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

Well, I guess I will add my two cents worth, though ha' penny's worth might be more accurate. I don't really like the terms that are used most often because of misconceptions people have. Many people think square foot gardening is little square plots with diverse things in it and the plots have to be arranged all in neat rows. It doesn't have to be that mundane. Several responses here have said that, and I have to add my "that's right!" to it. I prefer small space gardening as a term. I also like layer gardening rather than lasagna gardening because there is a misconception that lasagna gardening is a set method of preparation that requires a sort of recipe approach. That all being said, small space gardening is what it is. There are basic principles that make it work well. Combining it with layer gardening, however, is a little tricky. One of the problems you run into is your layers. Some of us who have started gardening from scratch have no green stuff to put into a garden layer. In a new house inside a new subdivision? Yeah, I am. No trees! Where am I going to get brown stuff to put into a garden layer? And, if you do find the ingredients, the layers are not bioavailable and do nothing but act as mulch for a year or two. The added difficulty is planting things in those layers, or through the layers to the untreated soil beneath (which is what you are really doing that first year). The truth is that this method takes way too much time anyway. If you want to start fast and then add greens and browns to keep going, here is a good way I have used again and again. And this method actually speeds things up and adds a wonderful treat to your garden. Step one: become a grass murderer! Sorry, but you have to. Kill the grass in the bed you want to make. Removal is best, but back breaking, and if you have that hated weed, Bermuda grass, you will just get invaded from anything you missed. For that reason, you want to put down something that will choke the grass out well enough not to leave any behind. I like using a combination of newspaper and cardboard in the winter. Next put up your bed walls to contain your bed, being sure that you have the walls a little smaller than your newspaper and cardboard prep. This is because one of the most annoying things is to build your bed walls first and have grass survive at the very inside edge of your bed, sending runners all through your bed in early spring. Next layer the bed. I use the following, but the trick is to come up with your own that works for you. You will notice that I use a little more wood much than you would expect, but wait for it! There is a good reason. Starting with the deepest layers: Composted humus and manure sand wood mulch composted humus and manure top soil wood mulch Now, this can be planted as soon as spring hits (or immediately if you are growing some cool season crops). Now you need to do something that will break down all that wood mulch (remember I used two layers). I like to use King Stropharia mushroom spawn and put it in the garden. Okay, I know that sounds crazy, but it will make sense in a minute. King Stropharia is an edible mushroom and decomposer that works wonders. As it breaks down the wood, it releases nutrients to the soil and attracts earthworms. It also preys on nematodes. After your first season of gardening, you can cut all the dead stuff and put it in the garden. Throw in some more wood chips or wood mulch (hardwood works best in my experience) and the mushrooms will keep digesting and composting the soil. You then plant again the next year, leaving the layer of debris and mulch from the previous year on top and harvesting your mushrooms. The result is that you now have an active, living compost pile right in your garden that you can layer things on to your heart is content. If where you live is warm enough to grow the mushroom, I definitely say you should try it. I have heard that phoenix oyster mushrooms work equally well for setting up a space saving garden with layering.

Hrm, that might work for my beds built out of wood, but 5 of my beds are built out of recycled plastic timbers - I'll have to figure out a better way than nails to attach those ones. As far as the seedlings, I found that instead of cutting an X like you do for transplants, I made a circle (3 inches in diameter or so) and then put little rocks around the seedling on the black plastic, it kept the plastic from flapping and damaging the seedlings. This does allow for a "couple" weeds to grow, but it's almost non existent, and still gives you the benefits of warming the soil, water retention, etc.. No matter how "tight" you get the plastic across the bed, when you cut those X's they are going to flap in the wind, so you need something localized to hold them down. Thanks for the ideas, I'll have to think about how I will secure them, as I really love the plastic.

We usually have crappy weather, we get lots of rain, but this year it is beyond ridiculous. We are getting 4 or 5 days in a row with no let up in the rain and big storms, than a crappy day and then more stormy days. It feels like the house is going to lift off its foundations and that I am going to be off to kansas to see the wizard. I forget what the sun looks like! It has been above average temperatures (17c yesterday) one day then freezing the next. We will get 4-5 inches of snow that turns to rain and then gets washed away. I forget what the sun looks like! The dogs and I are getting fat as we have not been doing anything and it has been tuff to even get out for a decent walk. My poor better half is working in the middle east this week and the weather has totally delayed her travel plans forcing her to have to overnight in a hotel at London's Heathrow airport at a cost of 185 british pounds which is close to $400 for a stinking night. The rain took a pause today and I figured I would go out and check out the garden. First thing I notice was that the neighbour's fence had blown down. The moose was though the hill garden recently: Here is the square foot garden beside the cabin today: I think I was talking with EG about swiss chard a while back and here it is after several frosts. I cut this chard to the ground in the fenced square foot garden a couple weeks back and you notice even in this weather it has grown a bit. Amazing stuff and so good with garlic and a little chicken broth. The creek is eroding away beside the creek square foot garden. I hope it stops there, Next year I am going to have to put rocks on the side of the bank here. Here is the strawberry patch where the creek overflowed. The two new areas that I planted square foot style have a bit of sand and silt but I hope will be ok. The creek has really suffered some erosion this last month. ...