by Allison Prater |
If you want to grow your own food but fear you lack the adequate space, knowledge and/or time, then Len Bartholomew’s “All New Square Foot Gardening Method” is the book for you. Bartholomew specifically designed this method to help people of all ages grow more food, in less space, using simple methods that reduce labor and time. The Square Foot Gardening (SFG) Method is easy to understand and ideal for beginning gardeners.
SFG recommends the use of large four feet by four feet wooden square planter boxes, although the same methods of spacing can be applied to round containers and even plots in the ground. One of the main ideas behind the SFG method is that many plants need a lot less space than what is recommended for traditional large-scale production farming. One square foot area of soil may not seem like a lot of space, but depending on the type of crop, you can grow up to sixteen plants, (such as radishes or onions,) in that one little square. It takes surprisingly less space than one might expect.
According to Bartholomew, one adult needs about 32 square feet of soil in order to grow all of their salad and supper vegetables during the growing season. A family of four could harvest enough daily supper, salad, and extra veggies for sharing and preserving on less than 200 total square feet! A person can save additional space in the garden by encouraging certain crops such as beans, melons, squash and tomatoes to grow upward, utilizing yet another dimension of the square foot.
There are many advantages in using the type of containers recommended in the book, including sustainable pest control and the ability to easily cover crops with plastic to extend your growing season. Bartholomew also includes money saving tips on ways to acquire gardening materials, for people on a budget.
For an excellent example of the SFG method in action, visit http://urbanhomestead.org, where the Dervaes family keeps a blog of their experience turning a small 1/10 acre yard into a fully functioning farm. They have produced up to 6,000 lbs of food per year in their backyard. They use many of the SFG techniques to maximize efficiency of space.
Whether you want to grow the majority of your meals, or would prefer to just dabble in some home grown tomatoes, “The All New Square Foot Gardening Method” is sure to help you discover your very own green thumb.
References:
- Bartholomew, Mel, “All New Square Foot Gardening”, Cold Springs Press, Tennessee, 1981, revised and additional content copyright 2005
- http://urbanhomestead.org/journal
