My Square foot garden project (dial-up warning),

[amerikat]

First off I would like to thank everyone else that posted their garden pics, they were a real inspiration to me.

I have always loved gardening, but for years I have lived in apartments. Last year I bought a house and now have the freedom to garden any way I please. I moved in the winter so the first spring I waited to see what came up. I moved a lot of plants around last year and have some nice flower gardens now. I moved a lot of hostas and planted tulips and daffodils. My real love in flowers are zinnias....more about that later.

I had read a great deal about raised bed gardens which lead me to do some research which led me to square foot gardening. I bought the book and was really impressed with it so I decided to go in that direction. I liked the idea of the efficiency of the method and with compost the lack of chemical fertilizers really intrigued me.

So here is my pictorial of my square foot garden.



Here in upstate NY there are many small lumber mills. I wanted cedar but couldn't get it at a reasonable price, so I settled for Hemlock. One hundred feet of 1x10x10 and 100 feet of 1x10x2 & 1/2 total cost $38. rought sawn.



I trimmed the ends and predrilled the holes for the screws.




Completed box 4'X 10'



The frame needed to be leveled. so I used my favorite gardening tool to remove grass.



I set it in place and put the weed barrier down.



Time to mix to growing medium. A local farmer provided the manure compost. 1 and 1 1/2 cubic yards.


Peat moss was easy to get.

I ordered almost 10 cu/ft of vermiculite, when I opened the bags it was pearlite........oh well to late to reorder. so I used it.

I mixed it buy thirds in my wheel barrow, five gallon buckets of each.

what

I put the mix in the container




I used the 1X2 1/2x 10 to make a frame to keep the local animals away and can cover it in plastic to make a cold frame for next spring. I used galvanized poultry wire . I have planted earely so it can also serve as a hedge against a late frost

amerikat/IMG_2002.jpg

So I have planted a few things.


I hope for a bountiful harvest. It's the new Victory Garden.

I also bought a broken down compost bin.......that's another post and the upside down gardening is also another post..

Happy gardening to all.

[Raven]

1. Wow! Are you organized! Will you come to my house? :-)

[amerikat]

9. Sure.......you are not that far away

What do you need to be done?

[noamnety]

2. Looks great!

You may want to look at glass for the coldframe instead of plastic film. The thermal properties (heat retention) are very different.

"In Europe, low density polyethylene (LDPE) has a number of advantages, including cheapness, availability in large sheets, high light transmission and light weight, but it has also important disadvantages. It is short-lived (2-3 years at most) and has poor heat retention, allowing some 60-80% of radiant heat (mid infrared) to pass through.

As one of the main requirements of plastic films in Europe is low transmission of radiant heat, this is a major defect, as any heat generated under the film by the action of sunlight on plants or soil will be rapidly lost through the film at night."

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:1WtZeMDYBFcJ:www.agnet.org/library/eb/331/+cold+frame+glass+plastic+%22thermal+properties%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us

[hippywife]

3. We're buying old

shower doors and windows we find on craigslist for cold frames. But according to Eliot Coleman "The Four Season Garden" the plastic will work fine. He says that the whole idea is to keep the plants insulated from the extreme changes of temperature and wind. :hi:

[noamnety]

6. The reason I bring it up

is that the husband here is an optics/infrared engineer, and he tried to convince me there was a huge difference. I was resistant because I see people using plastic. I built plastic domes over my veggies. I made him stick his arm inside the dome so he could feel for himself how much warmer it was. He took out his radiometer and made me look at the readings - the plastic was completely transparent in the infrared spectrum. Shooting it at the sky through the roof of my dome, the temperature was freezing even though the local air temp was in the 50's or 60's, warmer yet in my dome.

Then we had a light frost (just a degree or two below freezing) and I lost my squash seedlings. I learned to mulch right over the tops of the seedlings as if the plastic wasn't there, because by morning when frost hits hardest, it may as well not be there.

I'm going to try a cold frame this winter for the first time. Like you, I'm planning to use CL glass sources.

[hippywife]

7. If I recall correctly

I think he did specify the plastic hoop houses were fine in more southerly climes. He grows up in Maine.

[amerikat]

12. I love Maine

it's the most different state in the nation.

[amerikat]

11. I just tried wanted protection from a late frost

It happens in upstate NY.

[hippywife]

15. I hope it worked for you.

I would think that if it's not a heavy frost it would be okay. You might want to check your local library for the book because I'm not sure if it only works for a four season garden in more southern areas.

[amerikat]

10. Thanks for the info

The plastic makes it very light......I can move it myself.

[amerikat]

8. Thanks for the info

I plan on having all my windows replaced with new double pane windows, so i'll have plenty of glass for a better cold frame.

[hippywife]

4. Wow!

You were very precise in building those boxes! They look great. Wishing you a bountiful harvest! :hi:

[amerikat]

13. Thanks

I was born to build. I try to build everything to the best of my abilities.

[Shoelace]

5. nifty victory garden!

wow, that seems like a good price for wood too. Good luck with the garden and please do post pics later on so we see how it does. :applause:

[amerikat]

14. It was a good price

Buy local whenever possible. It's good for the enviroment.