jbd@duke.UUCP (01/14/86)
I received the book "Square Foot Gardening" for Christmas (by Mel Bartholomew). It is the companion to the PBS series with the same title. I've only read about half of it so far, but it looks very interesting. Has anyone on the net tried it? What do you think? Any suggestions? I'm planning to move my garden from its present site (about 600 ft from the house) to the back of the house (right at the back door), so I will be "starting new". One question that I have concerns soil. We have very heavy clay soil, so I am considering setting up raised beds, and using a soil mix (I haven't investigated prices yet). Also, our soil is about half rocks, some too heavy to move. Any comments? Thanks, Joanne Bechta Dugan (jbd@duke) P.S. There's nothing better for chasing away the winter blues than planning a garden !
rib@desoto.UUCP (RI Block) (01/17/86)
I think that Square Foot Gardening is one of the finest gardening
books to appear in the recent past. It not only presents an idea
but covers complete culture of several crops from seed to harvest.
I garden in Highland Park, NJ in part of a 16' x 20' backyard
and using the side yards (4' x ~60'). The soil is very heavy
and has a layer of impervious rock underneath it.
I support my raised beds with frames made from 2x6 lumber.
My vertical area supported on 3/4" EMT either free-standing or
attached to the raised-bed frames.
The techniques used allow me have a house, a children's play area,
and a garden on a 50' x 100' lot.
Although I don't follow anybody's advice slavishly, I found lots of
good ideas in the book ("Square Foot Gardening", Mel Bartholomew, Rodale).nemo@rochester.UUCP (Wolfe) (01/17/86)
In article <6787@duke.UUCP> jbd@duke.UUCP writes: >I received the book "Square Foot Gardening" for >Christmas (by Mel Bartholomew). >Has anyone on the net tried it? What do you think? >Any suggestions? ... >We have very heavy clay soil, so I am considering >setting up raised beds, and using a soil mix (I haven't >investigated prices yet). Also, our soil is about half >rocks, some too heavy to move. Any comments? >Joanne Bechta Dugan (jbd@duke) >P.S. There's nothing better for chasing away the winter >blues than planning a garden ! (How true!) The technique is really good for planning and planting. You give about the right amount of space to each plant this way, if you follow the guidelines. It is also good for companion planting (see some books on this subject). Raised beds are a good idea when you have heavy clay soil. They alleviate the drainage problems you otherwise have. They will tend to dry out a bit faster than a regular flat garden, so watch the moisture. Before you spend ziggabucks on soil mix, get as much rotted organic matter as you can and mix that in with the clay - the more the better. That will lighten it up and improve drainage. Then put the soil mix on top of the improved clay. If you plan on planting root vegetable, you must get rid of rocks in that part of the garden to a depth of a foot or more, or else you get lousy shapes and stunted growth. If you have some really big rock, you might want to integrate them with the garden as decorative elements. Plant some flowers too, they look nice, attract bees & hummingbirds, etc., and distract harmfull insects. Marigolds and nasurtiums are particularly good for repelling or diverting bad actors. Plus you can eat both flowers, and the nastur- tium's leaves and seeds. They taste kind of like radish or peppery cress. Do NOT plant sunflowers near the rest of the garden, THEY INHIBIT GROWTH of other plants (except onion family). Do not even use them for mulch. Do plant some for the birds elsewhere. If you do it in a place you can more or less ignore, they tend to seed themselves (hey! next best thing to perennials!) Finally, once you have the beds prepared, you should get at least the pH checked, and preferably more stuff than that. It is crucial to the growth of your plants to have proper pH, and by checking the other stuff like K and P you can better judge where to spend your fertilizer dollar. Happy Gardening! Nemo -- Internet: nemo@rochester.arpa UUCP: {decvax, allegra, seismo, cmcl2}!rochester!nemo Phone: [USA] (716) 275-5766 school 232-4690 home USMail: 104 Tremont Circle; Rochester, NY 14608 School: Department of Computer Science; University of Rochester; Rochester, NY 14627
ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (01/17/86)
In article <6787@duke.UUCP>, jbd@duke.UUCP writes: > (...) One question that I have concerns soil. > We have very heavy clay soil, so I am considering > setting up raised beds, and using a soil mix (I haven't > investigated prices yet). I live where the soil is clay. I've spent the last few years making my garden into something worth working in. What have I found to work best? Use about 10-20% of the clay soil. Mix with about 40-50% sand and the remainder (40%) compost. (I use the commercial bagged stuff.) This is an estimate only. Your milage may differ. I mostly just kept dumping bags of sand on and working it in. I started using organic mulches only, but they 'go away' after a year or so. The sand is important. Try mixing a bucket or two from your own soil first, just to see what mix you need. -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything.
