Square foot gardening has been on my radar only slightly less time than any other type of gardening. Until the last couple of years, I had not the time, space, or energy to plant a vegetable garden of any kind, square foot gardening or no. My gardening efforts were limited to a few ornamental flowers in the foot-wide bed outside our front window. Recently, the desire to plant a vegetable garden has been a more feasible goal as I have more space and time for my home and garden. I’ve seen several square foot gardening examples, including my mom’s; she’s very experienced with vegetable gardens, has had success square foot gardening. I’ve been excited all winter to try it in my own garden.
The idea of square foot gardening appeals to me for many reasons, but maybe the biggest in my mind is that a more compact vegetable garden equals less square feet of potential weed terrain. My gardens have not performed to their potential in the past, largely because after I plant, I lose steam and the time I spend working in the garden just isn’t enough to keep up with the weeds. Square foot gardening, maybe in a raised square foot garden, sounds fantastic – less weed potential on two accounts that way!
The compact soil use in square foot gardening appeals to me for reasons beyond the weed factor. I like the idea of efficiency, and by planting somewhere around 16 different vegetable varieties in a 16-square-foot space, square foot gardening gives us the epitome of garden efficiency. Not only is garden efficiency a preference, it’s economical. I won’t need as much peat moss or other garden soil prepping products if I’m only planning to grow vegetables in a small area. Now the only problem will be what to do with the extra garden space! I’m thinking a raspberry bush – a delicious square foot gardening bonus.