Update on Square Foot Gardens 2011

Japanese Perennial Onion flowering.

An apology to those regular readers! I've been so slow on the uploading of photos and new posts but I've got a valid excuse. Turns out my body- unexpectedly- began making a human being about thirteen weeks ago. This will be the third baby to join our house and now that I'm feeling less tired, it doesn't sound as exhausting as it did to me four weeks ago! 

As for the square foot gardens, they are doing well despite the lack of sun: besides we're thankful for the rain (and a working sump pump!).  I took these photos on June 29th- the date of my 2010 update. My biggest challenge continues to be nutrients as I don't have a great compost system yet (though Mat just built me a huge double-bin compost that should be a big help next season). This year I've added significant amounts of sheep and cow manure, as well as used a flax/hemp based fertilizer from the farmer's market. Based on a great Mother Earth News article, I will soon begin experiments with liquid fertilizers using the common household material: diluted urine. I'm hoping the girl's enjoy peeing in a bucket!

Pictures were taken July 29th:

Spinach bolting and peas a-flowerin'. The greens in front of the box are hardy, oriental poppies.

The back row are my potatoes (see below for a close-up), and the onions are a perennial Japanese onion. My girlfriend smelled them and marvelled, "They smell just like baked potato with all the fixings!" I love how this picture shows the succession planting of the carrots in the front two rows. We are just now beginning to harvest from the far left box.

The lettuce in the front, centre boxes has been harvested two times already. I'm really happy with this butter lettuce I bought from Richters. The arugula (on the right) has bolted, but the flowers are just as delicious as the now-very-strong leaves. The peas  make up the back row, with swiss chard taking over the middle. 

More lettuce. I can't keep up! Unfortunately, this prego lady doesn't have any craving for salad. Just oranges?!

The left row (north) is lettuce and arugula. THe front row are tomatoes interspersed with self-seeding marigolds. The tomatoes have grown well. I did an experiment this year and planted them successively to see if the early planted ones are stunted. They all seem to have grown at similar growth rate, with the one planted early May (second planted) being marginally further along.

Also featured is my sweet ride to work everyday. I love our scooter- $4 fill every three weeks!

Yarrow bordered by squash. These squash aren't doing great, but they may be a little crowded!

First Plantings for the Square Foot Gardens

Last weekend (April 22) I covered the oldest of the gardens (planted 2008) with 1.5 inches of sheep and cattle manure. By the end of last season it was clear the soil needed nutrients: at the end of their third year they were producing carrots and beets half the size of the new gardens. This year I plan to experiment with a couple types of home-brewed, liquid fertilizers: stay tuned. 

No chance I'll be planting this garden in the next couple weeks!

Lovage, mustard and flax line the back of this garden. I use these square foot gardens like a greenhouse or cold frame- I plant the cold-tolerant seeds early and will move most seedlings to other spots in the garden. 

If you can see my scrawling on the sticks, I've planted 3 square feet of hyssop with 16 seeds each for a total possible 48 plants... I want to do a mass group planting in the front boulevard of our house and I guess I really love hyssop! There are four squares of swiss chard planted in the centre of this bed: Swiss Chard regenerates after cutting, so I won't worry about succession plantings (for those who don't know what that is, it's doing a number of plantings spaced a week or two apart to stretch out the harvest). Four is probably too much swiss chard- but if it goes crazy in the middle of summer, I'll pull the two north squares and plant spinach there (which will benefit from the shade of the fully grown swiss chard up front!).

Here's a map of the two boxes as I've planted them now. I include the date I plant it and often the variety. About half of these boxes will become empty at the end of May as I use the seedlings to plant my yard's gardens (hyssop, cornflower, sunflowers, lovage, mustard and flax will be moved) and my deck pots (nasturtiums, lettuce, red teff grass will be transplanted). 

A closer look. 

It's terribly ugly, I know, but I'm experimenting with creating a micro climate that will extend my season, without the need to build further cold frames and greenhouses. What the tent lacks in attraction, it makes up for in utility-- after a week about half of the seedlings have germinated with the arugula about two weeks from being harvestable. As for the garden on the right side, I've covered it with frost- cloth sold for tomatoes. It also has been effective in keeping the soil warm enough for many of the seeds in this box to germinate. The trick now is keeping the seedlings alive despite the dipping night temperatures. Last year I covered many of the seedlings with the bottoms of pop bottles- which created mini-greenhouses (technically these are often called 'cloches' but pop bottles/ milk jugs are cheaper!). This year I'm trying out old windows. Placed over the top of the boxes, these windows have worked similarly to the cloches. I will need to watch, however, that the seedlings underneath don't burn as our daytime temperatures inch up.

