Spring Planting

I am so excited that spring is here!! For my family it means putting our garden in. This year I have decided to try the square foot garden technique. When I first put the garden in, 8 years ago, a farmer friend had suggested this technique and I never go around to researching it. Boy I wish I had. It is so organized and easy! In the past I have just randomly planted things as I felt they would grow with little thought as to how big they were going to grow. I am sure I have cut down on my yield because of this but I just get so excited to get plants into the ground!! I encourage you to check it out and find a few feet to plant a few veggies or herbs. The rewards will be greater than your effort. If you have kids it is a wonderful learning opportunity for them. Another fun thing we are trying is growing potatoes in trash cans. Check out the post HERE.

Here is my Dad tilling under the garden. In the fall we had spread rye grass ( that is the green) and when you till it under in the spring it is a wonderful nutrient adder to the soil.

My garden is approximately 13×33 feet. This is the grid I mad so I know what plant is going where. The green is our walking paths. I am finding I work better with a plan.

Here is the garden with its strings laid out. I ended up doing 5×5 squares with foot walk ways. This configuration was the best use of space for the size of my garden. As you can tell I do not have wooden boxes as the square foot garden plan suggests. The Penny pincher in me told me to use what I had… it was not worth my pennies to get the boxes this year. We will see if I need them next year.

Another shot of the string. I used left over/old slats and pieces of wood I found in our burn pile to drive into the ground to tie the strings too. I did wrap the vertical strings around the horizontal strings when I was setting up the sections. I am hoping this will keep them in place better. Once again I don’t have the wooden slats that the web site suggests. I have trouble following instructions!