 |
| Flowering Cucumber |
Recently I purchased Mel Bartholomew's book, "All New
Square Food Gardening. A retired
efficiency expert and engineer, Bartholomew
saw row gardening as a waste of space and resources. Practices such as thinning
seedlings and irrigating whole tracts of soil that weren't planted bothered
him, and he set about finding a new way to grow food, herbs, and flowers.
What is Square Foot
Gardening
Square foot gardening is built around the idea of planting a
4 foot by 4 foot box that has been divided into 16 squares, each section being
1 square foot in area. The gardener plants a different 'crop' in each square.
How many plants are in any given square depends on how far apart the seeds
should be planted.
I can plant one cucumber in one square and 16 radishes in
another square. According to Mr. Bartholomew, the system allows for a bounty of
veggies in a 4 foot by 4 foot bed because nothing takes up more than one square
foot.
The idea is brilliant and no doubt very effective, and I'm
anxious to give it a try. Our author
tells me to lay down landscape fabric, position the bed on the fabric, and fill
it to a 6 inch depth with his special formula soil mix.
There Might Be Some
Problems, Though
 |
| Okra from Seed |
The special formula? One third vermiculite, one third peat
moss, and one third blended organic
compost. Basically, this is a potting mix, not
soil, and that might be a problem. Here in Phoenix, even in winter, potting
mixes dry out incredibly fast. Vermiculite is no match for our dry air and
bright sun.
Mr. Bartholomew also says gardeners can water the garden bed
with cups of sun-warmed water. Simply leave a bucket of water near the bed and
with a small plastic cup, use the water for the garden, watering each square as
needed.
Sun-warmed water here may be too hot for potting mix, and I
would likely have to water several times a day. A cup of water does not a deep
watering make. I think maybe a more climate appropriate watering system may be
necessary.
The Free Style Method
But for right now, I'm far less efficient and organized and
otherwise square foot. In my last post, I regaled you with tales of tossing
seeds about the garden without any sort of pattern or layout in mind. Many of
my seeds are past their prime, and many, of course, failed to germinate. That's
okay. Some, though, are doing surprisingly well, in spite of the 110+
temperatures.
 |
| Bean Plant on the Rise |
I've got okra and burgundy beans sprouting up, and tiny
hints of jalapeno plants. I've even got some zucchini that just might make it
after all. I imagine this is the type of gardening that would cause Mr. Mel
Bartholomew to shake his head and mutter something about a lack of efficiency
and wasted space and the soil being less than loamy. I imagine he would predict
catastrophic failure for this garden.
His (imagined) prediction may be right. Or not. As we move
into September and October, though, gardeners in cooler climes are starting to
wind down their summer crops, while here in the Valley of the Sun we'll be planting
tomatoes and cucumbers alongside spinach and squash- as soon as the day time
temps get below 100 degrees. Ah, the sweet cool of Autumn!
