Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time in the garden pulling up spent plants and weeding the garden boxes.Even though the day time temps have been pretty warm here {mid 70’s} the mornings have been kind of chilly and it’s already starting to feel like fall.
Which is sort of weird for this time of year. It almost makes me think we’re going to have a long and cold winter {which I wouldn’t mind actually, as long as we get snow}.
I ended up planting 5 squares with Valentine Mesclun Lettuce and another 5 squares with Green Arrow Peas for a late fall harvest. Next week I think I’ll plant a few beets in the square foot garden.
If you haven’t started your fall garden yet, be sure and read my post on Fall Vegetables and you’ll be able to find out what I’m planting in my garden this fall.
If you don’t grow kale already, you might want to consider it. Kale is one of the easiest plants on the planet to grow. Seriously, if you’ve never grown anything before, you should be able to grow kale! 😉
And Swiss chard too! Yep, that stuff is easy peasy to grow.
In addition to the Swiss Chard, kale, strawberries, celery, tomatoes, and beets we have growing in our square foot garden, we also have cucumbers starting to appear! We had to replant cucumber seeds a few times because of the evil slugs, but ever since I sprinkled down some Sluggo, I haven’t had a problem. Note to self: put Sluggo on the garden supply list for next year.
Have you ever grown a square foot garden before? Did you like it? Would you do it again?
~Mavis
Read more about my adventures in Square Foot Gardening. Are you thinking about putting together a Square foot garden? See the how I built a square foot garden grid HERE. 
For more information, check out All New Square Foot Gardening. It is an amazon bestseller and the author, Mel Bartholomew is basically the king of square foot gardening.
Lisa says
One of my beds is the traditional “square foot garden.” 4×4, grids, etc. but I did not use Mel’s Mix. So, my results may not be accurate! Did you use Mel’s Mix?
I find it too shallow. It dries out too quickly. Nothing I have tried in it grows as well as in my deeper cinder block, or even recycled neighbor’s gate, bed. Complete failures have been watermelon, chard, lettuce, and bok choy. This year’s pole beans are at least up the poles with small pods, but they are not anywhere near as nice as the deeper soiled bed beans.
What are you using for a pea trellis? I grow Cascadia for shelling and eating in the pod. They have a long 8′ narrow cinder block bed. Here the cinder blocks are only 1 deep, the other, larger bed is 2 blocks deep.
PattyB says
I bought Mel’s book many many years ago and have used this method since. No other. I have found that installing a drip irrigation system and mulching with hay works wonders. It’s almost like “set it and forget it”!
If your garden is too shallow, try raising it up, i.e., instead of using 8×6 boards, use 8×10 boards, or 8×12. You just have to use a lot more growing medium. Also, keep in mind that certain plants hate other plants and don’t want to grow near them. You can Google companion planting.
Diane says
Mavis, Not sure if you got my last message when you mentioned Sluggo last week, but wanted to let you know our vet said Sluggo is toxic to dogs. They are attracted to it and it’s toxic to them.
IrishMum says
Thanks for letting us know Diane! I was going to get it for my garden, but won’t now 🙂
Lisa says
None of my three dogs are the least attracted to Sluggo or Sluggo Plus.
I read that a dog would have to eat a lot of the stuff for it to cause problems. Usages is 1 tsp. per 1 sq. yard (that’s all the 1 lb. per 1,000 sq. feet would be!) or 1/2 tsp. in a 9″ pot.
Used correctly (and that includes monitoring our pets!) there should be no worries.
I use Sluggo Plus for earwigs, which got nearly all my strawberries, and are currently setting up homes inside my peppers. They (I suppose one is the designated entry hole chewer) make a tiny hole and move right in with their earwig families.
If I saw one of my dogs nosing around the area I would quit using it immediately though.
olemike says
YOur garden looks great. What is the type of Kale you plant? I want to use some of the same type.
Mavis Butterfield says
In the square food garden I used dwarf blue curled kale. Here is the link–> http://www.botanicalinterests.com/products/view/3136/Kale-Dwarf-Blue-Curled-Organic-Seeds/srch:kale
Vicki says
I read somewhere if you have trouble with slugs/snails in your garden that you can use crushed egg shells around the plants that they eat, it will stop the problem as they don’t like crawling across that rough surface. I also read that you can put copper pennies around your plants; that when they cross those, they get a bit of an electric current which also prevents their crossing. Both are non toxic and the egg shells are good for your garden. It’s worth a try!
Ann Frisque says
Instead of sing sluggo or any other chemical you might want to try Diamtomaceous Earth, make sure it is food grade as it has no chemicals at all in it and works wonders for all types of bugs.