My Garden in Early Summer 2005
Building the Garden

I use several different methods in building my garden. The main square foot area is pretty much the way most square foot gardeners construct theirs when they use wooden edges and raised planting areas; an additional method I use involves a series of pits filled with the planting medium.

Building the wooden squares:

The one thing I like to do differently is to adjust the length of the four sides to that the four-foot by four-foot square is actually the interior dimension, giving me a true 16 square foot planting area.

When I make the beds out of 2x8 or 2x10 inch boards (actually about 1 and 1/2 inches thick), I allow for an addtional 3 inches per side. I cut the boards 51 inches long and pre-drill holes (3 per corner), then use 2 and 1/2 inch wood screws to connect the boards. Click here to see a diagram showing how to connect the boards so that all sides are of equal length. When all four boards are connected, they basically form a walled area, either 8 or 10 inches deep, which will hold the planting medium.

Building the planting pits:

Another method I use is to dig a series of pits in the ground, removing the dirt and filling the pits with the usual planting medium (described in greater detail below, but basically a combination of peat moss, vermiculite and composted manure). This is the method I prefer for the plants that require more room, such as summer squash, melons, and extra tomato plants I can't fit into the square foot area available to me.

This is a modification of the square foot method; I use all the sqare foot concepts, but without the frames and without the square area. For each plant, I dig a pit about 18 inches deep, 2 feet wide and two feet long. I dig these pits in a line unless I'm going to plant melons; in that case I dig them in a grid pattern about 3 feet apart in each direction. This would be impractical for someone to do if there were less space available.

After digging the pits, I fill them with the planting medium (never using the soil removed from the pits), wet it well a couple of days in a row and then put in my transplants or plant my seeds.

Creating the planting medium

This is the basic planting medium mix I like to use (enough for one four-foot by foor-foot square):
One 3 cubic ft. bale of peat moss, 3 medium sized bags of vermiculite (coarse if possible) and 1 large bag of composted (very dry) manure. I never use any actual dirt, clay or sand. Mix together well and soak with water a couple of times before planting in the medium.

Sometimes I like to add a little more to the the basic mix, especially for the heavier feeding plants; these amounts are approximate and I may add all or some of these ingredients before mixing and wetting the mixture:
One bag of ''Miracle Grow'' potting soil, 1 pound of bone meal and 1/2 pound blood meal. I never use any of the existing soil inside the square foot beds.