Square foot gardening

[Horace]

@Horace said in Square foot gardening:

Anybody do square foot gardening or gardening in raised beds in general? I have a south facing wall where the fence casts a shadow just about to the base of the wall, where a raised bed should work well. I got a 32" tall Vego, which I'll put into a 2.5' x 9.5' configuration. I'm excited, and I'll definitely start eating more vegetables if they are a product of my own work.

There may be a flaw in my plan. When the sun gets straight overhead, as it almost does in and around June, the roof may cast a shadow over part of the garden bed. I’m imagining mirrors now to compensate.

[Copper]

High maintenance, but good for the environment

[89th]

Have you considered cutting a hole in the roof overhang?

[Horace]

@89th said in Square foot gardening:

Have you considered cutting a hole in the roof overhang?

That’s ridiculous. I can just move the house over a couple feet.

[89th]

N00b, that wouldn't change the angle of the sun. You would need to rotate the house a bit.

[jon-nyc]

Can you use the back yard?

[Horace]

@jon-nyc said in Square foot gardening:

Can you use the back yard?

no, the south facing side with the solid fence is perfect for it. Tucked out of the way and not attracting HOA attention.

[Horace]

I’m getting some watermelons now. Growing noticeably every day. Huge fruit requires huge plants. I think watermelon vines were what inspired Scott Smith to write The Ruins.

[Horace]

There are two plants there but I can’t know which watermelon comes from which plant. I have three fruits which survived the preemie stage, and they’re all growing fast. I hope they’re split 2 on one plant and 1 on the other.

[Jolly]

My nephew has a small raised be garden that has the most tomatoes I've seen on a couple of tomato plants (Early Girl) in a long, long time. I don't know where his soil came from or how it is mixed, but when he built the bed he put in an irrigation system whereby he can run liquid fertilizer through the system.

I guess all that money his dad spent on that MS in ag, allowed him to soak up how to grow tomatoes...

[Copper]

https://www.tiktok.com/@excopcarfiveo/video/7154273441003212078

[Mik]

Looks quite successful! How many melons do you have so far?

[Horace]

@Mik said in Square foot gardening:

Looks quite successful! How many melons do you have so far?

I've had probably 20 little watermelons, but they tend to shrivel and die as preemies. There are three that made it into adolescence, and they are growing visibly every day. I'm hoping they are split between my two plants 2 vs 1, but I can't know, because the vines are spaghetti.

[Mik]

Nothing better in summer than an ice cold bowl of watermelon chunks.

[Horace]

@Mik said in Square foot gardening:

Nothing better in summer than an ice cold bowl of watermelon chunks.

Yep I love it.

One interesting thing about watermelon vines is that they grow roots, if they rest on soil. Then there's the clinging shoots that wrap around and grab anything they grow into, which allows them to climb. One of them choked out a few of my basil leaves. Evolution is amazing.

[Mik]

Nature is metal.

[George K]

@Horace said in Square foot gardening:

One of them choked out a few of my basil leaves

@mik said:

Nature is metal.

Yeah, a stop-action video would be cool to watch.

Two plants struggling to become the apex predator.