Square Foot Gardening?

[ChanellG]

Roots don't only grow downward, they spread laterally unless you do something to contain them. Also, not all carrots require depth; I wanted seeds recently and my mother purchased some for me that are specifically suited to containers. They will only grow to 3.5 to 4 inches in length.

I think the box frame we have is about 4 x 4. What I will most likely do is only fill part of it and create "walls" with cinder blocks (I have some of the narrow ones) and spread out gradually through the bed. I'm going to try some greens in containers first to see how well they do in the heat, but so far the both the cabbage and the herbs that wilt easily that I relocated are doing well in shade and partial sun, so my plan should work.

I have about half of a large storage tub of compost ready for use and I can always get more from the guy I bought from last year. It's amazing the amount of planning let alone work that goes into this stuff, but you really can produce a lot of food in a small space. I still have to find a spot for my mirliton vine right now.

 

[Cammie27]

I started out using the Square Foot method and still refer back to it sometimes for spacing and when trying new plants that I haven't grown before, but mine were never quite that neat and tidy. I had my husband cut and drill a series of plywood spacing templates for the common spacings (4/9/16 per square) and use those rather than installing grids. I started growing a lot more things vertically, so what I have is a trellis up the middle of a 4 x 20 raised bed with SFG style plantings on either side.