Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Square Foot Garden Fall Veggies

Anyone, anywhere, can grow (almost) anything, in a square foot garden.  The concept goes by many names:  no-till gardening, raised bed gardening, etc.  But the fact is, you can feed your family using any number of different raised bed techniques.  Square foot gardening is just one.

Here are some pictures of my fall vegetables in a square foot garden.  This garden is located at the Pulaski County Extension office and was planted August 15.  You can come by and check it out anytime you like. 


 The 4 X 4 square foot garden above consists of 16 squares.  Broccoli and cabbage are planted at 1 plant per square.  Notice that we have a weed-free barrier.  Very important if you have bermudagrass or just turfgrass surrounding the bed.


At each corner I've planted spinach.  They are to be planted 9 per square.  I'm having some issues with germination.  Between the spinach on the outside edge I've planted kale.  The book did not address kale so I have 4 squares planted at different densities: 2, 4, 6, and 9.

The next 2 pictures are some other raised beds at the office.  The first picture has kale, the second picture shows mustard in the foreground and turnips in the background.  These seeds were broadcast into the area and not thinned.  Still, it's easy to grow healthy food at a fairly low cost (around $10 from my bad memory).  This cost does not include the materials used to make the beds.

I hope this inspires you to think about using square foot gardens, raised beds, or lasagna garden methods in your garden next year.