How to Grow a Garden

So you may have considered gardening, and one of the methods that you may have thought about trying is a Square Foot Garden.   One of the reasons you may be thinking about it, is because you would not need to work the existing soil in your yard, adding this additive or that to get the soil just right, not to mention you wouldn’t need to dig or double-dig the soil, which could take a while, to get results.  Some gardeners work existing soil for several years before it is at its optimal nutrient levels to sustain a healthy and vibrant garden.  That just seems ineffecient in this day and age, particularly if you’re starting a garden to try and cut down on your grocery bill as soon as possible.

So a fast way to start a garden, is with a Square Foot Garden.  Once you track down all of the supplies, it should take approximately one or two weekends to build and fill the boxes (depending on how many you plan on making), and then you can start planting – as long as the climate in your area permits.  For my Square Foot Garden, it took me two afternoons on a weekend to build two boxes – mainly because I did not have a drill bit for the first box, and about two or three evenings to mix the “Mel’s Mix” ingredients and fill the boxes, working about an hour and a half each evening.

Before I go any further, I’d first like to mention that, while you can get a lot of information for free on the internet, sometimes it just doesn’t compare to having a good old hard copy of a book in hand for information.  If you’re seriously interested in building and using a Square Foot Garden, I highly recommend purchasing the book – I did!

So anyway, you may be wondering what items you should be looking into buying in order to build a Square Foot Garden. Well, the list is pretty simple and short:

• Lumber, cut to your desired lengths.   You can use 1″ thick wood, but 2″ will last longer.  As for the height of the box, the recommended is six inches*, although you can use 8-12″ high if you wish.  I chose eight inches of height for my boxes.
• Deck screws (specially made to withstand outdoor conditions), twice as long as the wood is thick.  So, if you chose 1″ thick wood, you would want 2″ deck screws, and 4″ deck screws if you chose 2″ thick wood.  You need about three per corner, but they come in boxes, so buy the smallest one you will need for your project, allowing for those you may accidentally strip.
• Weed blocker or landscape cloth, or newspapers and cardboard if you’re on a strict budget, to place beneath the soil in the box to keep weeds from sprouting up through your Mel’s Mix.
• 4 cu. foot of vermiculite, coarse recommended, medium is okay.
• 2.2 cu foot peat moss (compact bale).  It will expand to about 4 cu. foot
• 4 cu foot compost.  This cannot be all the same source or type, i.e. not all the same from steer manure, mushrooms, chicken manure, etc.  It needs to be a good combination of several for best results.
• Something to create the grids with.  This can be twine (but that does not last very long), lattice wood, or old venetian blinds.

As I mentioned previously, about the most difficult items to locate may be the vermiculite and peat moss, although some people may have trouble finding different types of compost as well.  Price will vary extremely for these items.  Some gardeners have reported locating 4 cu. foot bags of vermiculite for as little as $12 a bag; on the other hand, I paid about $25 for a 3.5 cu. foot bag of it.  The compost was the cheapest of these ingredients, at least for me – one bag was around $10, and the second was around $6, although I ended up buying a second bag of the $6 compost.  I would recommend making use of the internet and the phone book and call ahead to make sure the store you’re looking into actually has the item in stock, and what sizes they carry.  Big box garden centers, plant & tree nurseries, and even feed & tack stores/co-ops (mostly for vermiculite) are places to find the “Mel’s Mix” ingredients for your Square Foot Garden.

* Keep in mind that lumber shrinks as it dries after it’s cut at a mill, so while it may say 2″x6″x4′, the only true measurement there is most likely the four feet; the 2″ and 6″ will be slightly less than those numbers, probably more like 1.5″-1.75″ and 5.5″-5.75″ instead. So if you want a full six inches of “Mel’s Mix” in your garden, you should buy 2″x8″ instead.