Square foot gardening anyone?

[Rookiegardener]

I have a relatively small (ok its tiny) garden space. After leaving space for DS to play I have about 8ft by 4ft of space to grow veg. I thought I might try the square foot method of growing veg to maximise space. Has anyone tried this? Does it really save a lot of space and how did you find the harvest? Does it yield smaller veg?

Thanks in advance

I bought my friend who has a similar size area this book and she's getting on really well following the advice.

Veg in One Bed: How to Grow an Abundance of Food in One Raised Bed, Month by Month https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241376521/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_RTUmFbB939JF5

I’d utilise green wall planter system things for walls and fences too

I've not read the square foot gardening method, but I grow my veg in tubs in a similar sized space, each tub being just over a foot square.

It does make a difference how densely you plant. 4 runner beans, French beans, broad beans gives normal sized plants with a normal crop, putting a few extra in doesn't increase the crop. Purple sprouting, kale need to be one to the pot, else they don't reach the same size. Other things may not work at all - 4 beetroot will give you 4 beets, trying to put 9 in, unless you're lucky, will give you a mixture of beets that have bolted, and beets which are too small and tough to use.

Thanks Angus I've just had a look and think I'll order it too. Never heard of the wall planters before Borders but I have a wall that is perfect for that. Perhaps I could grow some herbs in it.

Mere what you've described is pretty much exactly what square foot gardening is. Even the calculations of 4 beets per pot etc. I'm eager to try it but a little bit sceptical as it just seems too good to be true, especially with bushier plants like tomatoes.

I guess I will give it a go and see what happens

I have a good sized veggie plot but use the square foot method because I always ended up with loads of just one thing and I wanted to add variety. I'm in Australia (so coming to the end of winter season) but currently have:
snow peas, garden (pod) peas, celery, leeks, spring onions, cauliflower, sprouting broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, garlic and baby spinach planted in 3 separate 3x3 ft beds.

I find the yields are good and the planting distances make sure the sizes aren't affected, without ending up with tonnes of veg (although I am getting several handfuls of snow peas every day off just 8 plants - 2 squares)
Highly recommend it for variety space, just make sure you rotate your crops through the seasons

Thanks banana. That's helpful. I think I'm going to go ahead with it and start planning now for spring. Silly question but why would I rotate the plants?

For plants like broccoli, do you not find the leaves branch into the next square? I worry about some plants shading the others or pushing into them.

This is my first year of growing anything and I’ve gone for the square foot method. I have 3 boxes at the moment but plan to add another and maybe even make them larger (but still follow the guidelines in the book) next year.

Mines done pretty well for my first year, at least I think so anyway lol So far I’ve managed to grow, lettuces, onions, peppers, beetroot (not again, yuk) broad beans although they didn’t do well and I’ve now replaced with peas, runner beans, French beans, carrots, spinach, tomatoes and strawberries and still have a few spaces where I’ve planted and something’s eaten it.
The one thing I would do differently next year is to only have one or two tomato plants per box, I’ve got 6 in one and it honestly looks like a jungle, they’re in with the beans and both have grown into each other’s spaces lol plus point though there is loads of tomatoes on the plants, it’s just hard work!

Oh cucumbers too, they’ve done a lot better than I expected as well

Tomatoes work well in hanging baskets as long as you use the ones with a water reservoir. I've seen others do well in the hanging bags. Also strawberries work well in hanging bags. I imagine lettuce / greens would good in the wall pouches, particularly the cut and come again varieties.

@Rookiegardener A link here explaining why you should rotate crops each year 😊🌱

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjf6rfE65frAhUXRBUIHc09C84QFjAJegQIBBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fharvesttotable.com%2Fcrop-rotation-in-small-vegetable-garden%2F&usg=AOvVaw1PijH9geN2JEDjyjsM8eyQ

Drat, that didn't work 🙈

From RHS in a nutshell but I can't make the writing smaller 🤣🤣🤣

The principle of crop rotation is to grow specific groups of vegetables on a different part of the vegetable plot each year. This helps to reduce a build-up of crop-specific pest and disease problems and it organises groups of crops according to their cultivation needs.

🤷‍♀️ when I posted that 'cut and paste' from RHS, the writing was huge but has now reverted to normal size 😊

Thanks all!

Wow feral you've done loads for your first year gardening. I only braved tomatoes this year. Hopefully next year I'll branch out more (pun intended ). Ok I'm definitely giving this a go.

Lol cat you've given me a chuckle. Thanks for the info. That's helpful.

it just seems too good to be true, especially with bushier plants like tomatoes. I grow my tomatoes in the greenhouse, but they're in pots rather than growbags. The pots are probably no more than 10 inches. The plants grow to 3-4 feet high - I have canes running the length of the greenhouse roof to support the bubblewrap in the winter, and I tuck the tomatoes behind those so the grow up from the bench to the roof, and then along the roof.

I've seen it said that crop rotation is of limited use in the garden as far as pests and diseases are concerned as the distances are not great enough - it worked in big country house with huge vegetable gardens, but not in tiny plots where the whole vegetable garden may be only 20ft long. I don't have to worry too much as I refill my pots with garden compost for each new crop.

That's interesting @MereDintofPandiculation. I did the same with tomatoes this year and they grew to 8 feet and about 5 feet wide. I then had to remove them from the pots and plant them outside as my greenhouse is far too small to hold them and they were getting damaged. Maybe it's the variety I grew but they wouldn't do very well in the square foot method as they branch out all over the place (and that's with me actively trying to remove suckers every week)