I have a copy of Cubed Foot Gardening and I like it very much. Actually, I like it much better than Square Foot Gardening, which I think uses glossy production to make up for a lack of information. It also doesn't have the annoying tone of Mel Bartholomew's book. It's conversational, straightforward and supplies a lot of good information on the plants you're most likely to grow, germination time, average first and last frosts, etc. With regards to pesticides, the general philosophy is that you may or may not use pesticides according to your preference. The reviewer above likes to imply that this is unconscionable, but offers no proof to support his/her allegations about pesticides. It should be noted that some organic pesticides, like Rotenone are just as nasty as some synthetics. Likewise with the pressure treated wood. As a point of fact, the author does *not* use pressure treated wood, stating that regular wood is cheaper, lighter and pressure treated doesn't offer any significant advantages. This is mostly a moot point, since CCA wood is no longer widely available. To sum up, I'm not sure why the first reviewer hates this book so much. It's got a lot of valuable information and it's concise. Is it the greatest gardening book ever? No, but it's a solid introductory book. Do I like it better than Square Foot Gardening? Very much. Do I know why the first reviewer feels so wounded by Christopher Bird? No idea.

Hi Nurseinob 5, I asked a similiar question very recently"seasonal addition of compost".I received many helpful suggestions. I think I may add 'Soil Building Compost' by Miracle Gro. Supposedly it is supposed to be made up of 5 different composts. I may or may not also add some additional Mels Mix. As to the strawberries: I have a raised bed of store bought compost only. (forget what brand). I found that it got very hard after the first couple of rains and I had to mix in a small amount of finer conpost with my fingers around the plants.. The original compost had an awful lot of forest products with a lot of twiggy material. Each spring I add some composted steer manure around the plants. (maybe about an inch). It seems to work quite well. I think the rains cause it to procuce a compost tea kind of thing. Other than the addition of the composted steer manure, I don't worry about adding anything to fill the shrinkage. Usually a strawberry bed is good for only 3 or 4 years then a person has to replant. So I just wait until then to bring the bed level up to manimum. You may be able to get more years out of your strawberry bed by removing the old plants and nutureing the off shoot plants. I am no way near an expert, but that seems to work for me. Ater a year or two you may be the expert to inform the rest of us. (So don't forget us) :-)

I agree with rj - rotation just isn't applicable if you are using Sq. Foot gardening. One of the underlying principles of that approach is that it eliminates the need for rotation - if indeed there is one. And as others have already pointed out, while it may play a role in large farm or commercial production, it doesn't in the home garden for most simply because the average home garden isn't large enough. There are indeed many discussions on this issue over on the Soil & Compost forum as well as the Vegetable Gardening forum that a search will pull up if you will search 'crop rotation'. And the consistent recommendation is annual (or more often) additions of good compost. The beneficial fungi and bacteria in quality compost have been proven time and time again to be most effective at controlling, and even eliminating pathogens in the soil. You, in effect rotate the soil, not the plants. Since SQ. Foot gardens (which do have a forum here so check out this discussion on it from that forum) are composed of 1/3 compost of high quality and peat and not dirt (assuming they are true SQ. Ft.) rotation is a non-issue according to Mel. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Crop rotation discussions

Elizabeth, it is very challenging to get a garden of any size started in a new construction development where to our summer humidity, add umpteen sprinklers going to establish new lawns. The other issue is stagnant air that favors the growth of mildew from the ground moisture of the recent rains evaporating in the heat. My garden is situated close to the house so I can run oscillating fans to move and evaporate the moist air and deal with the overnight ozone attack to tomatoes, cukes and eggplant. Square foot gardening may not be your best choice of gardening methods until you take the time to build some seriously superior soils for this climate. Generally, at this time of year in this area veg gardeners are planting their fall crops, from mid-August onward. Deer ( I have a whole herd of does and fawns and a sixpack of bucks of varying ages) must be deterred by tall netting around your garden that is staked down to keep out not just rabbits but also turtles. You're asking a lot from new construction soils by planting a full garden so soon. Put some fall crop plants in large, wide and deep containers with bamboo stakes around the edges where you hang half inch grid bird netting. If your plant choices are not dependent upon flowering or pollinators, close the net over the top. For lettuces, beets/carrots, broccoli and other cole crops I cage them with old window screens to keep the critters plus the cabbage looper butterflies out. You'll have success with that while you work to build the soil in a larger more open garden area for your tomatoes, melons and squash next year. The other thing that really impacted gardens this year was the degree of chlorination Meck Cty had to add to the water supply this hot summer. Invest in some rainbarrels (and mosquito dunks) soon so you can catch and store better water for your plants. Start making compost from rotting wood (branches and twigs you pulverize), lawn clippings and fall leaves (preferably maple and poplar). Throw your old garden plants and dead potted plants and their soils in there. There's a forum here devoted to compost for all your questions. It's not pretty in a new construction neighborhood (a compost pile or container) and the tendency is to hide it from view. It needs sun, moisture, circulating air and tending to aerate it or it becomes anaerobic and kills off the good microbes that break it down into a rich soil amendment.