Congratulations John! Sounds like a pretty good year for ya. I agree about the spacing of some veggies being too congested. I will make only a few changes to the spacing that I used this summer. I'll post my numbers after the removal of plants this coming weekend. The weeding was unbelievable! I'm not exaggerating, when I say that since the end of April - I've only picked enough weeds to fill a pill bottle...that's it! 136 squares, and only that many weeds. I love it.....It will be much more productive next season....I promise.

EG

I'm an SFG wannabe, and I came to this forum to get real-life experiences. What I've gotten so far is so much more than that...belly laughs being one of the fringe benefits!

I really appreciate this info, especially about the congestion issue.

Being new to vegetable gardening, it's not clear to me what might be giving the broc, cabbage and cauliflower the problems you (John) describe. Do you think that the 6" is too shallow for some of the larger veggies?

I'm VERY excited about the low volume of weeds. So did you put the weed fabric down as described in the book?

Do tell! :)

Great post John! I am new to SFG too so it is nice to see that information. I did notice that some of my roots spread quite wide so far and may adjust some spacing. Also, I'm glad that I went 12" deep because my corn is barely standing after the storms this week and I don't think it would have held in 6". The rest of the stuff I have to wait for since my season is just beginning.
I haven't had very many weeds to pull, but not ever having a normal garden I cannot compare.

ok guys, so how deep would you build your beds, and how wide would you actually make your "sf" as in would you make one sq actually 1 1/2' versus 1'. and how many plants would you actually put in each square? and on the peas and such how many would you actually put in? now i'm thinking of moving my asparagus to their own bed, how deep of a bed and how wide would you make that and when would you move them? sorry but i just thought of that one. i was wondering about all of the things, because i haven't made the "real" bed yet. and i know how my plants are in their little pots, some are 4" and some are 6" . ~Medo

Hi John! I am a new SFG gardener as well. I have had a few ups and downs, but for the most part...I LOVE my garden. I posted 17 videos on You Tube..."Donna's Square Foot Garden", and have found this to be a great way to share information and get help. Keep up the good work!

John, I certainly agree that some plants need further spacing than Mel's guides give. I would never plant a zucchini (or any summer squash) in my sfg. I only have one zucchini and one crookneck, and together they are spreading over an 8'x8' area. I'd also give more space to most of the cole crops and tomatoes. The spacing seems to work very well with root crops and greens, and I would imagine potatoes, although I've never tried them in an sfg. My closely planted bell peppers are not producing well, but the ones that have been given more room are loaded. My bush beans, planted the sfg way, are beautiful, as are the bush cucumbers (trellised). I call myself a Square Foot Victory Intensive gardener, because I tend to take a bit of wisdom from each method *g*.

By the way, you have done a marvelous job with your gardens this year. I always enjoy seeing your photos.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Being new to vegetable gardening, it's not clear to me what might be giving the broc, cabbage and cauliflower the problems you (John) describe. Do you think that the 6" is too shallow for some of the larger veggies?
My depth is about 8ins but 6ins should be good. The problem is over crowding.

I'm VERY excited about the low volume of weeds. So did you put the weed fabric down as described in the book?
I used newspaper and/or cardboard with 4ins of wood chips in the pathways and about 3ins of compost mulch on the beds.

Next year I plan to use the recommended plant spacing on the back of the seed envelope. The row-to-row spacing is based on cultivation access, which is NA to SFGs so that spacing will be the same as the plant-to-plant spacing.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

John - i'd like to comment on the ever-present questions about soil depth, I hope you don't mind. I honestly feel that 6" of soil is adequate for most plants, but certainly deeper would be better. I think that alot of the people's problems are arising because of the materials used in bed construction. Lumber that is listed as 2x6 or 1x6, is actually not 6" wide. It's only 5-1/2". Add another 1/2 to 1" of settling of soil to that number, and realistically - the plants are sitting in 4-1/2 to 5" of soil. That's why I went to a small family-owned sawmill, and told them I needed 1x8's that actually measure a full 1"x 8". Of course, I filled the bed to the top, but after a few waterings - it settled to probably 6-1/2" to 7" deep.
EG

You are correct, EG. I filled mine to the top, which was 11 inches deep (doubled 2x6s), and the beds have settled 3-4 inches so I'm now gardening in 7-8 inch deep soil. My mesclun bed was 5 1/2" deep, it is now at about 3". That's why I'm so insistant about using the double layer of 2x6s in my beds. Even though shallower, in my case, probably won't be harmful in the future. As the sod beneath the beds decomposes my plants can easily grow in the rich, sandy loam beneath the beds. My main concern is the area where the large maple tree was removed, where there are still large roots and matted roots throughout.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

I think I will give my assessment as well, as I am also a sfg newbie. Even though I got a late start on planting, I still feel that I did very well on some veggies.
Of course the corn failed, but the roots were very good, and the ears were starting to fill out. I will definitely give it one more shot next year.
My 6 tom plants produced 68 red tomatoes, and had 53 green ones on the vines when they were extracted from the garden. I laid the vines out in the yard to measure their total growth, and each one was right at 8 ft. Not bad for 6 to 7" of mel's mix. Each plant was given 2 sft of space, against a trellis. Overall, I was very pleased with the toms.

Cucumbers were spaced 2/sft, 8 plants total- and were grown on a 6-1/2 ft trellis, 4ft wide. This worked very well, and I got 105 total - before pulling the still- productive vines. I will plant twice as many next year. Pulling the plants early was a tough decision.

Okra was spaced 1/sqft - 20 total, and produced 225 pods, before pulling them. I feel 20 plants was adequate for my family's needs. They had grown to 6-1/2 ft tall before pulling the plants. This definitely was a tough decision.

Zucchini was spaced 1/2sqft - 4 total, and only produced 7 fruit. That's it! (Obvious drainage problem)

Yellow squash was spaced 1/2sqft - 4 total, and produced 57. This made me very happy! I really like this spacing....I intend to do the same next year, but will let the plants grow up into upside down tomato cages. That should help them grow up- not out.

Hot peppers were spaced 1/sqft - 8 total. I will not grow these again. They did fine, but we just don't use many of them for our own use. After picking about a quart, I simply gave the rest away.

Bell peppers, watermelons, cantaloupes, and winter squash will be allowed to grow for as long as they take. Bell peppers are doing ok, fruit set on melons is around 12 each. I really love these growing on the trellises. The timing on the winter squash is very questionable.

I tried some beans and cherry toms in containers- that did not do well at all. These will be placed into the main garden next year.

In closure, I'd like to state that this method is absolutely amazing, and I will continue to use it for the rest of my life. It was the answer to all of my gardening problems, and i've never grown this many different vegetables at once.

EG

EG, about those tomatoes. Remember how we laughed about the tomato plant that was beaten down with a broom and how it began ripening? Well, I'm beginning to think it works. I have three plants, all from the same pack, within a few feet of each other. The one in the middle was smashed down pretty badly when the maple tree fell on it, the others escaped damage. Guess which one is producing ripe tomatoes like mad. The other two have each given me just a few, about the same amount from each of them. The smashed one isn't pretty, but all those RIPE tomatoes on it sure are.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Granny - that's unbelievable about the toms! Although the toms did great in the garden, I will plant them in earthtainers next year. I think the results will be even better, and it'll allow me to grow more varieties of veggies in the main box - against those trellises. I truly love this garden, and method.

EG

Thanks so much for the great info, John and others. Great thread.

~Angela