same or different vegetables and so on. It allowed us to eat regularly without having too much of any one vegetable. It meant sewing the seeds intermittently. Great for small areas.
Oh, I’m so thankful to see you and Tuck back! I was getting a little worried, but I figured you’d not be doing much during the winter… I’m starting my own garden this month, thanks to the quarantine, giving me time to be home and take care of my family ❤️ here in Brazil the fall is starting, but as our winters are mild, it’s a great time to put a lotta stuff in the ground! Thanks for sharing, it’s always so satisfying seeing you work in your food forest… 🙏 ❤️ Luv Tuck ❤️
My son is (13 years old) wants to be a farmer and has learned about traditional farming methods with draft horses and we have learned about this square foot method and are experimenting with which will do better. What percentage of your diet do you grow yourself? Also do you have to use store bought composts and top soils. Isn’t there a way to use what your land will give and what you can make instead of the bags from the store. What do you think about cover cropping? He is interested in that as a way to feed the soil in the winter. Thanks for your time. WE love your articles and how did you get your dog to eat veggies. AMAZING!!! We are originall from Jersey too, but are now in WNC. Bless you.
Very Good method for intensive gardening! I use the same process at my place. When I put my strings on the wood frame to map out my 1 foot squares, I use a staple gun. This saves a ton of time in pre-drilling and using screws which can be more expensive. Both ways work, just offering up alternatives. Happy Gardening!
“Yeh!” Great space economy 😉 …Glad you’re back! Would love to know how to get horseradish root growing, if it’s possible, please. When perusal your previous articles, you got me interested in growing horseradish; and from that, making organic horseradish sauce using raw apple cyder vinegar, scrumptious and moreish. Thanks James.
Hey James! My husband and I have been enjoying and learning from your website. Can you do a article on what you use to keep bugs and pests off fruit trees and grapes? Here in Maryland we get our hose nasty Japanese beetles and have a difficult time riding them. They suck the life out of our red grapes. They possibly don’t like Concord grapes because we still get a harvest from them. We use need oil but it doesn’t get rid of them completely. And we really don’t like using chemicals but I’m getting tired of putting in hard work just to have these intruders come help themselves to our food. Any suggestions s would be greatly appreciated We are doing so much better with composting, (if my husband continues to listen to you all, lol Hey, old school teaching trained him to clean up the branches, leaves, etc. so your gardens look nice and clean!lol) keep helping him see the importance of composting it all, thanks!
Interestingly, that’s also how atoms arrange themselves in crystals. The same structure repeats every cube in say, a diamond, or even a silicon semiconductor. An equilateral triangle or hexagon shape (with a point in the middle) is actually the most efficient spacing in 2D, then repeat that pattern in every square foot, at this point i just eyeball it with all the different plant spacings
You are my FAVORITE gardening expert!!! 🤩 Your garden speaks volumes about your methods!!! 💕 I’m going to do exactly what you have described in this article BUT because I live in East Texas and am plagued with moles, gophers, voles, etc., I will be adding 1/4″ hardware cloth. I have found out, the sad way, that I simply CANNOT garden directly without the cloth due to those evil villains ruining my plants! 😈 Of course, all of us in East Texas have serious problems with ants establishing colonies in our flower pots and raised beds!!! (If it’s not one battle, it’s ANOTHER!!) 😑 Would YOU be able to recommend something for those of us struggling with ANTS in our raised beds? I never had a problem with ants in ALL the other states I’ve lived in! 😑 Thank you! I ❤️ your helpful articles!
Just found you, last week, watched your raised bed build, using skids. Recycler from waaaaay back, & looking for raised bed construction ideas, so you caught my eye. Win Win! Bravo 👏 … watched this excellent article on SFG tech. Another bull’s eye. Will be perusal your archives. Hey to The Tuckster 👋👩🦳👏👏👏👏💝 new fan, and I’m sharing with my daughter, a newbie, enthusiastic, gardener. We’ll both benefit from your advice! 🙏👍namaste
I am in planting zone 8 I am starting later than normal. I tried your square foot garden at my apartment and it worked great! I am a homeowner now and want to do it again but we are nervous about pest and rodents. We live out in the country now. Any pest control recommendations? Natural of course- looking forward to more articles
James, I did square foot gardening last year in one of my beds. What I found was I planted a lot of big plants that say one plant per square and they ended up overgrowing into the next square overcrowding the plant next to it. Some of the plants were cabbage, kale, tomatoes and brussels sprouts. Do you have any suggestions for preventing the overcrowding?