Oh, how nice it is to finally be outside- working and sweaty!

As an aside: happy voting, Canada!

Seedy Saturday- Wild Strawberries

A strawberry valley sits tucked at the base of the hulking Ptolomey mountain range, in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta. In my memory, the wind (a constant force of life in the Pass) missed that valley and allowed the sun to fully soak the wild onions, Indian Paintbrush and thistle with heat that smelled of sweet licorice.

Every summer my family of six would unload from our white, 14 passenger van and hunt for wild strawberries in this small pasture. Tiny nuggets of pure gold to the tongue. Warm and sweet- they belonged in our mouths1 Unfortunately, the fruit didn't appear to agree, hiding itself well behind creased, multi-pointed leaves that hugged the ground.

When it came for me to plant my first strawberries in the garden, I bought the ones the garden centres sell. I have a number of varieties and all are more delicious than the berries that travel in plastic clamshells to the supermarket. However, they have never satisfied my hunger for their smaller, sweeter cousins.

When I began looking to buy some wild strawberries last year, I had no luck sourcing the actual plants so I googled "wild strawberry seeds". They turned up on ebay, of all places, and I purchased two packets of 50 seeds.

They arrived in April and I planted half of them in my square foot boxes right away. I then planted a flat of 25 indoors and set it on my south facing window sill.

Both grew! The ones I planted in the garden were slower to sprout, but remember snow continued to fall into May 2010 for us in Edmonton. In mid-June I transplanted all the seedlings into a narrow section of garden bordered by a walkway and fence. Through the summer they grew happily in the part-shade, and quickly began to send out their magical little arms- the ones with fingers that touch the earth and grow a new plant.

Last time I checked Richters Seeds has the seeds for sale. If you are searching, double check for the latin names: Fragaria Virginiana and Fragaria Vesca. These are true wild strawberries- offering aggressive ground cover with many sweet, red rewards. 

An Update- Square Foot Gardening in Edmonton's 2010 Season

(Check out the Square Foot Gardening Label for more square foot gardening in Edmonton.)


Being so far north, one would imagine that our summer here in Edmonton is as short as our winter is long. But not so fast, oh-prejudiced-one-against-northern-communities, Edmonton's got a longer season than Calgary (which counts for a lot as we shiver through the winter, cursing our lack of warming chinooks). Edmonton's frost free date this year was May 2. I planted broccoli, spinach, some carrots, peas and chard at the very beginning of April, and I optimistically planted out my beans, corn and tomatoes May 9.

June 2, snow and frost! Grrr, northern communities be damned.

Well, I and the rest of my plants survived the cold and rain of spring, but its sure been slow going for my little garden. Around mid June I added extra compost and some all purpose fertilizer to give the plants a boost that the weather couldn't or wouldn't. 

Here are my boxes, pictures taken around the middle of June:

The Spinach and Garlic actually overwintered (above ground!), the peas along the fence have desperately persevered mowing by birds. In the nearest corners are marigolds, seeded in other parts of the garden from last year, then transplanted here this year.

Again, garlic has overwintered successfully, as did the lettuce. I have tried planting onion seeds (not sets) in this bed, but they are desperately slow.  Beets and carrots are in the empty squares, tomatoes and cukes are at the back.

This year, I used this box as a cold frame. I planted my broccoli, alpine strawberries, marigolds, strawberry spinach and some lettuce in this bed early April, then when the weather got cold I covered it with a blanket or tarp over the pvc pipe and held in place with bricks. I transplanted all of those seedlings to other, more appropriate parts of the boxes and gardens. It worked so well I will add another cold frame set up in 2011.

The transplanted broccoli is a new crop for me... Peas are growing at the back of each square to cover the lattice, and carrots are planted at either end.

A new bed to compliment a weedy back alley! Mat built this bed for a demonatration we did on square foot gardening in May. He bought two 10 foot, 1x6s then cut it to make a 2x8' bed. He then added the 2x2' potato box at the end, which has a false bottom so its only 1 foot deep (I wanted the aestetic of this part being higher). Then, creative guy that he is, he fancied it up by adding cedar trim. The box cost us $10 since we had the screws, stain and trim.

