This is my first year SFG-ing and I couldn't be more pleased with the results!

My garden is amazing with minimal upkeep compared to a "regular" garden.

I used Mel's mix, a little heavy on the compost, and it is doing wonderful so far! My tomatoes and corn are taller than me and everything is thriving better than any other garden I've ever had before...and the weeding!!! It's awesome! What little weeding I have to do is quick, simple and easy. No more hoeing up rows of weeds like before!

I would (and do) recommend this method of gardening to anyone and everyone. I was a little skeptical at first, but now I'm sold 100%.

It sure does. I don't have any pictures up yet (maybe I'll be able to add some this evening). To be honest, I feel, as I think many others do, that 6 inches is the shallow end for soil depth. I used either 2x8 lumber, which is actually 7.5 inches wide, and I have about 7 inches of soil inside (it settled, but since most of my plants wouldn't like a sudden increase in soil depth I'm waiting to the fall or spring to "top it up".

The compost is probably the most important part of the mix, I would say that for healthy, happy, plants getting the mix of different kinds of compost he talks about in his book is perhaps the most important thing. You may need to suppliment your garden with fish emulshion or some liquid fertilizer for extra nitrogen depending on the initial state of your compost (my parents have a SFG bed nearly identical to mine, but their compost was a bit better/more varied, compost, and their stuff has done better than mine without extra fertilizer. (Or it could all be because they are in a different "micro-climate" closer to the coast.)

There are some other big advantages, too, with the weed cloth and the Mel's Mix I have had lots less weeding to do than ever before (incuding my days with the original SFG book, where you dug in and "ammended" your soil rather than building a raised bed). The mint patch that takes over my flower garden as the tulips die back in the spring is also, so far, not invading my SFG bed, and it would alredy have been a huge problem if I had dug into the ground instead). For that matter, I have my garden above a huge block of concrete that used to be the footing for an outdoor lamp (it broke off shortly after the house was bough... ;) which was way too big/heavy for me to lever out of the ground (and I'm pretty sure that the cost of renting or hiring someone to use something powerfull enough to remove it would have built me several raised beds...)

So, I've experienced lots of benefits from SFG, and find it works well. If you look through this forum you can find lots of pictures of other people's SFGs, not everyone is having good luck with everything, but you can see lots of things being grown successfully.

I use Mel's mix in 8" tall raised beds with the mix height in the 4-7" range depending. The beds are open on the bottom so the soil below can be used by roots.

I am not only completely happy with garden performance, but I am happier with the SFG method than I have ever been in the past 'working the soil'.

The only thing I do differently is I add a little nitrogen for the plants, but no other nutrients other than what the compost provides.

Our soil was terrible. This has made it perfect.

For us, well worth the expense. If your soil is near perfect, I would just make raised beds and fill them with what you have.

Thank you all so much for the responses! I really appreciate it.

I currently do container gardening and want to expand. I got the last of the 3 shrub roots up today and will have hubby start on the boxes and trellis. Hopefully I will have pics after I start planting in August :)

Thanks again :)

Kristie