rws@gypsy.UUCP (01/20/86)
I'm surprised that other respondents have so readily accepted the idea of putting commercial soil mix on top. A little imagination and one year of patience will yield dramatic results, without huge expenditures: 1) Dig the new beds by hand, removing any rocks larger than 3/4". Make sure you get a full foot of depth. If there is grass on top now, great! Organize your digging as a "moving trench", so that you can lay the old sod upside down in the bottom of the trench, then pile soil on top of it while making the next trench. Take care not to walk on the freshly dug soil. 2) If you don't have access to large quantities of compost or other organic material, apply THREE INCHES of peat moss! Dig it in to the top six inches or so, along with enough lime to balance your pH. (In the eastern US it is almost impossible to use too much lime, because the soil only dissolves what it needs.) The finer the grind of the limestone, the sooner it will work. 3) Plan soil amendments into every year's garden. I like using winter rye as a cover crop, and digging it in in the spring. Just make sure not to plant it on a few beds, so that you can plant peas even before the soil is dry enough to dig. Happy gardening! Bob Schwanke Siemens Research Princeton, NJ 08540-6668 seismo!princeton!siemens!rws
mmr@ritcv.UUCP (Margaret Reek) (01/20/86)
I got the book several years ago, and have been using variations of the technique in my garden ever since. It really does work, although the weeds are not quite as cooperative as he would have you believe. You can grow incredible amounts of food in a much smaller space. For example, I grow about 15 little squares of swiss chard, which is enough to freeze for the winter, eat all the two of us want, give it away, and waste the rest. BTW, if you grow something that he doesn't mention in the book, just use the width between plants on the seed package as a guide, and forget the distance between rows. I don't plant in 4 foot blocks anymore, I use 3 foot wide (because the plastic covers that width) rows the full length of the garden, but plant in it in 1 foot squares. It works just as well, and is easier for me to maintain. I agree with Nemo's recommendations about your soil. Good luck. Margaret Reek rochester!ritcv!mmr
timborn@ihlpg.UUCP (Tim Born) (01/22/86)
> > 2) If you don't have access to large quantities of compost or other organic > material, apply THREE INCHES of peat moss! Dig it in to the top six inches > or so, along with enough lime to balance your pH. (In the eastern US it is > almost impossible to use too much lime, because the soil only dissolves what > it needs.) The finer the grind of the limestone, the sooner it will work. > . . . > Bob Schwanke If you have a clay soil, that implies to me (among other things), a drainage problem. It would seem that peat moss would be about the last thing you would want in your clay, since it holds water like a sponge. What do the rest of you think? Is peat moss in clay soil a good idea or not? tim born ...ihnp4!ihlpg!timborn
jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla) (01/25/86)
> > > > 2) If you don't have access to large quantities of compost or other organic > > material, apply THREE INCHES of peat moss! Dig it in to the top six inches > > or so, along with enough lime to balance your pH. (In the eastern US it is > > almost impossible to use too much lime, because the soil only dissolves what > > it needs.) The finer the grind of the limestone, the sooner it will work. > > > If you have a clay soil, that implies to me (among other things), a drainage > problem. It would seem that peat moss would be about the last thing you would > want in your clay, since it holds water like a sponge. What do the rest > of you think? Is peat moss in clay soil a good idea or not? Ayup. I nevre use peat moss (for one thing, it should be soaked thoroughly before digging it in). For clay soils, you should add sand and organic material to lighten it up and make it more friable. One cannot stress too much the importance of compost to the universal order. -- jcpatilla California is paid a diplomatic visit by giant Betelgeusian reptiles that want our women but can't find any so scientists invent a weapon that fails so they kill us.
ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (01/27/86)
In article <1570@ihlpg.UUCP>, timborn@ihlpg.UUCP (Tim Born) writes: > > > > 2) If you don't have access to large quantities of compost or other organic > > material, apply THREE INCHES of peat moss! (...) > > If you have a clay soil, that implies to me (among other things), a drainage > problem. It would seem that peat moss would be about the last thing you would > want in your clay, since it holds water like a sponge. What do the rest > of you think? Is peat moss in clay soil a good idea or not? > Peat moss will help at first. Eventually it will break down though. If you don't want to add alot more each year, use sand. It takes an enormous quantity (I use 3 units of sand to one of clay soil and one of compost). But you end up with a wonderful soil that drains well. -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything.