Square Foot Gardening Vs Raised Beds

Square foot gardening is a quick way to start a new garden especially with the updated method using a raised bed filled with soilless mix so it s great for first timers.

Square foot gardening vs raised beds.

I love that in a single 4 4 foot bed i can grow a multitude of vegetables from several tomato plants to a whole bunch of carrots. This allows plants to be situated more closely together. Leave 3 foot aisles between garden beds and mulch them well for weed control. Square foot gardening pros.

Choose from 26 options including many designed just for elevated raised beds. More compost should be added in between every crop so at least once per year. 1 3 of a good blended compost made from at least 5 different sources if possible or use your own homemade compost which we recommend. 1 3 peat moss or coco coir 1 3 coarse vermiculite.

One 4 x 4 foot raised square foot garden bed can produce enough food for a small family but you may want more if you plan to can or freeze some of your harvest. The beds mel suggests 4ft x 4ft can actually be any length. With our free online planner you can get the blueprints to a super productive vegetable garden based on square foot gardening techniques instead of traditional rows. It was developed by mel bartholomew in the 1970 s as a more efficient way to garden.

If you are new to this you may be asking what is square foot gardening square foot gardening is a method of raised bed gardening. Square foot gardening drastically reduces the amount of space required to grow crops compared to traditional row gardening. First off a square foot garden is simply a raised box or bed that is divided into squares the beds can be 2 feet by 2 feet or 4 x 12 but the most common is a bed that is 4 feet by 4 feet. First we re going to assume you re using mel s mix as prescribed in the all new square foot gardening book which is by volume.

Growing root vegetables such as carrots call for sides that are 12 inches deep. Plus this size divides easily into a grid of sixteen 1x1 foot squares. Make your sides at least 6 inches deep. Click the pre planned gardens to get a quick start.

I have used square foot gardening methods for over 25 years and have taught gardening classes for many years including square foot gardening classes. The most common configuration for square foot raised garden beds is 4x4 feet. Bartholomew s second edition of all new square foot gardening was published in 2013. Raised bed soil does not need to be replaced annually.