I have recently found your website and I am absolutely in awe of the abundant gardens and fantastic message you keep putting out. The techniques are made simple, TUCK is your garden’s best friend – he is fantastic at the quality control. I want to say thank you for all of your articles. I thought I understood gardening, but you have helped me take it to a whole new level (especially the square foot method). Before, I would plant based on the amount of sun and winds. Then it would be “if it felt right” to plant that plant there. Now I understand and this year’s gardens are going to be spectacular. I live in Ottawa, Canada and we are in Zone 4….doesn’t provide a lot of growing time….so raised beds it is.
This was absolutely genius! You’ve just broadened my gardening horizons! Yazzzz!!!! I also want to be extra careful as to researching which vegetables grow well together bc I’ve heard not all are good neighbors. What you planted is what I’m planning for this year. I’m not far from my last frost date so I’m gonna get started indoors within the next few days or so. Thank you so much for giving me a smarter way to get more out of my garden bed. I have a 4×8 slightly raised bed and can’t wait to fortify it with nutrients from compost and manure. I’m also going to use PVC to create a covering but only for their beginning stages. My neighbor has a huge maple tree with a hole full of squirrels and they love digging into my garden bed. 😖 Love your article! I’m sharing with my girlfriend! I know she’s gonna love this! Thank you!
Hi James & Tuck, I picked up the 2nd Edition All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew for 25 cents at a rummage sale! Been absorbing it up! Going to try some SFG this year! Interesting article! Also, received my 2- Birdie’s beds, so excited! I cannot wait till spring to play in the dirt! Stay safe, JoAnn 💚🌎
I Love your articles – sorry for not subscribing sooner!! I love the way you include Mr. Tuck and how you show your love for him. I hope you will show us his 10 year Birthday celebration! Please? Thanks for your articles which are so informative and your presentations are smooth and concise 👍🏽👌 Happy Birthday Tuck‼️🎶🥕🥕🥒🥕🥕😋
This is awesome. I’d already heard about square foot gardening, but I thought it was all about putting one plant in each square. Now I can see it’s all about just following the guidance on “how many plants of this type to put in the square” which eliminates all the work of having to figure out how to space all these different plants and still fit them into whatever space you have. I love this. That whole spacing confusion was stressing me out. I will check out that book from the library. Wait, there’s gotta be a catch? Aren’t there some vegetables that want to be more than a foot apart?
Hey 👋 bud, I was looking for some insight on self sufficiency and I came across your website and I’m so obsessed with your articles, I’m learning so much I really love this idea of permaculture it’s really amazing what you have achieved, congratulations, I guess I’ll be perusal all of your articles so I can learn as much as I can, but also do you have any recommendations on what books I should read to get more insight on permaculture? I noticed you mentioned a couple of people on your articles, are those book authors, please let me know, thank you 🙏 friend for sharing your knowledge with the world 😊
Fantastic article!!! Thank you for breaking it down and showing me how easy this square foot gardening is. We started this method last year but didn’t put rope across like you did, that will make it much simpler. Thanks again! We love perusal your articles- my husband has always got them on. Our dogs name is Tucker and we call him Tuck all the time, your dog is adorable!
Thank you very much for the wonderful website and all the helpful information. Tuck is an Awesome farmer 🧑🌾 🐶 I am myself I’m just getting started and I’m learning a lot about the critters and creatures around me. I live in Southern California region so far it’s Peter Cottontail and the chipmunks and if it’s not them and I got some flying bugs that have been eating some of the fruit leaves. I like the article you did were you showed how to make an organic oil I find your website to be very helpful and informative
I did a really LOOSE interpretation of this once. I did a salsa garden. Tomatoes, peppers, basil, cilantro, onions, chives, garlic… it was awesome. It gave me a great idea of how the plants all interacted with each other. Like the basil grow fabulously under the tomatoes, getting sun in the morning but shaded out by the tomatoes the rest of the day. They do NOT like too much heat where I am. Which is funny since we don’t have that brutal summers. Anyway. This was a big inspiration to that bed and I LOVED how it turned out. Our medium was coconut coir and worm castings. They grew like crazy. There were a few tomatoes that wanted extra calcium. But that clued me in to the fact that I DON’T want to grow tomatoes that need babying. Cherry style and Roma style for me, all the way.
I did a slightly different take on this in a 4×12′ raised bed this year. 16″ squares for a 3×9 setup. Tomatoes down the center row, peppers, beans, herbs, and more heat sensitive on the sides. I’m in TX so hoping the tomatoes provide a bit of shade for the more sensitive plants since it runs NW/SE (not something I could decide)
Planting and watering square-by-square might also have an advantage in the water in the hose warming up a bit (but not too much!) in the sun, even on a chilly, very early spring day. Doing the whole bed at once might result in warm water at first, but too cold water after that. Watering just a bit at a time makes for maximized but moderate warming overall. It might be interesting to experiment between starting spinach early in situ but under mini-greenhouse domes (like large clear bowls or storage containers) vs. transplanting seedlings given an early start indoors under grow lights or in a greenhouse proper. As you acknowledged, the latter groups get that great head start, but then have to overcome being transplanted — even when one is careful to preserve their taproots.