In seeding it, I experimented with the familiar companion planting 'Three Sisters'. One row is planted with corn and beans (3 corn and 1 bean to every square foot), the second row is squash, marigolds, onions and nasturtiums (to trail along the front). In the higher section I've planted 16 seed potatoes in 4 square feet, with a depth of 1 foot.  

Here is the new bed, as of June 30:

The potatoes are doing really well; I now must add more dirt. 

This new bed has proved to be in an excellent position. Lots of sun, lots of reflection off the cement, easy access to the rain barrel. I think I may have to convince Mat to build four more beds to stretch across the 'guest parking spot' affectionately known as 'dandelion cove'. The dandelions may serve as excellent ground cover for all my aisles!

  

A Review of the Square foot Gardening method

The squash have been beckoning me. I’ve never had such a large Sp

aghetti squash or Butternut squash grow in my yard and I’m eager to eat ‘em. So while the coming frost doesn’t thrill me, picking my squash may help me tolerate it.

1. The square foot pattern of planting, instead of rows, made it easier to keep track of how many plants I had, as well as easier to ‘companion plant’. I also think I was able to ‘design’ my veggie garden better than in years past; the aesthetic was much prettier.The first season of using Square Foot gardening (a type of raised bed gardening that Mel Bartholomew has advocated in his book by the same name) is behind me. If you remember, in my May article I outlined how we set up the gardens on our otherwise useless backyard cement pad. I planted a variety of t

hings, some I had tried before in my traditional garden while others were new, then I stepped back and waited for the miracle of huge, organic vegetables to emerge. Mel Bartholomew had promised this, as well as the elimination of weeding, fertilizing and tilling. Here’s a short review of the method:

2. While Mel promised weeding would be a thing of the past with Square Foot Gardening, I didn’t experience that! Sure there are less weeds, but perhaps thanks to my weedy alley, I still had to get on my knees and yank out chickweed.

3. More frequent waterings were required (case in point, I haven’t harvested a single cucumber from my growing vine because I can’t keep up with the watering). Reflected heat from the cement pad has no doubt added to this problem. Others might suggest it’s the drought!

4. A strange mold also grew in only one of the beds. After one week with lots of rain, there appeared some dark, hard piles of what looked like cat puke. I dug into them and they were the consistency of Styrofoam with a couple different layers of colour and consistency. My girlfriend, who works at Telus World of Science, did some sleuthing and emailed me back with the verdict: Dog Vomit Slime Mold!?!? Official title. No lie. It wasn’t harmful but looked gross. I aerated and it went away.

5. Most veggies grew as well in the boxes as in my traditional garden: Tomatoes, carrots, onions, spinach, corn, beans, peas and potatoes grew large. My basil and chili peppers didn’t seem to get as large in the boxes, nor did my beets. I wonder too if the squash would have grown bigger with more space.

6. Fertilizing was also supposed to be a thing of the past, according to Mel. About mid-July, I found my beans and corn turning yellow. Thankfully someone had commented on my blog that she found she had to fertilize. I added a little organic veggie fertilizer (I was out of compost) and the leaves grew green again.

7. Experimentation is still required in the planting design. For instance, I didn’t realize how big my potatoes would get, or how much shade the peas would give off. I found that by August, most of the produce I planted was gone (read eaten!). So I may move my peppers and basil into pots, and leave more space for carrots and beets.

Overall, there was less work and more yields from my garden boxes- if only because my gardens were more organized and I could keep track of produce and replant as needed (I have my third planting of spinach now growing). I am excited that I ‘reclaimed’ the wasted space of my cement pad. Now as the frost comes, I guess I can occupy my time with next year’s planting design; that and cooking up some buttercup squash.

Square foot Garden Update

The square foot garden on my back cement pad is growing! Here are some pictures from July 12, 2009. In the case of most of the plants shown here, I purchased the seeds online from Salt Spring Seeds (http://www.saltspringseeds.com/).

Colourful peas

red potato flowers

hungarian black peppers

There's an eggplant hidden in there somewhere.

Even corn!! This was an experiment and we'll see if we actually harvest anything...

kids harvesting snap peas

If' I'd realized how large potatoes would grow, I might have planted them in a different place rather then here shading the rest of the garden!

Here's our lettuce and carrot patch that must be weeded much more often than promised (thanks to the weedy back alley). I just harvested the first of many carrots, while I've already planted the spinach squares for a second time.

Square Foot Gardening- completed boxes

Squash will grow up along the fence. One squash plant can be planted per two squares--- if you have a trellis for the plants to grow vertically!

