2011: What I Learned from my new Square Foot Garden This Year

1.  Plant PEAS in the back row, next to the rose hedge.  They are the tallest thing in the garden and I never make it around to the backside to check on other things growing.  It would also be easier to water if the peas were in the back.

2.  WATER FREQUENTLY- every other day.  (It is a spring garden.)  It dries up quickly.  And don't run over the brand new metal watering attachment that you paid big bucks for so that it would last forever either.

3.  The TOMATOES did next to nothing in the SFG- maybe 5 or 6 off of each plant for the whole season.  And they had squash bugs all over them.  Gross.  The tomatoes did better in the traditional garden, although it was an off year overall for tomatoes.  (The cherry tomatoes took off however.)

4.  One square foot of SWISS CHARD is enough.

5.  Plant lots more BEETS, PEAS, AND CARROTS.

6. I only got one head of BROCCOLI off of each plant.  Seems like a waste of time and space.

7.  We love the RADISHES, Parker and I.  Do a few successive plantings in the spring.  They didn't do so well being planted in the fall garden.

8.  The soil measurments I figured out when filling the garden were all wrong.  In 2012 I will remove some of the soil and add a lot more COMPOST.  It needs more living matter.

9.  The SFG METHOD promises the same yield in 20% of the space.  I think getting started was rough.  I think because of my incorrect soil measurments that things didn't grow as well as promised.  I am hoping this next year will be better.  I did love having more room for my Spring Garden, which also freed up space in the traditional garden.  I loved having it out in my front yard where I could tend it and watch it grow each day, and where neighbors could see it and learn from it too.