I recently discovered you, Paisan and am really enjoying you’re upbeat garden articles ! Will be binge perusal in the evenings after my garden duties are done for the day. You might want to try these tomatoes … tycoon, the orange and pink oxhearts and my personal favorite for flavor … black krim Keep on Growin !! The DivingTemptress
🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🐕🐕🐕🐕🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤Happy Birthday to the Garden Dog, Tuck!!! I believe we’ll utilize the square foot gardening method this coming year. Thanks for your guidance! It makes a large concept and process much easier to grasp and incorporate! We’re approaching the second anniversary of our move “to the country” with a couple of acres. The first major feat was to battle the sticker burrs to at least a stalemate. Next we had to remove two huge piles (think total a quarter acre) of logs, brush, trash and weeds. The first summer was spent just mowing since it was a wet year. THe second year, I had to build deer fencing, but managed to get about a dozen and a half fruit trees planted. I’m concerned that a couple of serious cold snaps so far this winter may have destroyed the citrus trees and figs. We also bought a couple of Concord grape plants from an online supplier and they sent me dead plants and want me to jump through hoops to get replacements. not worth it. just won’t buy from them again. But, we’re really eager to be able to eat from our garden again. Back where we lived in town, we had spent years developing raised beds, worm habitats, a green house, and a really nice covered back deck and outdoor kitchen. Having to redo it all now. 😄
How did your garden beds go with that mushroom compost? I hear that the straw they use to grow some of the mushrooms in has grazon on it and will curl your leaves and stunt your plants. I have a truckload I got a year ago but am afraid to use it now since I heard it’s not safe anymore. I suppose I am going to do a test. Maybe buy a plant and put it in there and see if it dies? Got two 16′ x 3′ beds built with 4 foot deep Hugelkulture underneath as I live in pure sand. Need to make soil underneath and not loose my nutrients. I also did Hugelkulture inside the bottom foot of the beds. I used stuff I found nearby uncluding the worlds largest kelp. Layed them whole next to the logs. Some I put thru the wood chipper. Very satisfying. Seaweed is the nut. I think they used seaweed charged biochar to make the Terra Pretta black soil in the Amazon Basin. Why I think seaweed is the secret is because kelp at least is an algae. They found algae in the soil. Also, the only place on Earth u can find all the nutrients in one place is in seaweed because the water washes the nutrients into the rivers and into the oceans where the seaweed absorbs it all. You live by the sea. Do u get seaweed after storms? We are lucky and can drive on the beach.
Great seeing your articles again! I have a question please, or if anyone in the comments can answer… I transplanted my tomatoes outdoors last week. I live in GA, so you think it’s too early? The last frost has passed but I checked the weather for this week and one of the days will drop to 39in the evening. Will that kill my tomatoes?
Thank you for your wonderful articles, I’m new to gardening and they have been invaluable. Can I ask a question please? I don’t know if you have a problem with carrot root fly over there (if you don’t you might not know the answer). I am in the UK and they are a big problem. How do you protect your carrots when mixing them with other plants using this method? I currently have mine planted in the ground in rows with leeks every other row as carrot root fly is supposed to not like leeks and the leek fly is supposed to not like carrots but I also have that whole section netted to prevent the flies destroying everything. I’m wondering if your mixing things in a bed like this whether you net the whole bed once you start thinning the carrots? I am planning to move to deep beds using your pallet bed method and hugelkultur next year as gardening directly into the ground is killing my back. I would appreciate any advice please. To be honest I was thinking as my carrots and leeks are in partial shade against a shed, of just making a 2′ wide bed by the length I have available with an attached frame for the netting and only planting carrots and leeks in that so that it is easier to net, with having no tall plants. What do you think? My back garden is too small to plant trees so I am going to try and get an allotment (in the UK we have limited amounts of land reserved for growing vegetables split into sections that you can rent very cheaply). I want to turn that into a food forest being very carful not to plant trees where it will shade neighboring allotments (or I’d get kicked off lol).
Just For information, I live on tropical island and i want to share something that i have eaten since kid, : Banana fruit shoot, long bean young leaves, Sweet Potato young leaves, Cassava young leaves, and there is still alot of wild green i dont know in english name, i will try to looking for the name later….