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Square Foot Gardening

Pics of my first Successful Garden

14 years ago

I started this SFG thing 3 years ago but didn't have much luck do to only about 4 hours of sunlight in the best part of my yard. This year, I moved my Mel's Mix down to a community garden in the middle of downtown. I think my problem was definately the sun as this plot gets 0 minutes of shade a day.

The plot is 4x8 and contains 32 stalks of corn across the back with 32 lousiana purple pole beans growing up them, 9 tomato plants of various types, 6 cucumber plants, 2 sugar baby watermelon plants, 2 jalepenos, 2 bell peppers, 2 pablano peppers, a boxwood basil, 2 sweet basils, parsley, and cilantro.

The plot

[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk312/gmreeves/Garden%202009/DSC00069.jpg[/IMG]

Silver Queen Tassels

[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk312/gmreeves/Garden%202009/DSC00070.jpg[/IMG]

My first ears

[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk312/gmreeves/Garden%202009/DSC00061.jpg[/IMG]

Louisiana Purple Pole Beans on the corn

[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk312/gmreeves/Garden%202009/DSC00068.jpg[/IMG]

Peppers

[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk312/gmreeves/Garden%202009/DSC00063.jpg[/IMG]

Tomatos

[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk312/gmreeves/Garden%202009/DSC00067.jpg[/IMG]

Cucumber blossoms

[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk312/gmreeves/Garden%202009/DSC00073.jpg[/IMG]

Herbs

[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk312/gmreeves/Garden%202009/DSC00064.jpg[/IMG]

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Comments (12)

gmreeves
Original Author
14 years ago
Lets try that again.
lilion
14 years ago
That looks just fabulous! Way to go!!!
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idratherbegardening
14 years ago
Very nice. You should feel good about that garden!
rachel597
14 years ago
Oh my! I am absolutely drooling at your pics. Absolutely beautiful garden. Congrats on your success!

Here is a link that might be useful: GrafixMuse's Garden Spot
engineeredgarden
14 years ago
Cool! That's right by UAB....man...you must've got your corn planted mid-March....

EG
momma_s
14 years ago
Ok, soooo jealous! Everything looks great! Soo biiig, soo greeen... ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: my dinky little bit of green growth
gmreeves
Original Author
14 years ago
Yep. I work right across the street from UAB at the county health department. I stop by the garden on the way to work every morning to do a little "maintenance." I spend about 10 minutes a day mainly looking at my plants but every now and then there is a weed to pull or a sucker to pinch off. I did start my corn mid march. I have never grown corn before but wanted to get a head start if I was going to try and have the beans climb them. Luckily we didn't have any big cold snaps and the corn has been really cool to watch grow. Yesterday was the first day that I noticed the silk. Thanks for everyone's accomplishments. Hopefully it will continue to get better so I can harvest something. It's close but not quite there. I have enjoyed some of the herbs so far.
katy_f
14 years ago
Thanks for posting the pictures! It's always fun to see how others organize their squares and how well their plants are doing. (By the way, this is my first post ever on this forum, though I've been lurking for months...I finally jumped in because I wanted to thank you for sharing!)
milenka
14 years ago
gmreeves: Thank you so much for the pics, they are just beautifull. I have a question... i don't know if i am understanding wrong Do you let beans climb your corn? What a wonderfull idea!
How much space did you leave betwen your tomatoes?
What materials did you used to build your trellis? They look so preaty and strong.

I am so new at gardening ! sorry for so many questions :)

Thank you again!
gmreeves
Original Author
14 years ago
Milenka,
Yes, I am letting the beans climb the corn. I probably should have been more diligent in training them but they are doing well. In the beginning they were doing great climbing the stalks of the corn. After a while though, they would hit a big corn leaf and begin wrapping around the leaf. I probalby should have redirected them back to the stalk. Anyway, it was an experiment that I wanted to try and it is going to work. The american indians used to do this so I thought I would give it a go. The tomatoes are spaced 1 per sqf. They are very tight but producing like crazy. I have been pinching the suckers so that they grow in a single vine. That is working great and I am getting some pretty big tomatoes this year. The trellis is made out of the 1/2" electrical conduit like discussed in the book. I have it mounted on 3' pieces of rebar that are hammered into the ground a couple of feet. It seems to be pretty sturdy. Only time will tell. Thanks for the compliments. I am fairly new to this too. Two years of being unsuccessful might be paying off. :)
jengc
14 years ago
I was thinking of doing that with the corn and the beans, but wasnt sure about it. I have some pretty big corn stalks now. I wonder if it is too late to take advantage of this (aka plant some pole beans by the corn). How many beans/peas did you plant per corn?
gmreeves
Original Author
14 years ago
I just did one bean per corn. It is pretty cramped back there on that back row. 64 plants in 8 square feet. 32 corn and 32 beans. I started my beans when my corn was about a foot tall. By the time the corn was about 3 feet the beans were taking over but then the corn is in the lead now and the beans are just weaving around like mad.

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