The premise of the book is rather simple. By creating a 4'X4' box with an ideal soil mixture of compost, vermiculite, and peat moss, you can maximize your produce output in a limited amount of space.
Throughout the spring and summer I will provide updates and pictures with how our square foot garden is doing, but first I will review my construction of the square foot garden itself and also provide approximate costs for each process.
The first step was to construct the 4'X4' frame. There were some leftover boards in our attic that were there when we moved in, so I cut those to the proper length and screwed them together. Once we selected the location in the yard where the garden would be placed, I dug up the grass and weeds from that area. I lined the bottom of the frame with Weed Block and tacked it into the ground with plastic fabric pegs. The finished result can be seen here.
The costs for this step were: Wood = FREE! Weed Block = $13, Fabric Pegs = $5.
The next step was the soil mixture. Bartholomew recommends what he call "Mel's Mix" which is 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 vermiculite. He recommends a mixture of 5 different composts, but I was only able to locate four at my local Lowe's Garden Center. The vermiculite was also difficult to locate, but I found some at the local Wilson Brother's Nursery. Here are the ingredients of my Mel's Mix.
The cost of these materials were: Peat Moss = $9, Compost(4 varieties) = $18, Vermiculite = $22.
I then added a wood strip grid to the 4'X4' frame to mark the individual square feet. The cost of the strips were about $5.
Yesterday my son and I planted the seeds directly into the soil. We did not start any seeding indoors, so we'll see what happens. We planted cantaloupe, watermelon, two varieties of tomatoes, broccoli, and cucumbers. We have also started our own compost pile and look forward to the arrival of our recently ordered compost bin.
