After reading up on Square Foot Gardening I learned that ordinary dirt just won't do...they recommended "Mel's mix." Now, Mel's mix consists of 1/3 coarse vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 compost (actually a mixture of 5 different composts). So after a little calling around I was able to find everything I needed at a local nursery and Friday I went to pick it up! I purchased the vermiculite, peat moss, composted cattle manure, composted chicken manure, and an alfalfa/humate blend compost. Okay, so that's only 4 kinds of compost, but close enough! As instructed, we (Jeremy) mixed it all on a large tarp and then we scooped from there to fill our beds. What resulted was some beautiful dirt...if dirt can be beautiful!
It's light, drains well, and is actually brown! (Something you don't find in Oklahoma!)
So now that we have the beds filled with dirt we're ready to start planting! The resident "expert" on Square Foot Gardening at the nursery told me that by using a cloche I should be able to grow lettuce, spinach, and carrots all winter. I'm not too optimistic since from what I've read I'm getting a late start, but it gives me the excuse I needed to dive in and plant something. I'll let you know if anything starts to grow!
Here's the "finished" product. You can see the nice gravel path that Jeremy laid for me, and of course the cloche.
By the way, the cloche is VERY simply constructed. It's just 2 pieces of 1/2 inch PVC pipe and a clear plastic painters drop cloth.
Lookin' good! When would be the best time to start one these??
ReplyDeleteWe built ours now so we would be ready for early spring veggies like spinach and sugar snap peas, but I would think you could start in the spring. Since it doesn't involve digging into the ground I would think you could really do it at any time.
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