Squarefoot Gardening
Is SUPER EASY

I have used the squarefoot gardening method myself, and found that it is perfect for the beginning gardener, and for the small gardener who wants to avoid a lot of hassle. By following Mel Bartholomew’s advice in All New Square Foot Gardening, you can avoid a number of the difficulties in gardening.

The greatest challenges in gardening
are usually:

• Developing a healthy soil
• Keeping up with weeds
• Correct watering

Why Square Foot Gardening is so Easy

HEALTHY SOIL, RIGHT AWAY

One of the greatest challenges in gardening is to restore your soil to health and balance. This can take years, and includes:

1. Balancing the pH
2. Correcting calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and trace mineral levels
3. Getting a proper amount of organic matter and humus in the soil
4. Restoring microbial life to the soil. This life is known as "the soil food web"

Mel’s mix gives you a nearly perfect soil right from the start. The components of Mel's Mix (which is 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost) are readily available at your local garden center. Mel's mix is nutritionally balanced, holds moisture well, and contains no weed seed.

Once you have your box filled with Mel's Mix, each time you replant a square foot in your garden you just add a scoop or two of compost. You never have to add in any more vermiculite or peat moss, only compost. Best of all, Mel shows you how to easily make the compost yourself, from readily available materials.

NO WEEDS

The soil in your back yard is probably filled with weed seed. When you use Mel’s mix, or if you just use compost as soil, it contains no weed seed. With properly prepared compost, weed seed is consumed by the microbes in the composting process. This means that the only weeds you will have are from seed carried in by the wind, which is almost none. If a weed does show up, just pluck it out. How easy is that!!!

EASIER WATERING

Vermiculite and peat moss do a great job holding water. Therefore it isn't necessary to water as often. Many times watering once a week is enough. Over watering is one of the easiest ways to kill a plant. Because of the components of Mel's mix, even if you do over water, the excess water will just drain out the bottom of your box. Square foot Gardening saves you from the possibility of killing your plants by over watering.

More of my Articles on Square Foot Gardening

Building your Box and Creating your Soil

For information on how to make your own square foot gardening boxes, and how to make the “perfect soil” called Mel’s mix, click here.

Square Foot Gardening Tips

For square foot gardening tips, such as growing crops vertically, packing your produce full of nutrients, using a portable garden, and making room for sprawling crops, click here.

Planning for a Successful Square Foot Garden

Learn about using squarefoot gardening to grow more in the space you have, planting for a continuous harvest, and ways to safeguard against pests. Also at this link, you can view pictures of my square foot garden greenhouse.

One of the best kept gardening secrets I know is the value of micronutrients. The best source of micronutrients is concentrated sea minerals from the ocean. Ocean Trace is the micronutrient product I rely upon in my garden.

Learn about using squarefoot gardening to grow more in the space you have, planting for a continuous harvest, and ways to safeguard against pests. Also at this link, you can view pictures of my square foot garden greenhouse.

One of the best kept gardening secrets I know is the value of micronutrients. The best source of micronutrients is concentrated sea minerals from the ocean. Ocean Trace is the micronutrient product I rely upon in my garden.

Order the book All New Square Foot Gardening

If you are just learning to garden or if you don’t plan on growing a large garden, Squarefoot gardening may be for you! You can avoid many of the problems associated with a "row" or "raised bed" garden by ordering All New Square Foot Gardening and following Mel's advice.

(Return from Squarefoot Gardening to Healthy Vegetable Gardening)