The most useful book at under 300 pages!I love this book. It's very useful and I come back to it over and over again when I start the growing season. The author explains his method really well, so that even total newbeginners will have no problm understanding what to do. Also, I love the charts - they are extremely useful, as they use the last and first frost as guidelines, and not dates, as so many other books do.
A great book for everyone who loves gardening - a lot of new ideas and useful advice.
InterestingMy wife wanted this as she had heard about this form of gardening. An american author, writing for the american market so some of the plants won't necessarily grow in the UK and some of the products are difficult to get here as well. Very expensive to follow as you have to build wooden boxes to contain the beds and the mix of soil and other products is extremely expensive and some of the mix products are almost impossible to find.
Help with Vermiculite.Many people who want to use the Square Foot Gardening special mix seem to find the 'chunky' vermiculite difficult to find. Do NOT use the fine stuff. I searched and found that what you need - in the UK anyway - is NOT agricultural grade, but INSULATION grade, Nice and chunky, much cheaper, and available from builders merchants. I got mine from Travis Perkins, and if you join up as a 'Trademate' member you get it at internet price and DELIVERED FREE!!
I made my raised beds 80 cms high as I am partially disabled and find 'waist height' very convenient - no bending. I used 3" square posts to support the sides, which were made out of disassembled pallets (which I also got Free from T P. Just made a donation to the Devon Air Ambulance!) I hung black polythene down the insides of the beds, stapled to the top, and with a cover strip round the top. Outsides are painted with a garden paint. No sign so far (5 years) of them rotting with this protection.
My 'soil' level is about 4" down from the top, so that I can put a lightweight framed panel of fleece on until the crops are 2 to 3" high. This enables much earlier sowings as it gives some protection from frost and full protection from wind and heavy rain.
The other advantage of this method is that weeding is a breeze. Don't go out to weed 'the garden'. Go out to weed 2 or 3 squares - and before you know it you've done the lot!! There is just no pressure.
I would be interested in other peoples results. I get much more in the space, almost a 12 foot row of carrots in 4 squares, and not a weed in sight!!
EXCELLENT APPROACHThis is a terrific book which makes you reconsider your whole approach to gardening. I had to do this because of changed garden circumstances. This is my first season using his method, and I'm very impressed. It reduces to some very simple concepts - raised beds, a specific growing mixture, close planting, demarcated areas for each vegetable. The author is a retired American engineer who likes things to be done to precise specifications and ideally using the cheapest materials. That you can take or leave - but the basic concepts are excellent, and very clearly explained.
square foot gardeningA great book for those people who have a very limited space to grow vegetables but want to provide themselves with a continuous supply throughout the season. Going away on holiday may cause some problems when it comes to watering and replanting, though.
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