Just got off of Mel's site and the the pyramid square foot gardens rock. Got a stack of leftover wood from a remodel and was wondering what to do with it. I'm going to put a half one in front by the entry for flowers, two half ones in the back against a fence for tomatoes and beans, and a full one or two around. Then some raised squares where between my workshop and the fence. The sun beats plants to death here in Texas, so I'm going to put that cloth you see at Walmart between the workshop and fence over the raised squares to keep the sun from scorching all my plants. It will keep birds and squirrels out too. I may have to trap a possum that waters at my water feature. I'm going to hang strong shelf brackets on the fence posts for hanging tomatoes.
However, my mental image of one is a garden plot 1 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft deep. My concern, after trying to grow plants inside large flower pots with about the same amount of dirt inside, is this.
It's very difficult to keep the right amount of moisture on the plant's root system. The soil must "breathe." By that, I mean water should drain through the soil by having a hole at the container bottom for excess moisture to leave.
Secondly, do not set the foot garden on concrete. Heat from the concrete will dry the dirt from the bottom up faster than you can keep it watered. Setting it on the ground on loose gravel would be ideal, which allows better drainage.
Plants love sunlight. However, most people don't understand that plant buds are set on plants based upon the number of hours of darkness. That is why greenhouses use timers to "force" some flowers to bloom out of season. This I learned while working in a commercial greenhouse many years ago.
Don't forget to use the best quality of dirt possible. Mix it with the proper amount of fertilizer, usually with an analysis if 10-10-10. Garden fertilizer is low in nitrogen as compared to that used for lawns.
Some are going to have herbs in them. Some flowers. A lot of small veggies like asparagus. Butter lettuce. Also, an earthworm farm, OX. Every where I dig there are earthworms. Those red wigglers. Been working on my upside down tomatoes for fall . I'm mounting nice steel closet shelf brackets for them to the four by four fence posts.
I don't know if rhubarb can be grown in Texas, but my grandfather's yard had rhubarb down the fences, looks like a hosta, or loose leaf lettuce, and the young stalks are delious. We all were busy in the spring, cutting the asparagus that grew wild all over his yard, and the stuff that grew from under the rhubarb would stay white all the way up till it cleared the leafs. It doesn't change the taste at all, but they grew well together. just a thought.
can produce fantastic results. There are a number of books on the subject. Also, seperate sq. ft. setups are easy to move indoors and outdoors as the climate dictates. In spring it is good to move indoors at night and then outdoors in the daytime to acclimate your early plants.
This is a real winner here in the Texas Panhandle where we get a lot of weather variation in spring and early summer.
Good gardening and I would wish you luck but if you study and do it right you won't need me wishing you luck.
Also, crazy as it sounds a friend at work hung two of the upside down
tomato growers on his front porch and can hardly give away all his tomatoes.
I like those pyramid shaped ones, Got make to them classy for the suburbs. Rhubarb is a good idea, it is very nutritious. That and carrots will take some deep dirt. I have a five gallon bucket full of earth worms and dirt. I'll put them back out into the beds. Where's that spinning reel?
OK, I have four 2x3 boxes made.Been using 12' wide shelf board out of pine. I've put them on 1' x 2' bases too keep them off the ground. We have coons and possums around at night. The best thing I've found is Mel's Mix. 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 compost. I throw in some mushroom compost too. This stuff will grow anything bigger. I have 12 tomatoes, 18 radishes, and two beets plants and the Brussels spouts are breaking the surface. You can grow alot of food in a fall garden.
