Spring has sprung in Illinois - 5 days of record setting temperatures and no end in sight. And so as is the case every year, my fancy turns to gardening. I'm trying something completely new this year, Square Foot Gardening - a rather revolutionary concept in home gardening - or at least it was when it was first introduced in the 1970s by Mel Bartholomew. He's back with an updated book and we are drinking the Mel kool-aid. The concept is simple - really simple and easy - which appealed to me. You build 4x4 foot boxes, grid them off into 16 squares and plant x number of items per square (depending on how much spacing the plant needs). Last weekend we built 4 boxes and this weekend we filled them and actually planted! I'm crossing my fingers that the weather holds, but we put in the traditional early Spring crops, spinach, shallots, peas, lettuce and strawberries, etc. When they sprout I'll post some pics. It's gonna be a great growing season!
Yay for spring! Did you add these boxes to your regular garden, or substitute?
ReplyDeleteWe're substituting so that these will be the main home garden (arugula and lettuces are already sprouting~!). We also have some big containers for strawberries and other sundry crops. Then we do a 15x6 garden at work. It's pretty exciting seeing things coming up again already - chives, parsley and thyme are back from last year - the mint of course is back and I may have to take drastic measures to contain it. Our little apple tree made it and it flowering -which is totally exciting. I may just have to open my own produce stand!
ReplyDeleteMy guy has planted radishes, onions and potatoes already. This weather is so absolutely fantastic it is making us all nuts.
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