Thinking About Gardening

{Thinking About Gardening}

Last year I started to think about growing a garden but I never really got around to it. I remembered seeing something about a book called Square Foot Gardening and I had heard that it was the best book to get before starting a garden. So that is exactly what I did! I went out and got a copy of this book and I am so happy that I did. I actually ended up with the all new version of this book which is a revision of the first edition. The All New Square Foot Garden offers information that the author himself didn't realize when he wrote the first book; things that he learned over the years between the two editions. 

In this book the author Mel Bartholomew tells you how to build a perfect garden. He teaches you how to build an above the ground box to put your garden in so that you don’t even have to worry about your soil being good enough for your plants to grow; there is a mixture recipe in the book that you put in your above ground planter box instead of your soil. This is great because it eliminates the need for digging up and mixing around your existing soil which can save you a ton of money.

Mel (as he refers to himself in the book) teaches you how to save money on seeds by only planting what you need instead of using a whole packet. He also teaches you what to plant in each square of your SFG (Square Foot Garden) so that you maximize your crop without wasting any space or food, he also tells you what order to plant things in so that you can harvest from spring to the beginning of winter; can you imagine getting fruits and vegetables for 3 seasons of the year?

So, I will be starting a garden this spring and I will definitely be using the SFG method because it is the best method that I have found. To do a single row traditional garden would be a mistake in my opinion, after reading this book I can see the many flaws in that technique.

I will be taking pictures of my garden from beginning to end; now I just have to wait for this snow to disappear so I can get started! I am excited to do this garden as a family project; we are all four going to build, plant, work and harvest the garden together. We will be using the garden as one of our homeschooling projects and I think it will mean a lot to the kids to follow something like this from beginning to end.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is going to start a garden and really if you already have a garden but you would like to improve your crops or your garden output. There are so many useful tips and tricks in this book, it is the ultimate gardeners handbook and every gardener should own it! 

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/product/all-new-square-foot-gardening