Square foot gardening for dummies
Or dummy. And that dummy would be me. I have one more coat to go on the new planter boxes my in-laws bought us for Christmas. They are a yummy Barn Red stain from Home Depot, and yes, I will post before and after pics, including the before and after pics of our backyard’s middle terrace, aka “the eyesore.” (The post is a couple weeks out due to a freshly dug sandbox but no sand…yet.)
My dad is rocking the whole square foot gardening thing, but he lives in California and can only do so much via cell phone and email. Sari, one of my favorite blogging friends, is coming over Friday to help me plan out the goodies I’ll be planting in those barn red boxes. But I’d love to hear what you love planting in your garden, be it in raised beds, square foot plots or full-on furrows.
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Image by Downing Street, shared via Flickr.
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I’m thinking a salsa garden for sure, plus some cilantro, basil and rosemary (for pico de gallo, tomato mozzarella salad and buttered rosemary rolls). I may even throw in some lavender after drooling over Nicolesy‘s Lavender Crusted Rack of Lamb. Of course I need to plant zucchini for zucchini bread and zucchini brownies. Maybe we’ll even get around to eating my fave farmers market zucchini salad…if there’s any leftover after the bread and brownies, of course.
So what else should I throw in the gardening mix? Yellow squash? Peas? String beans? Oh, and if it’s hardy, even better—my green thumb is more Crayola Yellow Green than Pine. And if you have any tips and/or tricks for newbies like me, do share. I’d like my mind as fertile as possible when I hit Home Depot on Friday!
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I killed the pansies in my window boxes. I will not be offering any advice.
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Emily Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 8:26 am
I’m pretty sure I’ll kill most of what’s in my boxes, so you and I can console each other.
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I’m planting tomatoes, watermelon, cantelope, lettuce (I HIGHLY recommend lettuce), cucumbers, broccoli, pumpkins and zucchini. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having a garden! I was hugely pregnant then in the hospital last year so I’m SO excited to be able to plant this year!! Good Luck! I think people over think things, my philosophy is just plant it, water it and control the weeds, and so far its worked pretty well…….
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Emily Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 8:27 am
I like your philosophy! And I think I need to add cucumbers, lettuce and watermelon to the mix! Hope I have enough room for it all!
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I’m so excited! This is going to be fun! Possibly disastrous with me “helping”, but a fun disastrous! And maybe I’ll even talk you into canning some stuff from your garden. It’s only a matter of time before I bring you over to the dark side. ;o)
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Emily Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Can’t wait! I do freezer jam…is that close? ;)
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I like the idea of canning stuff…I can’t keep anything alive so I would probably just go to the farmer’s market to buy all the fresh veggies…
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Emily Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
Love the farmers market! We should have a farmers market girls’ day out!
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Keep it simple, only a few hardy items that your family will actually eat, so you won’t get discouraged. I make sure we have plenty of zucchini so mom can make her famous zucchini bread. We should have some for your trip in August! Oh, and did I mention to start early, like in late April. Sorry, forgot, Utah had snow in June!
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Emily Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
I know, starting early would have been better, but apparently I can still do it as long as I buy small plants rather than seeds. Wish me luck! Maybe we’ll have fresh salsa when you come out in September!
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Dad Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Absolutely! Starting with small plants cuts off about 4- 6 weeks from growing time and you get immediate gratification instead of waiting around for the first green thing to pop up.
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Emily Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Usually the first green thing to pop up around here is a snotty nose! That or mold on some mystery meat in the fridge…
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I am so glad someone else doesn’t have their garden planted yet! I am trying to put in my boxes this week as well…I need some pointers too – so share away!
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Emily Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
We are twinners! :)
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I planted cherry tomatoes in my backyard 3 weeks ago but they are not in good shape . I am envious on the cherry tomato on the picture .
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Emily Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
I am envious too–I doubt my tomatoes will even come close!
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Lettuce is super easy and quick so, it will give you some semi-immediate satisfaction:-)
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Emily Reply:
June 15th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
I like semi-immediate satisfaction. Lettuce it is!
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Good luck! We don’t have a yard but we planted carrots and lettuce on our front porch in containers this year. The carrots aren’t working out because we didn’t give them much room, but the lettuce is delicious! It’s so fun to go outside at dinner time, snip off a few leaves and eat fresh salad minutes later. I have no idea how to garden so I’m so excited that at least one thing has turned out. We’re going to try tomatoes and basil next. Cross your fingers for me and I’ll cross my fingers for you!
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Emily Reply:
June 16th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
Crossing everything here! I can’t wait to try lettuce–I love the idea of snipping off what you need when you need it. Tomatoes and basil are musts in a garden (and for fresh tomato mozzarella salad). :)
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