May 07 2008
Posted by kathryn under Making it Easy, Vegetables
Gardening in a New Direction
Vegetable gardening has always been a challenge around our home. The garden always starts great. Hours go in to tilling and preparing the soil. Sore muscles are created when the rows are laid out. And plenty of money is spent seeding each and every row.
The first couple of weeks usually go well. The weeds get hoed out of the garden and the seedlings get watered regularly. The garden is tended with love and concern.
Then the summer heat arrives.
The weeds over take the plants, the ants hide under the weeds and the vegetables rot on the vine because no one will risk their life to get them.
This year we are experimenting with a square foot garden. It takes less energy to prepare, less seeds to plant and less time to maintain. We have built up three 4 x 4 beds. Each one of the beds has been divided into a grid with the spaces 1ft x 1ft.
We have lettuce, carrots, radishes, a squash plant, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, some herbs, and cabbage all planted in the small space. There are plenty of seeds left over for future planting (and we keep them viable by storing them in the refrigerator).
Today we spent a grand total of 10 minutes watering and weeding all of our vegetable garden. I think that even with the heat of summer this is something that can be managed. It looks like the square foot garden is one that is going to stay.