Additional Garden Notes

  Back to Suburbia

When my wife and I began experimenting in a big way with square foot gardening a year ago we were inexperienced gardeners.  We constructed eight 4’ X 12’ boxes in our yard in Florida and twenty-six 4’ X 12’ boxes on our one acre experimental mini farm, our fall back position.  We followed the New Square Foot Gardening book to the letter, with the few exceptions below.

Right or wrong, this is what we learned so far or did different:

1.   Space is valuable in your yard.  Maximize its use by building 12’ X 4’ boxes.  This cuts down on the walking isles.  Do not build boxes longer than 12’.  Make certain that the boxes go east to west so that tall plants can go on the north row of the boxes and not shade the shorter plants.

2.   When the square foot gardening book was written the author, Mel Bartholomew, recommended not using pressure treated lumber because of the arsenic in it.  Since publication arsenic is no longer used.  We opted to use pressure treated lumber as our lives will depend on the boxes for many years and if leaching occurs it seems to me that it will be negligible as it will be on the border edges only.  I cannot say for sure if this was the right decision.

3.   Each 12’ X 4’ box costs approximately $150 in materials.  That includes 8 cubic feet of vermiculite (or perlite), 8 cubic feet of peat moss and 8 to 10 bags of purchased compost.   This equates to $40 of vermiculite, $40 of peat moss, $50 of compost, $20 of lumber and weed blocker.  Be sure to purchase the weed blocker in 4 foot widths. Your local nursery suppliers will order the vermiculite and peat moss for you in large 4 cubic feet bags.  Lowes and Home Depot stopped stocking it in large bags this year.

4.   We used roll roofing (3 foot widths) and old shingles to cover the three foot wide walkways and outside borders.  This negates the use of a lawn mower near the boxes spraying weeds in them, as well as preventing tall weeds from growing in the walkways threatening the boxes. When a mower is used make sure it blows away from the boxes.  I saw one setup of raised boxes the owner had to abandon because of getting too close with a bush hog.  The roofing material might require the use of a boat cushion to kneel on if you are going to work the boxes for a long period of time.

5     We ended up mono cropping in most of the boxes.  So far very little problems with the bugs.

6.   We built trellises in the manner suggested by the author using electrical conduit and 2’ rebar to hold the piping up.  If you plan to build many boxes then buy a pipe bender as it is a lot cheaper that the 90 degree fittings that will be required. 

7.   A set of shorter pipes about 18 to 24 inches high were assembled to be used as a tent support for plastic sheeting in the winter months.   Winter plants are generally shorter than summer plants.  The taller pipes (nylon netting for beans, peas, melons, cucumbers and squash) are removed and the shorter ones (one per box) are installed for the winter tenting.  As long as the ground under the box does not freeze it will continue to produce.

   The shorter pipes are also used, two to a box, to hold a 12 foot by 4 foot wide fence horizontally for tomatoes, peppers and corn to grow through.

8.   Nylon netting costs a small fortune so in time I learned to knit my own nets.  When nets are not needed they are simply furled in place like a sail.
       Purchased netting came in 5 foot tall rolls.  We cut it into 2 1/2 ft. rolls and suspended it with string so that it was a couple of inches off the ground. 
       The few runners that exceeded 2 1/2 feet easily found the suspension strings.

9.   The two foot tall rebar supports were installed at the ends of each box, three on each end.  As the crops change the trellis pipes can then easily be moved to the boxes that require them.

10.    The square foot system is amazing!  It produces a tremendous amount of food.  The author states that a 12’ X 4’ box will feed one adult three meals a day forever.  Being new to gardening I am using two 12’ boxes per adult as a guideline.  This allows for slow replants and mistakes from on the job training.

11.  We are getting into Humanmanure composting in a big way. I highly recommend getting familiar with it. Honestly folks, there is no odor or inconvenience.  If things go bang economically, in time municipal sewage systems will stop functioning and private septic tanks will become a hazard due to not enough water to flush with.  Humanmanure  composting will both feed you and keep you and your neighbors from getting typhoid, cholera or hepatitis.   You can't do it alone; you have to get your neighbors to do it as well, otherwise you may catch disease from them even if you are doing the right thing.    See Humanmanure site:  http://www.weblife.org/humanure/default.html 

As a Side Note, by composting your waste, your need for water will be cut in half.  A family of four will only need 4 gallons of water per month for sewage.  This makes living on rainwater manageable.

12.  While on the subject of sewage systems, if you are on municipal sewage I suggest you purchase a 3” PVC slip cap costing about $2 so that you can disconnect yourself from the sewer system.  Shit flows downhill.  Every so often an underground electric lift station raises it so it can flow downhill again until it reaches the treatment plant.  If brownouts occur then the backed up shit will flow into 10% or 15% unlucky resident's homes near the nonfunctional lift stations making them uninhabitable.  You cannot tell where the underground lift stations are. The $3 investment will be well worth it if shit hits the fan!  Just cut the pipe at the street and glue or stick the cap on and put a rock in front of it.  Double check at the hardware store to see if your community uses 3 inch sewer lines from the house.

13.  I suggest you build more boxes than you think you need.  This allows for mistakes, unplanned mouths to feed, calming neighbors down and all around fumble room.  Remember that if things go bang you may not be able to get the vermiculite and peat moss, as most of it comes from two northern states and Canada.  If nothing else just store the materials in your yard until needed; they won't spoil.  Without the vermiculite and peat moss you are basically back to regular box gardening or traditional gardening, both of which are more labor intensive and riskier ventures (soil chemistry).

14.  See Pictures:   http://www.co-opvillagefoundation.org/Docs/SuburbiaPix.asp

     Back to Top