Square foot gardening.

[Samurailord]

Hi Jay, welcome to the vine.

You can still plant loads of stuff, radish, lettuce and other salad leaves, turnips, spinach, spring onions, carrots, beetroot, herbs, after the summer heat has gone you can also get some oriental greens such as Pak Choi in too.

Whatever soil you have, make sure it is free from stones and full of organic material such as well rotted manure and/or compost. You also need to make sure that you have got out as many of the weeds as possible to give your own plants the best possible start.

On my You Tube channel I have a video titled 'Square Foot Gardening' where I started off a square foot bed in August last year, so you are definitely not too late

Andy

[Jay22]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this gardening thing so hoping to get some advice. I'm interested in this square foot gardening topic as I thought it would be an easy intro to vegetable gardening. Is it too late for veg this year or are there still things I could try out? Have just built my first raised bed 3x4, I have 2, any suggestions on soil type? Thanks to eveyone in advance for any answers to my many questions!

[Tadpole123]

Thanks Bigmally, I haven't got any turnips sown yet, so that's where a few are going

[Bigmallly]

How about some Beetroot, Turnip, Onion Sets.

[Tadpole123]

What can I put in between my winter planted garlic? I've got all the radishes and lettuce I can use.
There's about 5" between the stems. I wondered if some dwarf peas till mangetout stage might be ready before the garlic needs harvesting would work? or if you've got any ideas I'd be pleased to hear them as the empty spaces bug me.

[Kristen]

The variety I have bought is Red Ruth

Sown now should be ready for harvest in August. Not that much you can plant in behind it then ... dunno if you could squeeze in some Spuds for harvest as New Potatoes for XMas?

[The Goatreich]

Great, that's really helpful thanks.

The variety I have bought is Red Ruth. I'm wondering now whether to replace the cabbage square with a second sprouting broccoli and maybe just plant some cabbages in pots.

[Bigmallly]

Good info....................

[Kristen]

Perhaps if the cabbage is a reasonably quick grower I can use the same square for other things once it's harvested.

Depends on the type of Cabbage, but usually they are a long season crop, as is Sprouting Broccoli

Other thing to consider is having enough plants to get a meal. One Sprouting Broccoli plant, for example, will give you Broccoli over a number of weeks, but usually only a tiny amount at each "harvest", so it helps to have several plants to get enough at each harvest to make an accompaniment for a meal for two (or more even!)

Here are come variety comparison charts from Moles Seeds. Doesn't matter if you are growing any of these specific varieties, as it gives an indication for sow-to-harvest time

Ballhead:


Red / Winter / Savoy:


Moles Seeds - Conventional vegetables: Cabbage

[The Goatreich]

Yeah that is a very good point. Hmm. I did get a bit excited and just ordered a load of seeds for the plan I set out above. Perhaps if the cabbage is a reasonably quick grower I can use the same square for other things once it's harvested.

Thanks for the info, I can't wait to get this going

[Bigmallly]

It's all personal preference. There is nothing wrong with growing a cabbage in a square but if you are limited for space then you have to weigh up how many potential meals will you get out of one square.

[The Goatreich]

I did wonder that when I put in the cabbage, and that's the reason I went for sprouting broccoli over the usual.
Would you suggest a different setup? Perhaps something instead of the brassicas altogether?

[Bigmallly]

Of course it makes sense to net them all together, however you are only gonna get one plant per square. I just think they could be put to better use.

[The Goatreich]

When I get my second bed setup I will likely keep this one for a winter brassica bed. As it is, I've placed all the brassicas together so that I can put a netted frame over 4 squares they are in. Does that sounds at all sensible?
I'm not sure how easy it is to train pumpkin, squash and courgette up a trellis either but there's only one way to find out.

[Bigmallly]

Personally I would have a dedicated bed for Brassicas then you can net the whole bed. I suppose it all depends on space available.