Even after seven nights of below 0 degrees AND plenty of snow (is it really almost June?) here peak out peas, spinach, lettuce and beets. The pea teepees are lilac boughs. Only concern with these is they may just sprout too!

Notice that the two front, centre squares in box on the right aren't filled? In order to grow potatoes, dig down to bottom inch of soil in square and plant four seed potatoes. As shoots grow, 'hill' by covering shoots.

Beans will grow on this trellis... at least that is the plan. Potatoes and corn also share this small row that fit along the path to our garage door.

Reclaiming the Cement Pad with Gardens

     

“Ma’am, this is gardening, not rocket science. I think you’re making it way more complicated than it needs to be.”  Under my breath I cursed Mel Bartholomew, however I refused to let the clerk chide me off-course.  I kept calm and said, “Sir, I need five different types of compost totaling 300 litres.”

The adventure started in my back yard in my Alberta Avenue home. I’ve a large concrete pad next to my garage. It’s 25 by 15 feet and about 2 feet thick. I once mentioned to my neighbour that I hoped to jackhammer the pad up and plant a garden (it’s south-facing and sheltered). Nearly choking on his hotdog, he said,

“Do you know how much [insert past owner’s name here] paid for that?  It’s probably worth $10,000!” I was stunned… needless to say the pad has remained in our back yard, empty except to collect random bits of garbage from our renos and host the occasional basketball game.

But this year, I’ve got a plan. And this plan promises to produce more vegetables than I ever imagined from my small yard. I stumbled across All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew while scrambling after my toddler in Save-On- Foods’ book section. Here’s the basic gist:

1.     1. Build 4 x 4 square foot box(es) out of wood/bricks to a depth of minimum 6”. Boxes can be placed anywhere in the yard (over grass, weeds, gravel, CEMENT!!, decking).

2.     2. Cover bottom with weed paper (if necessary) and fill to depth of 6” with Mel’s Mix, a composition of:

a.     1/3 Peat moss (or coir substitute now available - Save Our Bogs!)

b.     1/3 Vermiculite (or Perlite though Mel doesn’t like Perlite’s texture)

c.      1/3 compost (if purchasing compost, 5 different types must be 

mixed to ensure variety of nutrients. If using your own, don’t worry about this bit)

3.     3. Build a grid distinguishing each 16 square foot and firmly attach.

4.     4. Plant seeds/plants according to Mel’s handy chart. The plantings are incredibly intensive, for instance one square foot can be planted with:

a.     16 onions or 1 pepper or 8 pole beans or 9 beets

5.     5. Water and Harvest and Replant.

Mel promises that weeding, tilling and fertilizing will no longer be part of my gardening experience. I liked the idea of a ‘free ride’ when it came to producing my own veggies.  So I bought the book and I committed to following the instructions (a tough proposition for someone who ‘skims’ recipes and hopes for the best).

It has taken six trips to the greenhouse/hard ware store to purchase materials and two days of building in the shop, but we now have three and a half beautiful boxes filled with

 growing medium and seeds. It’s been a lot more work and money prepping than I expected. The boxes each cost me: $22 for vermiculite (at Holes Greenhouse), $4 for Peat moss/coconut (Canadian Tire), and $20 for compost (I splurged and bought worm castings which put the price up substantially). So it cost me about $46 each to fill. Plus wood. 

I wondered if it was all worth it, until I started planting. The benefits so far:

-       1. I am not an ordered person, but I surprisingly can vouch for the grid. By seeing each square foot mapped out it’s easier to visualize the end harvest. For instance, I planted only 2 square feet of peas because I know I don’t want to harvest more than 16 plants at a time. Next week, I’ll plant 2 more square feet. 

-       2. The ease of access was brilliant. I could reach all parts of the box with little stretching.  If it was raised, people with mobility difficulties could easily garden again!

-       3. Experimenting with companion planting also felt simpler because I could visualize all the plants in that one area as more of a group than individual plantings. 

-       4. I love the prospect of how much food he promises can be harvested from that one box.

-       5. And, I’m using space I never thought I’d be able to garden in.

Now, I can only wait and see if Mel’s promises of bushels of organic vegetables grown on my cement pad come true. I’ll keep you posted.

If you're interested in more info, check out the following sites for great pictures and tutorials!

- http://www.albertahomegardening.com/how-to-make-a-square-foot-garden/

- http://www.squarefootgardening.com/