Your stuff really looks great - plants, landscaping, lounging cat, etc. :)

I do not do sfg or raised beds so I will not pretend to be an expert on the subject. But I do have a few observations.

1.) Appears that you have one inch thick dimensional lumber. Will one inch thick dimensional lumber hold up to outward pressure of twelve inches of wet soil or will sidewalls eventually bow outwards? One inch thick boards will also tend to warp/curl outward when the inside surface stays wet and expands and the outside surface stays dry and contracted. What about soil expansion when the soil freezes in winter - will expansion wreck your boxes?

2.) Every sf garden I have ever seen personally, the owner has planted transplants and/or seeded too closely because they are trying to get as much out of the space as possible. This impacts quality of produce obtained. Be sure to follow guidelines on plant labels and seed packages regarding plant spacing to achieve the best results. With your nice beds you should be trying to achieve quality over quantity.

3.) Cabbage for example: Of course it depends on which varieties one plants, but mine can easily take up four square feet (2 foot by 2 foot square) per cabbage plant. Brocs and caulies do not need as much as cabbage but they can still use a lot of space. In the future you may want to go back to planting cabbage, etc. in the main garden to save space. Try bok choi/pak choi in your sfg instead.

4.) Taters look great. I see no problem mixing varieties. They do seem a bit tight regarding plant spacing. Remember to acquire your seed potatoes early and simply store them yourself if need be until you are ready to plant them out.

5.) Regarding celery: All veggies are cheaper to buy, that really is not the point. Celery, like all your homegrown veggies, tastes much better and stronger when grown in your own garden and picked at the proper time. Store-bought celery is almost tasteless, so you will be in for a pleasant surprise when you harvest your own. Plus yours will not be harvested when still immature, and will not be bathed in chemicals and preservatives. The celery is great for canning, and the leaves are great for drying.

6.) Eggplant is great but it is an acquired taste - look for wonderful recipes on the web. Did not like it as a kid, has never been a favorite of mine as an adult, but it has grown on me and I keep planting more and more each year. This year I planted 24 plants consisting of six different varieties.

7.) Do not forget green/bunching onions. They would do great in your sfg. A few kohlrabi as well, if you like them. Trellis cukes and grow pole beans in main garden to save space - go vertical when you can. You could even put in a trellis or two in the back of some of your sfg beds, but they may ruin the nice clean appearance you have.

8.) Watch the watering - do not overwater the raised beds. Let surface dry between waterings and if you are, DO NOT use lawn sprinkling system to water the raised beds - that is too much water for veggies plus constantly getting foliage wet will foster disease/pest problems.

9.) Take notes about your observations and your successes and failures. This can take discipline and may seem silly at first but you will not regret it next winter when you are planning your layouts for next season. You do not need to write a novel - just some quick notes will be good enough. Your photos can be a great reference as well.

10.) Your last picture showing all the beds is a wonderful picture! Take pictures from the same position several times over the season to see the changes that take place.

Nice work! Good luck and happy gardening.
-Tom

Love your pictures of the sqft gardening! Where in the twin cities are you? I'm in the west metro and have built up some boxes for sqft gardening. (Actually, my hubby built them.) I grew a variety of vegetables in them (tomatoes, eggplant, beets, carrots, cukes, zuchinni, thai basil, sweet basil, chives, lettuce, arugula, etc... I like the neatness of having the boxes, but find that they don't work too well for large plants like tomatoes and zuchinni and cukes.

This is the 4th summer and I've made some changes. I have 3 boxes (4x10). The first 2 boxes has peppers (both hot and sweet), onions, herbs, celery, chard. The 2nd box is completely devoted to asparagus. I have tomatoes on the ground in a much larger spot. Basically, I only grow vegetables in the sqft gardening that I can control the plant size by harvesting the leaves to eat (e.g. lettuce, basil, chard). Otherwise, the bed gets way too overgrown and I can't reach to the middle!

Hi, i am in north branch. So far very happy except for the cabbage. Way too big (much bigger than this picture) and now I think I have cabbage worms chewing the leaves so it really needs a net over it. Same for the strawberries. From what I have read, it would be one tomato per 4x4 bed. and cukes etc would need to be trellised with other plants in front. My brother is also doing some sfg but in bigger boxes, i think like yours. I am eager to see his and compare. Would like very much to see a picture of yours. I am hoping to add more boxes for next year.

thanks for the compliment.

stay dry and happy gardening

Jodi

soilent_green, love your ideas about taking multiple pictures AND the note taking. I am a bit of a statistics and trends enthusiast when it comes to stuff like this.

The beds look great! I also think there could be a moisture problem when it comes to the 1inch board, could you possibly use a bit of plastic sheeting as a barrier inbetween the moist soil and the wood surface?